If You Love the World, You Hate God

Christians are funny creatures aren't we? I mean we are really good at proclaiming the gospel with our lips, but terrible at living it out. We are like the parent who keeps making threats to spank their child but never follows through; nobody actually believes the things that we say. Maybe we don't even believe the things we say. That would lead to the hard truth that we may not really believe that God's Word means what it says.

Think about that for a moment; do you really see God's Word as having authority in your life? When you read things like "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," do you say amen with your lips, or your life? Or both? Or neither? We like to make things not seem as serious as they really are.

Or maybe I'm the only one that can have an awesome time with Jesus in the morning and live like the Devil by sunset. We get on our knees, mark up our Bibles, fill journals with 'spiritual thoughts' and all that good stuff, but we never actually allow the God to change our hearts through His Word. I know you've heard all this before but I want you to stop for a moment and think about your life. Does your life line up with the Word of God? Are you living in a way that displays the righteousness of Christ in you; a righteousness that could never come from within yourself?

Okay, let's think about what John is saying here for a moment: If you love the world, God's love is not in you. And so John is quite simply telling us that we cannot call ourselves a Christian if we love the world. What does loving the world mean? Loving the world's theology. Wanting what the world has to offer that is outside of the will of God for us. I get so sick of hearing people say things like "just follow your heart," or "God will never give you more than you can handle," or "be true to yourself, haters gonna hate." Clinging to unbiblical philosophies of life like those would be a perfect example of loving the world.

Or let's say you're like me and you are more far quicker to get on Facebook, get your cup of coffee or read the newspaper before you even think about spending time with Jesus. That's loving the world because your love for what the world has to offer exceeds your love for Jesus in moments like those. John says that in those moments, the love of the Father is not in you. James took it further and said "You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4).

If you love the world it's not just that you aren't loving God in that moment; you are making yourself an enemy of God. James was talking to believers when he said this, so this is not a warning to only unbelievers. I need to remember that because I tend to use the Bible as a way to convict my brothers and sisters in Christ before I let it permeate my heart and change me at the core. Which is why I am writing this blog post; God has completely wrecked me with this truth today.

There has to be a point in my life and yours where we begin to actually believe what God's Word says. I'm not only talking about claiming His promises, I'm talking about also obeying His commandments. The cool part is "His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3). The burden is when we are claiming to love God but are actually in love with the world. Making yourself an enemy of God is the biggest weight you will ever bear. But living in His will frees you and you will "abide forever" (1 John 2:17).

The best advice I can give you at the end of this is to wake up everyday to hear from God, and then do what He says. It's that simple. Be sure you remember that He has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to do the very things He asks of us! How cool is that?! So what are you waiting for? Go in the love of the Father and not the world.

Right Doctrine Gone Wrong

Being a pastor is a tough calling for many reasons. One of those reasons is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to teach proper doctrine. Another reason is that it is far too easy to focus so much on teaching correct doctrine that we miss discipling our people. If you and I start to think that the only aspect of discipleship is what we teach from the pulpit and how we organize our Sunday services, we have missed it entirely.

We spend so much time and energy into preparing our sermons and services that we never gear in to the specific needs of our people. The old saying is true though: "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." I'm mainly speaking to pastors and elders here: when is the last time you preached a message that wasn't intended to convict, but encourage? I'm not asking us to become 'feel good' false teachers like Joel Osteen. What I am asking is that we understand when our people need to be encouraged.

Don't forget that discipleship is a process. We can't come in every Sunday expecting to change our people with our sermon that we are sure will convict everyone; it just doesn't work that way. If all your church says about you as a pastor is that "he sure is smart," or "he knows the Scripture so well," then you're not doing the work of a Shepherd.

Please don't misunderstand me here, I think doctrine is vital to a church and if you throw away proper doctrine, you don't really have a church. But we are supposed to lead our people to a relationship with Jesus first. Proper doctrine will follow an authentic relationship with Jesus; the real Jesus. But pastor, think about it for a moment, are there people in your congregation who won't listen to you because all you're trying to do is cram doctrine down their throats instead of loving them when they need it most?

We must find a balance here. We must spend time with Jesus and allow our relationship with Him to flow through our ministries. Stop planning sermons based on what 'so and so need(s) to hear.' The people at your church must see a pastor that is going through the same things they are. They don't need your fancy quotes or the fruits of your la(bore)ious study. They need the fruits of your labor with Jesus. That's what being a pastor is all about after all.

Stop trying to show how much of the Bible you know. Start showing your people how the gospel affects every area of their lives. Teach them that even though they probably just had the worst week of their lives, God hasn't run out of grace for them in this very moment. They don't need your intelligence, they need Jesus. Reflect Him, not just knowledge about Him.