My Life Group has done two studies by James MacDonald. The first was ‘Gripped by The Greatness of God’ and the second was (and still is!) ‘Downpour.’ MacDonald is a powerful speaker and preacher and his teaching comes straight from the Bible. I’ve been listening to his daily podcast lately. You can find it at his website. They are less than 20 minutes long and well worth the listen.
The one I listened to most recently had to do with worldly things and how Christians had to avoid getting caught up in worldly things to the detriment of our faith. He read from 1 John 2:15-17:
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. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
He said a better translation of ‘lust’ is ‘desire’ as lust often has a sexual connotation to it. He then went on to specifically say it wasn’t the ‘world’ itself we should be concerned about, but the things in it. What are some of the things in the world that Christians struggle not to love?
1. Money
2. Travel
3. Hobbies
4. Sports
5. Entertainment (Movies, Television, Internet)
6. Substances (Food, Tobacco, Alcohol, Drugs)
7. Exercise (Fitness, Body beautiful)
8. My home, possessions, stuff
9. My career
10. My position
He pointed out the above is not action sin but attitude sin. Things that aren’t inherently bad, except they often crowd out better things.
We have to decide. Do we love the Lord? Or do we love the world?
