Do Not Love The World?
SCRIPTURE: 1 John 2:15-17
GIST: Christians do not love the world, but they do...
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.16 For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life--is not from the Father but is from the world.17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Who/what is "the world"?
The word "world" is used throughout John's writings in many ways. So let's make sure we understand who/what exactly he is (and isn't) talking about here. In the text, we're told not to love the world or the things of the world because:
1- Loving this world is NOT loving God, nor how God loves (vs 15b)
2- All that is in the world and what it wants (the desires of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life) are not from God and are passing away
2a- Which is directly contrasted with the result of those who do the will of God
Thus, we can conclude that this has to be the world in the sense of "that which reflects our sin nature". Loving the physical world God created or the people He died for clearly cannot be in direct conflict with loving God or like God (unless you love these more than God...). Nor can we say these are not from Him. Sin, meets all of the above criteria. Plus, and I probably could have just left it at this, John defines what He's talking about. Verse 16 reads: "...all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life..."
Let me try to create a little visual that may or may not be helpful here.
-Desires of the Flesh- Desires or lusts that spring from wanting to gratify our natural self
-Desires of the Eyes- Desires to have what our eyes see and/or are pleased by
-Pride in Life/Possession (it means both)- Arrogance/self-confidence or confidence in what we have. Love of self.
Now let's look at the how these 3 break the 10 commandments from Exodus 20:3-17 to further illustrate the point being made.
3 "You shall have no other gods before me. (Desires of the Flesh/Eyes, and Pride of Life)
4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness ... 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, ... (Desires of Flesh/Eyes and Pride in Possessions)
7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, ... (Pride of Life)
8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ... (Desires of Flesh/Eyes, and Pride of Life...Keep us from this)
12 "Honor your father and your mother, ... (Pride of Life causes strife)
13 "You shall not murder. (Desires of Flesh/Eyes, Pride of Life)
14 "You shall not commit adultery. (Desires of Flesh/Eyes)
15 "You shall not steal. (Desires of Flesh/Eyes, and Pride in Possessions)
16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Pride of Life)
17 "You shall not covet ... (Desires of Flesh/Eyes and Pride in Possessions)
Why can't we love them/it?
As we established above, it's not a "who", but a "what". We must hate sin because it is the opposite of God. We can't love both. Therefore, the things in this world that are not honoring to God cannot be a part of our lives. We can't claim to love God, but live like we love the world.
Furthermore, we were made to love God. Those who love Him do not pass away; we spend eternity loving as He intended us to, and being loved likewise.
Now, I think the gut reaction here will be the recoil at the thought of not loving people, but that's not being said here. We should hate sin, not those stuck in sin. Someone will likely think of passages here like Psalm 5:5 that makes it clear that God not only hates sin, but those who commit it. This is true. God is perfectly Holy and cannot tolerate sin, nor those who embody it. That is the beauty of His sacrifice. There was no reason for Him to show love toward us, but He did. Is this a contradiction? No. Look at it this way: Are there people whose entire lives will be defined by sin and will, therefore, willfully earn the wrath of God? Yes. Do we know who these people are? No.
How should we then live?
Love God. Love People (by pointing them to God). Our whole lives should be about honoring and serving God. Think of how you spend your time, spend your money, and use your talents. Is it for God? Likewise, the most loving thing we can do for the world around us is point them to Jesus.
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