The Love God Hates
Introduction: Some time ago I saw a bumper sticker which read, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” I doubt seriously that you would find that on any of the cars in our parking lot this morning. However, if we were totally honest some of us would have to admit that we live as though it were true. Our lives are characterized by acquisition fever and by accumulationitis. Every new electronic gadget triggers our desires, and if we can’t afford it, we simply borrow to buy it. Contented people are an endangered species, and Christians committed to a simple lifestyle are a vanishing breed.
In view of this I think it is providential that our text today speaks so forcefully to us about the love God hates—the love of the world. This passage is likely to trigger some guilt, so right here at the beginning I want to offer this caveat—this is the Word of God. The only grounds for complaint is whether or not I faithfully explain and apply what it says. Frankly, I have squirmed under this passage all week—now it’s your turn.
Our text is just three verses from 1 John 2, verses 15-17:
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
One way to get a handle on this message is to ask a series of questions, and that is how I have constructed our outline today. First, …
What is the “world” we are not to love?
This is an important question, for the term “world” can have a number of different meanings in the Scripture. God created the world and when He was finished, He said, “It is good.” Obviously this is not the world we are forbidden to love. In fact, I am convinced that we should admire and enjoy the created world more than we do. I feel terribly sorry for those who have never had the chance to travel widely to see the incredible beauty and variety in this world. One of my strong desires before I get too old is to explore a world I have never seen—the world under the sea. I want to learn to scuba dive and then practice my newly acquired knowledge in the Caribbean. I also have a desire to fly in a spaceship someday.
But the fact is some people who live right here in St. Louis never take a walk through the beautiful paths of Queeny Park, never float the Gasconade River, never visit Elephant Rocks, and never ride their bikes down the river road from Alton. The world around us is an amazing demonstration of the creativity and omniscience of God. Whether one looks at it telescopically or microscopically, whether one is in the mountains or the desserts, close to home or far away, this world is mind-boggling. But it is not the world we are forbidden to love.
The term “world” can also mean people, but once again John is certainly not referring here to the world of people, for this is the same Apostle who wrote that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.” I think that just as we should love the created world more than we do, we should also love the world of people more than we do. If we did we would have a greater concern for the salvation of the lost and greater compassion for one another. Every human being is unique—some more than others—and everyone is created in the image of God. That is given by the Apostle James as the reason we should not despise anyone. We may despise the things people do and even despise what some have become. But we should love the person under all the sin.
Years ago Robert Moffatt, who spent 30 years as a pioneer missionary in Africa, was asked by a little girl to sign her autograph album. He wrote these words:
“My album is a savage breast,
Where sorrow reigns and darkness rests,
Without one ray of light.
To write the name of Jesus there,
To speak of worlds both bright and fair,
And see that savage bow in prayer
Is all my soul’s delight.”
There are savages all around us today, dressed in Dockers or Hart Schaffner & Marx, and they’re just as lost as those in Africa. They constitute a world that needs to be loved.
But there is a third meaning of the term “world” that is different from the created world or the world of people. It is the world-system, the system of values, pleasures, pastimes and aspirations that form the philosophy of life of those who do not know God. This is the world whose God is Satan (2 Cor. 4:4), which lies in the grip of the evil one (I John 5:19), whose friendship is enmity with God (James 4:4), which rejected Jesus when He came (John 1:10), which does not know Him (1 John 3:1), and which hates His followers (John 15:18-21).
This is the world we are not to love. And lest we have any doubt that this is John’s point, we need simply look at verse 16: “For everything in the world…” and then he proceeds to divide the world into three parts: “the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does.” That is his summary of the world system. Notice please that it is not really things that are the problem so much as attitudes (cravings, lust, and boasting). A person without material things can be just as much a lover of the world as a person who has everything. And, conversely, a wealthy person can be free of love for the world, though not easily.
This is important because when I was growing up in a very conservative Christian subculture, worldliness meant one of two things. A worldly person was either one devoted to materialism (which, being interpreted meant he had more than we had) or one who did worldly things, like drink beer, go to movies, dance, play cards, or wear make-up. Some went even further than we did in defining worldliness. At one time in the South there were folks known as “hook-and-eye Baptists.” They were given that name because they believed that buttons are worldly and that the proper biblical way to fasten your clothing is with a hook and eye. So the button-wearing folks were worldly and the hook-and-eye people were spiritual.
Friends, let’s get something very clear. When John talks about loving the world he is not talking about buttons or beer. He is thinking of selfish ambition, pride, the love of success or flattery, and other such worldly characteristics. One writer paraphrases the Apostle in a very understandable way: “Do not court the intimacy and the favor of the unchristian world around you; do not take its customs for your laws, nor adopt its ideals, nor covet its prizes, nor seek fellowship with its life.”[i]
Let’s take the time this morning to examine these three aspects of the world-system: the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does.
The cravings of sinful man. You are perhaps more familiar with the KJV’s translation, “lust of the flesh.” “Flesh” here refers not to skin and bones but rather has an ethical connotation. It refers to the whole of man’s nature as it is apart from God’s grace. It applies to all godless desires, or as the NIV puts it, “the cravings of sinful man.”
God has given us certain desires which are good: hunger, thirst, rest and sex. But when the sinful nature controls these desires, it always wants more or seeks to satisfy them in ways that are harmful. Instead of just satisfying their hunger, people gorge themselves. Instead of just satisfying their thirst, they get drunk. Instead of just resting, they either get lazy or wear themselves out finding new ways to spend their leisure time. And instead of reveling in the joys of married love, they destroy their psyches and sometimes their bodies in wanton immorality.
Barclay refers to the cravings of sinful man as living “a life dominated by the senses. It is to be gluttonous in food; effeminate in luxury; slavish in pleasure; lustful and lax in morals; selfish in the use of possessions; regardless of all the spiritual values; extravagant in the gratification of material desires. The flesh’s desire is regardless of the commandments of God, the judgment of God, the standards of God and the very existence of God.”[ii]
The problem is that most of us justify our own lifestyle by a cute little device known as comparison. By comparing ourselves with someone whose cravings are worse than ours we conclude that we’re O.K. If you’re a business executive you may look at Donald Trump or Malcom Forbes and say, “I’m not controlled by the cravings of sinful man, at least not like they are.” If you’re in ministry, you watch the Jim Baker saga and say to yourself, “I stack up pretty good next to him.” If you’re a housewife, you watch Zsa Zsa’s trial and say, “That’s what the Apostle John is talking about!”
But that’s absolutely not what he’s talking about. He’s talking about ordinary Christians like you and me who refuse to be content with what we have. He’s talking about those who drive through Ladue with their tongues hanging out, or who are eaten alive with jealousy because someone else got promoted at work, or who find their peace of mind going up and down with the stock market.
In addition to the cravings of sinful man John identifies another key element of worldliness:
The lust of the eyes. This phrase refers to the tendency to be captivated by the outward show of things, without inquiring into their real value. Examples are found in Eve’s view of the forbidden tree as “a delight to the eyes,” Achan’s covetous search among the spoils for a “goodly Babylonish garment,” and David’s lustful looking at Bathsheba as she bathed. It is the love of beauty divorced from the love of what is right. I’ve heard Christian men justify ogling women on the pseudo-spiritual grounds that God made them beautiful and beauty is to be enjoyed. Well, I grant part of that; I think God outdid Himself when He created woman. But there’s a big gap between enjoying the beauty of a woman in a righteous way and ogling her as a sex object. But it goes the other way too. If women in general would give as much concern to inner beauty and Christ-like characteristics as to their weight, their clothes and their hair, the focus might shift from ogling to respect and admiration. The same point could be made about men.
Frankly, friends, there are dozens of ways in which we are captivated by the outward show of things without inquiring into their real value. We do that every time we follow a charismatic leader without discerning what he stands for. We do that every time we buy clothes just because they have a certain designer label. We do that every time we feed our minds on a novel or movie or TV show without any consideration of its message. The lust of the eyes is a major factor in love of the world.
The boasting of what one has and does. Again you’re probably more familiar with the KJV’s “pride of life.” The reference is to a person who seeks to impress everyone he meets with his own non-existent importance, a “conceited, pretentious humbug,” to quote C.H. Dodd. I knew a guy back in Dallas in the 60’s who put a cheap $19 phone in his car and drove around with that thing up to his ear—it wasn’t even hooked up—just to impress people. But there are less ridiculous and more common examples of those suffering from this disease. I think it includes prima donnas who sign their name and then add, “Ph.D.” (You won’t believe this, but just about two weeks ago Brad got a letter from a guy who signed his name and then added, “Ph.D. expected.” Honest!)
It includes pompous people who join the Mensa Society, the chief requirement for which is to have a genius IQ. It includes yuppies who drive BMW’s for no other reason than to show off. It includes people who join country clubs but rarely go, just so they can say they are members. It includes parents who send their kids to private schools for status and sophistication. It includes people who are always dropping names. Ouch, I think of how many times I have found it convenient to drop the fact that some big-league athletes attend my church or that I spent an evening last winter at the Governor’s Mansion. (See, I just found a subtle way to let 300 more people know how important I am!). Boasting of what one has and does is a frightful evidence of one who is really in love with the world.
These three elements of worldliness—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does—can be summarized as “unholy desire for things one has not, and unholy pride in things one has.”[iii] No wonder we are warned so clearly and strongly, “Love not the world or anything in the world.”
Our second key questions is …
What happens if we do love the world?
God’s Word commands us not to, but what if we do it anyway? The second half of verse 15 gives us a simple, straightforward answer: “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Simply put, love for the world and love for the Father are mutually exclusive. James put it this way: “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” And Jesus said, “You cannot serve two masters.” Tragically, our society (and I’m afraid this is true even of our Christian society) has fostered the idea that we can have the best of both worlds, that we can serve God and mammon at the same time. We cannot. Love for the world always squeezes out love for God.
Now this doesn’t mean that we should protect our love for God by isolating ourselves from the world. That’s what monasticism attempted in the Middle Ages. Today we are more clever; we don’t build brick walls around our cloisters, but sometimes we do the equivalent when we isolate ourselves from all non-Christian friends, make sure that all our activities revolve around the Church, send our children to Christian schools, and then take our vacations on Christian cruises. Jesus tried to warn us about this tendency in John 17 when He prayer to His Father, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Set them apart by the truth” (not by walls of separation).
What happens if we do love the world? The love of the Father is not in us. Now the third question we want to ask is “Why is it wrong?”
Why is it wrong to love the world?
John offers us two reasons why love for the world is wrong: because of where it came from and because of where it is going.
Because of where it came from. Look at verse 16: “For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.” The world system did not originate with God. Rather it is a self-perpetuating destructive system that actually originated with Satan’s attempt to overthrow God. This world’s philosophy, its goals, its standards, its customs, its ethics—all are opposed to God and none of it can be traced to Him.
I guess that’s why I’m so skeptical of Reconstructionism, a new theology related to postmillennialism that is gaining popularity among conservative Christians that essentially suggests that it is the Church’s duty to Christianize the world. We are to bring in the Kingdom of God by using all the political, social, religious, and economic means at our disposal to get society to adopt God’s laws. I see that as an impossible dream. The world-system cannot be reformed because it has nothing in common with God. It needs to be replaced, which brings us to the second reason why it’s wrong to love the world—not only because of where it came from, but also …
Because of where it is going. Verse 17 says, “The world and its desires pass away.” The point is clear. Why love something that is doomed? In fact, the tense here indicates that it is already disintegrating. So are its values and those who are characterized by its values. Peter explains that this world system is destined for a great conflagration. It’s going up in smoke! How foolish then, to pin one’s hopes on the world, however attractive it may appear or however rewarding.
Friends, think about just how passing the pleasures are that the world offers. Its immoral sexual pleasures can be ecstatic, but in a short time all that’s left is guilt and emptiness. The pleasures of drugs are so intense that people will sell their children to experience it. But the momentary nature of the world’s satisfactions can be seen in amoral things as well. Recently I purchased a new car. I had driven used cars for about ten years and frankly, one of the reasons I bought a new one this time is because I love how a new car smells. When you buy a new car you’re not buying someone else’s smells—tobacco, catalytic converter, you name it; you’re buying a new car smell. Do you know how long it lasted? Right, about three weeks. Now I have a used car with a new car price.
Or how about that expensive slate-top pool table you just had to have. When’s the last time you played on it? I know quite a few people who own pool tables, but I don’t know anyone who uses them, except maybe when company comes. It’s like so many things of this world. They are so exciting and we can’t live without them, but two months later all we’re left with is payments. Is there any alternative?
What is the alternative to loving the world?
You’ll find it at the end of verse 17: “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” If you don’t want your life to count for nothing, if you don’t want to see your life’s work go up in smoke, you do have an alternative. You can do the will of God and live forever. I wondered when I read this why John doesn’t say, “but the man who loves God lives forever,” for it seems to me that love for God would be the opposite of love for the world. But he doesn’t. And the reason is that John is both wise and practical. He knows that we can fake love for God; but we can’t fake obedience. Obedience includes love for God, of course, and the most effective antidote to worldliness is to have one’s heart so filled with the Father’s love that it has no room for any love that is incompatible with that.
Conclusion: Friends, I’m sure there isn’t a person here who in his heart of hearts doesn’t want his life to count for something permanent significant. I want you to imagine that God spoke to you this morning and told you that within the next six months you were going to be involved in a terrible auto accident and would either be killed or permanently disabled.
How would the knowledge of that imminent tragedy change your perspective on life? Would you go out and buy a new car? No, of course not, not unless you wanted to be sure your family had reliable transportation, and then you wouldn’t buy a car that was an ego symbol but rather one that would be reliable and economic. Would you work your fool head off trying to impress your boss and trying to get a promotion? Of course not. What good would a promotion be to you in six months? In fact, you would purposely avoid any overtime at all so every spare minute could be spent with the family. Would you allow physical fitness to be a god to you? Remember Paul’s statement that “bodily exercise profits only a little (it’s not useless; it does serve a good purpose); but godliness is profitable for all things.” I dare say most of us would spend a lot more time in God’s Word than we do.
Well, God has told us that we are going to die soon. He hasn’t said six months, but it will be sooner than we think. For some it may be less than six months. For others it may be fourscore and ten years. But as I’ve reached the halfway point to 4 score and 10, I realize that time doesn’t run evenly. When I was a kid Christmas came every three or four years. Now it comes every 4 to 6 months. I’m slowly learning the truth of James 4:14: “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” The real question is “what are we living for?” Has love for the world blinded us to our primary duty to love and obey God?
Years ago Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, made a fortune by inventing powerful explosives and licensing the formula to governments to make weapons. One day Nobel’s brother died; and a certain newspaper mistakenly printed an obituary notice for Alfred instead. It identified him as the inventor of dynamite and the man who made a fortune by enabling armies to achieve new levels of mass destruction.
Alfred Nobel had the unique opportunity to read his own obituary and to see what he would be remembered for. As you can imagine, he was shocked to think that all he had worked for—his successes, his fortune—the totality of his life, would be summed up as a merchant of death and destruction.
That unusual experience motivated Alfred Nobel to use the fortune he had acquired to establish special awards for accomplishments in various fields, which would benefit the world and all of humanity. And his efforts paid off! Because today he’s remembered not for his explosives, but for the Nobel Prizes. At the peak of his success in the eyes of the world, Nobel gained a fresh perspective which caused him to redirect his efforts for the rest of his life.
Some of us today need to preview our obituaries, gain a fresh perspective, and redirect our efforts. Some us need to remember what Jim Elliot said shortly before he died in the jungles of Ecuador trying to reach a savage tribe with the Gospel: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” And some of us need to heed what this passage says about the fact that our primary citizenship is in Heaven.
But I wonder if there aren’t some here today who love the world because it’s the only citizenship you have. Perhaps you don’t have a clue about a personal relationship with God. It’s really not that complicated. God says you have sinned and that the wages of sin is death. But He has also made provision for your sin by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in your place. He asks that you surrender control of your life to Christ and acknowledge Him as your Savior and Lord.
DATE: October 8, 1989
Tags:
World
Worldliness
[i] Robert Law, The Tests of Life, 148.
[ii] William Barclay, The Letters of John and Jude, 57.
[iii] John R. W. Stott, The Epistles of John, 101.