Have you ever felt like a refugee or a fugitive? Those words aren’t just for the nightly news: it can happen to anyone. European Jews moving to America to escape Nazis? Fugitives. People in Mexico, on the run from the government of Honduras? Fugitives. Russians in the U.S. on the run from the Soviet KGB? Fugitives. Cubans in Florida desperately trying to escape the Communist regime of Fidel Castro? Fugitives. Mary and Joseph raising a family in Alexandria, Egypt, on the run from Herod? Fugitives. Abraham moving from Ur where he was raised to the land that would one day be named after his grandson, Israel? A fugitive.
The Bible often uses the term “pilgrim” where contemporary English might employ the word “fugitive” or “refugee.”
And the Bible says we are pilgrims, strangers in a strange land. Refugees and fugitives. Why? Because we are citizens of Heaven, merely visitors—vacationers—on Earth.
And how does it feel to be on the road? It can be fun, of course. But it is unsettling. You never sleep in your own bed. You have none of the comforts of home. You drink someone else’s coffee. Someone else prepares your meals. Travel and money dictate your schedule, your stops, and so many other things. You never truly relax. You sleep, of course, but not the way you do at home. You sleep with one eye open, alert in some way, keyed up and distracted by the day you had and the day ahead. And if anything goes wrong—car trouble or a medical emergency—being on the road can quickly become a nightmare.
As Christians, our whole lives are spent as pilgrims, strangers in a strange land. We are always on a road trip. We think about Heaven, we know Heaven is our real home. We are just passing through this world of woe (to quote an old song).
But it is easy to forget these things as a teenager. When you are young, you want so desperately to fit in. All young people long to be accepted and affirmed—and if the world will affirm you, you’ll take it, because you want affirmation so badly. But God warns us about that.
“Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away and all of its lusts. But the one who does the will of God abides forever” 1 John 2:15-17.
What does the Bible mean by “the world” and “worldliness”?
So what is the world? What is it that you are not supposed to love? I think of the “world” as the culture created by lost people: their music, their fashions, their bling, their values, their influences, their beliefs, their philosophies, their entertainment—movies, shows, albums, art, books, magazines, YouTube channels, Twitter feeds, Instagram, and on and on. Any culture created by lost people becomes another piece of the world. Is it all bad? Of course not. But should we consume it carefully? Definitely.
John later explains, “We know that we are of God, and THE WHOLE WORLD IS UNDER THE SWAY OF THE EVIL ONE,” 1 John 5:19. And we already read above that “the world and all its lusts is passing away” (2:17). We are warned throughout the New Testament to be careful about the world. Don’t love the world. Don’t be deceived by the world. Don’t be lured and taken in by the world.
“Do not love the world or the things of the world. Because if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” 1 John 2:15.
Do you love the world? Think about it. Search your heart.
God, speaking through John, says that if you love the world, love for the Father is not in you.
You must make a choice: do you love the Father or do you love this fickle lost world (that will never love you back)? You cannot love both.
To put it in more practical terms, can you reject the world’s culture in favor of the Father? I know you can—I’m sure you answered that question with a yes. Read it again: Can you reject the world’s culture in favor of the Father?
Yes, you can. Next question: do you?/will you?
Think about it. Do you turn off the phone to spend a few minutes with Jesus? Will you shut off the car radio to pray on the way to school or work? Will you turn off all your media options and give the first few minutes of the day to the Bible?
Don’t be too loyal to the world. In fact, I want to encourage you to be disloyal to the world. REBEL against the world. FIGHT its influence. REJECT the world as many times a day as you can. Turn things off. Go on an internet fast. Power down your cell phone. Fight your own tendency to be enslaved by these things.
Why would I encourage rebellion? Because the world hates you. It does. The world hates you now and it will hate you forever. You will always be a refugee and a fugitive. You will NEVER fit in.
Don’t believe me? Consider 1 John 3:3: “Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.” And Jesus said the same: “You will be hated by EVERYONE because of me” Matthew 10:22. (Do you ever feel hated by everyone? It hurts so bad. But be loyal to Jesus—He will always love you.)
Finally, remember that the Devil has been given temporary reign on this earth. “The whole world is under the power of the evil one” 1 John 5:19. HOWEVER, “greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world” (4:4). Love Jesus. Rebel against the world.
Dear God, help us to love you more and to love the world less. I know the world will always reject Christians. Help us to rebel against the pull of the world, to hate the world, and to love Jesus instead. Help us to love you deeply, desperately, passionately. Draw us to you with a pull, a magnetism with which the world can never compete. May our love for Jesus eclipse completely the shallow, meaningless attractions of the world.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 