I Just Became a Christian, Now What? – Relationship with the World
When you think of the word world, what comes to mind? The first thing I imagine is a picture of the earth from space. The big blue ball with white, brown, and green swirls on a pitch-black background. It is both awesome and humbling at the same time. Whatever comes to our minds is interesting, but what does the Bible mean when it refers to the world? And how do you relate to it?
To start, we see God’s attitude toward the world in one of the most quoted and best-known Bible verses:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.[1]
However, we also read the following in Scripture:
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.[2]
And,
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.[3]
How do these two seemingly opposite perspectives coexist? As we discussed in the article about the Bible, we must look at the context of these verses to get a complete picture of the different views of the world. Let’s get a little background first.
Three Greek words are translated as the English word world, in the New Testament.[4] This article will concentrate on the most prevalent word, kosmos. When you see kosmos, perhaps you think of the word cosmos, which typically means the universe and everything in it. This is one of the ways the word world is defined. It can also mean the earth and all the good things created by God. However, in the New Testament, kosmos is often portrayed as the realm of humanity that has been distorted by sin, separated from God, and under the power of the evil one, Satan. This article will explore your relationship with God’s good creation in tension with the world that opposes him.
In the first verse above, the context is that God loves his world. He created the earth and everything in it and saw it was good.[5] The crowning part of God’s creation was humanity. But, humans let sin into the world,[6] and sin distorted all creation so that it groans under bondage.[7] However, God did not leave the world under the power of sin but sent his Son to save everyone who believes and receives him.[8] One day, the final consummation of God’s saving power will be revealed in all creation. Jesus and his saints will judge the world,[9] and everything will be made new.[10] Until then, while the world is under the power of evil, God is being patient so more people can turn to him and be saved from sin and death.[11] We saints, who are reconciled to God, are still in the world; God has freed us from the bondage of sin. We are in the world but are sanctified, or separated, from the powers that rule it.[12] However, we can still be affected by evil, and we should not be surprised if the world hates us because it hated Jesus first.[13]
Let’s discuss how we discern between loving and hating the world. When we look at the context of the last verse above, we see the reason for the differing attitudes toward the world. Let’s look further at the passage in 2 John 2:
For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.[14]
Simply, we are to love the people of the world as God loves them. However, we are to despise and avoid distorted, worldly ways of thinking and behaving. Nevertheless, how we love people and hate the world is not always straightforward. As Jesus demonstrated, loving people doesn’t mean we never have conflict. It doesn’t mean we accept everything that people do. It also means that we persist in love even when mistreated by the world. Part of the relationship is realizing there is a difference between the people of the world and the saints.
Worldly people have no concept of what the Lord has done for the saints. Their minds are blinded by the evil one.[15] They are not able to completely comprehend spiritual truth.[16] The worldly and fleshly patterns of this life are all that make sense to them. Worldly people may be religious or even spiritual, but these are not in relation to the one true God. Also, though work, pleasure, or the acquisition of wealth are not bad, the world often relies on them to define their identity. They may even seek satisfaction through charitable endeavors. In any case, they are using only worldly ways of thinking to understand their identity and obtain relevance in their lives. I am not saying everything worldly people do is evil. I am saying that they are deceived, and seek fulfillment from God’s creation rather than from God himself.
As a saint, you know your worth to God, and you are connected to him through his Spirit within you. Nevertheless, you experience God’s creation in the same ways as the world. You eat and drink. You work to earn money to buy what you need to live. You play and recreate, perhaps through a hobby. God provides the good of his creation to all humanity. So, there are elements of life common to the saints and the world. These things are provided by God for everyone’s benefit and sustenance.[17] These commonalities being the case, how do we distinguish between the Godly and worldly approaches to life? There are many biblical imperatives on how to deal with evil. May I suggest two basic ways to approach worldly thinking and living: awareness and focus.
First, you must be aware of how the world can affect you. Evil is often very evident; you cannot connect to media without seeing atrocities and heartbreak. Sometimes, evil is subtle, and you must be discerning. The Bible is full of specifics in this regard. So, instead of just using my words, here are a few examples directly from Scripture:
I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.[18]
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.[19]
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.[20]
Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.[21]
These are just a few examples of understanding how the world works. There are many other ways the world may affect you. You constantly receive messages that are a mixture of truth and error. Of course, not everyone is affected the same way by messages they hear from the world, but that is part of the point. You must be aware of what is entering your mind and how it affects you. You must understand how worldly ways differ from what is Godly. This brings me to the second point.
In the verses above, we can also begin to see remedies to the world’s deceit. You deal with the world by where you place your focus. God encourages us to seek the things above where Christ is.[22] You are told to set your mind on whatever is true and pure, and as you do, the peace of God will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.[23] Finally, we are to fix our eyes on Jesus himself.[24] Jesus is alive, and your relationship with him is active. You can talk to him and hear from him through the Bible, the church, and direct promptings of his Holy Spirit. But, please don’t look at your focus as merely a Christian task. The point is this, God has changed you and made you good.[25] However, consistently good behavior comes through maturity in your relationship with God, who is your focus. He cares about you and wants you to experience life the way he intended, even surrounded by this present sinful world.
There is much more to write about your relationship with the world. We will continue to look at your interactions with God, the church, and the world in future articles. For now, I will leave you with this:
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.[26]
[1] John 3:16, NKJV
[2] James 4:4, NIV
[3] 1 John 2:15, NIV
[4] The three Greek words are (transliterated), aion (Strong’s #165), kosmos (Strong’s #2889), and oikoumene (Strong’s #3625). Aion rarely means world and is usually translated as age or forever. Oikoumene typically means the inhabited world.
[5] Genesis 1-2
[6] Genesis 3, Romans 5
[7] Genesis 3, Romans 8
[8] John 1
[9] John 5:19-27, Acts 17:29-31, Romans 2:12-16, 1 Corinthians 6:1-6, 2 Timothy 4:1-8, 1 Peter 4:1-6
[10] Revelation 21
[11] 2 Peter 3
[12] 1 John 5:18-21
[13] John 15:18, 1 John 3:11-15
[14] 1 John 2:16-17
[15] 2 Corinthians 4
[16] 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
[17] Matthew 5:43-48
[18] Romans 16:17-19, NIV
[19] Ephesians 5:15-20, NIV
[20] James 3:13-18, NIV
[21] James 1:26-27
[22] Colossians 3
[23] 1 Peter 1:13-16
[24] Hebrews 12
[25] 2 Corinthians 5
[26] Philippians 1:9-11, NIV