by Ernest Liu
about the author

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      For the next five minutes, he takes his pain to the mic, and we listen to him agonize over the fact that his mom chose her pills over her children…
    • Worldliness
    8
    Mar
    2011

    “Do not love the world or anything in the world.” -1 John 2:15

    Curious how ten little words can weave into the ugly depths of my soul. Do not love the world. Or anything in the world.

    So what do I love? I love God. No… I cannot rely on cute little church answers. I must walk through the swamps of my heart and hunt for idols that pollute my spiritual veins.

    Do I really love God?

    Or does the time spent on games and music and Facebook lay witness to my tragic love of the world?

    Do not love the world or anything in the world.

    This is a radical standard. But come on, let’s get real. This standard isn’t only for the “radical” Christian. This is a quality that Jesus expects from all His followers. How do I know this? Because the rest of 1 John 2:15 reads, “If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.” Wait… is that verse really in the Bible? Pick up your tangible copy and swipe your way to the passage. That’s what it says.

    WorldlinessI have read this truth over and over again, through and through, and I think I’ve figured out exactly what John was saying here. I think that he was trying to tell us that if anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.

    In Worldliness, C. J. Mahaney begins with a story of former US president Thomas Jefferson.

    “HUNCHED OVER HIS DESK, penknife in hand, Thomas Jefferson sliced carefully at the pages of Holy Scripture, excising select passages and pasting them together to create a Bible more to his liking. The “Jefferson Bible.” A book he could feel comfortable with
    . . .
    Christians rightly shudder at such arrogant presumption. And no true Christian would be so bold as to attempt to create his or her own Bible, blatantly omitting whatever they don’t prefer.

    But if we are honest, we too may have to admit that we have a Bible of our own making–a metaphorical one, perhaps, but a cut-and-paste job just the same. For if we ignore any portion of God’s Word–whether unintentionally, conveniently, or deliberately–we too are guilty of Jefferson’s offense.”

    Maybe you need to do what I did – check to see if 1 John 2:15 is still in your metaphorical Bible. If it’s missing, it’s time to tape it back in. Let’s screen the media we watch, the music we listen to, the stuff we own, and the clothes we wear, and find out where our love truly lives. If you haven’t already, read Worldliness. It will guide you towards a life that boasts in Jesus, a life that displays a miraculous transformation resulting from a slain Christ.