Chasing The World
By Fortune Neluswi
The World Today
“For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” (Luke 9:25)
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
1 John 2:15-17
Growing material love
Many people who call themselves Christians will do anything to bend over backwards just so they can accumulate more money into their bank accounts. People are spending sleepless nights trying to figure out how to satisfy their thirst for material gain. Instead of running from the world and the things in the world, they are always chasing wealth, fame and pride.
So many people’s minds are consumed with their car, clothes, or houses than faithfully serving God. Professed Christians are following the world instead of the Word of God. We are living in a generation of malnourished believers who are spiritually anorexic, and deprived of spiritual vitamins and minerals.
Friends of the world
The average believer today would rather watch some T.V show than study their Bible. As a result, we have got a hoard of spiritual weaklings, babies, and mutants; who spend more time gallivanting about their own business and snooping into the lives of others than studying their Bible. People care more about satisfying their burning thirst for worldly things. They care more about being admired by others for earthly possessions than consecrating in prayer and soul winning. They have become friends of the world and therefore enemies of God…
“…know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
What does the Bible mean by the term “world?” The world is anything which is hostile to the cause of Christ. Materialism, living for money, living for a career, etc. The world is everything that this temporal life has to offer which draws us away from God and holy living, away from obeying the Word of God, away from praying, away from living for Jesus, away from righteousness, away from soul winning, away from giving money to the Lord’s work, away from going to church, away from arriving at church on time, and even away from getting saved. The world is our enemy and God’s enemy (James 4:4). If we are friends of the world, then we are enemies of God!
Something does not have to necessarily be sinful to be worldly. For example: There is nothing wrong with owning a car or a house, but you can easily turn that object into a god that consumes your heart and mind, and that is sinful. God warns us about ALL THAT IS IN THE WORLD: the Lust of the eyes, and the LUST of the flesh, and the PRIDE of life.
There are so many professed Christians who are busy chasing after the world and the things in the world. So many people today are filled with wicked pride. They don’t care about truth or about the Lord Jesus Christ. All they care about is themselves and how to make a show of their material possessions. They are deeply concerned about arriving at the Sunday service in their new clothes and cars so that people can turn their heads and admire them. The average, spiritually malnourished religious person today is deeply anxious about being seen driving a nice car to church, than taking time to drive up to a hospital to preach to the sick with that same car. The Bible calls this sinful pride.
Filthy Lucre
“Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;” (1 Peter 5:2)
There is no way you can be of a ready mind to serve God when day and night you are busy strategizing how to obtain more money to enrich yourself. There are some people who just cannot get enough of anything and have an insatiable hunger to be conformed to the latest fashions and the things in the world. There is nothing that more certainly paralyzes the usefulness of a Christian than the love of money! If you are a Christian and you make money a priority in your life, you WILL compromise on Bible standards!
The Bible warns us against a desire to acquire earthly wealth because, “…they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” (1Timothy 6:9).
“If you cultivate a desire to accumulate wealth, you WILL compromise on Bible standards!”
People today do not care a single bit about doing what is right as long as they earn extra cash in their wallets. The love of money is drowning thousands of professed Christians in these last days. No serious Christian would work for a tobacco company; no serious Christian would ever work for a beer company; no serious Christian would support the distribution of the perverted NIV, Good News Bible, Revised Standard Version, etc; no serious Christian should vote for someone who supports gay and lesbian marriages; no serious Christian should work at an abortion clinic; no serious Christian should support divorce and remarriage. No serious Christian should teach evolution.
The world today is punctuated by an insatiable hunger to acquire more wealth in spite of the Biblical teaching that, “having food and raiment, let us be therefore content”. These professed Christians do no trust that God will provide for them. As a result, they choose to go wealth hunting and growing a career at the expense of spending and being spent in the work of God. This effectively renders them unfit to be productive servants in God’s kingdom; which is what the Devil wants.
The World Today
“For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” (Luke 9:25)
Today’s generation works tirelessly to obtain material wealth at the expense of using their talents for the preaching of the Gospel. People are deeply engrossed in competition to see who will make it to the highest level on the ladder of fame and fortune. There are very few people today who are willing to turn their back on the world and forgo careers, opportunities and all the attractions this world has to offer in order to serve God.
People deceitfully convince themselves that they are not chasing wealth, but contrast the effort and determination they have towards obtaining money and their effort towards soul winning (if they ever do!). Today, most professed Christians would rather enjoy the self-gratification of wealth than give money for the sake of the Gospel. People today spend thousands on cell phone bills, a new suit, and can purchase a car worth half a million, but ask them to walk to the offering box with the same amount and you will see rivers of sweat flowing down their armpits! People just don’t care about serving God.
People have no problem spending the whole day watching television, studying, talking on the phone and most of all glued to social networks. But ask them to spend an hour going soul winning house to house every day and you’ll see sparks fly! You will hear all sorts of reasons (mostly weird). People just don’t care about lost souls. They are busy with their own selfish desires to fulfil their lust of the eyes and enjoy the pride of life. No wonder the Bible says, “…Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8
Too busy for God
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” (2Timothy 4:2)
Very few people are willing to go all out and preach the Word to the lost. People spend sleepless nights pondering on how to rise up the ladder on their job; how to obtain the next business deal; how to advance a career; how to get another academic qualification; how to increase business profits and “build bigger barns” rather than how to win a soul to Christ.Each and every Christian has a mandate to INDIVIDUALLY go out into the world and be a soul winner. It is unrealistic to expect the Christian life to be all fun and games.
People today are SELFISH, seeking what is best for them and do not care an inch about INDIVIDUALLY going out to testify and preach the Bible. People have an insanely gross attitude for GROUP WORK. Our Christian calling is to “go out into the world” and win souls to Christ and not just to mantle a set of religious actions for the world to see.
Choosing to Serve God
In Hebrews 11:25, we are told that Moses chose rather to, “suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” Moses was happy to give up the splendours of living in the royal palace, and rather to spend his life SUFFERING AFFLICTION. But today, how many people will give up their careers and lavish lifestyles for the purpose of preaching the Word? I can assure, you will be lucky to find any! Most people today will just be like that young rich man who “…went away sorrowful” when Jesus asked him to sell everything he owned and give the money to the poor (Mathew 19:21, 22).
People are just so glued to materialism and do not care about actively taking up their cross DAILY and telling others about salvation. God wants EVERY born again believer to go into all the world, and preach the gospel. Some people are woefully ignorant that they need to win souls to Christ and they feel content with just going to church on Sunday and coming back to their comfort zone. Attending the Sunday service does not define going out into the world and winning souls to Christ. In case you were not aware, those whose crowns will shine in heaven are those who win souls to Christ, NOT mere church goers! “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3)
“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17: 26, 27)