Worldliness

I really hate this word. It makes me twitch. So, when I heard that this is the title of Mahaney’s newest book, I was taken aback. Could another word not have been chosen? Anyone outside of the Christian subculture has no idea what this word implies, and I think most people within Christianity misunderstand how the Bible itself uses the word “world” – it’s used in several different ways.

Several years ago, I read an article co-authored by Mark Driscoll and Chris Seay, which literally changed the course of my life. The article was called “A Second Reformation Is At Hand.” In it, they make the ironic point that when the Bible speaks of the idea of being “worldly” it does NOT mean:

• Smoking
• Drinking
• Dancing
• R-rated movies
• Loud music

Rather, it means things like:

• Debt
• Greed
• Divorce
• Adultery
• Overworking
• Gluttony

They then gave a definition here: “Worldliness ought to mean ‘embodying values contrary to the gospel, contrary to redemption, contrary to community life, grace, and the missionary call of God.’ Because you can be a Christian and still be worldly—and thus, ineffective as a missionary to your culture.”

This article was written in 2001, but I think, for most people, these things have still not changed. I personally was one of the kids who was encouraged to destroy all my “secular” CDs and only listen to “Christian music.” So, I had a very sad few years of trying to find ripoffs of every popular band around. I missed out on so much good music that I am still trying to recuperate from.

I just don’t understand the connection between truly changing someone’s heart and removing external things from someone’s consumption. If that were the case, then Adam & Eve should have hidden from the tree (in the middle of the Garden). I know that (at least Reformed guys) are not saying that changing external things WILL change someone’s heart, but I truly believe that starting there is dangerous to the gospel.

The gospel says you are wicked and you need Jesus. You don’t change and then He accepts you, but rather He accepts you as you are and then you are changed by Him. Saying that “cussing, smoking and drinking” or “watching tv” are inconsistent with the Christian life is naturally going to cause most people to walk away before we even have the opportunity to open our mouths (let alone actually spend time with people).

Our call to not be of the world does not mean we have to be weird. We’re sent into the world to love the world – to show Jesus to the world. So, we are called to go as far into the world as we can without dishonoring Jesus. At some point our difference will be obvious, and we will be required to give an account for the hope that we have in Jesus.

Today I took my boys to watch Hellboy 2. A few weeks ago we saw the Dark Knight. I think through these things on a daily basis. I don’t want to raise my kids to be scared of the world, but rather to have their minds renewed by Jesus to think like Him and to love people where they’re at. We all see “garbage” every single day (whether we watch tv or not) – it goes in. What comes out comes from our hearts, not from tv or music.