What is worldliness?  Well, before reading this book I would have said it was the state of a person whose whole life is dominated by material things.  I would have answered, worldliness is something others struggle with, but certainly not me.  Well, in classic Mahaney fashion, I was humbled…again. 

In “Worldliness, Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World ”, C.J. Mahaney has compiled 6 essays that clearly point out that you don’t have to be totally sold out to the world to be “worldly”.  Worldliness exists in little areas of our lives that we consider as harmless or manageable.  Yet, it is from those little areas that worldliness relentlessly launches its attack with the goal of completely taking over and destroying us.

In fact, worldliness hunts everyone down.  No-one is immune.   If we avoid it, it finds us.  The world bombards our senses with sounds, images and thoughts  that remain in our minds forever.  Because of this fact, today’s victory can become tomorrow’s battle.  As CJ puts it:

“Today the greatest challenge facing American evangelicals is not persecution from the world but seduction by the world. We are not under attack from without, we are decaying from within”

Yet, CJ points out that worldliness is not a uniquely 21st century thing.  We can’t blame it on the convenient Christian scapegoats of TV’s, iPods, movies, DVD’s, video games, fashion or consumerism.  Worldliness has always existed in some form,  relative to the time and culture where Christian’s lived.  He quotes CH Spurgeon from over 150 years ago:

“The one reason why the church of God at the present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church.”

The Apostles even warned of it in their day. 

Traditionally, the Christian response to worldliness has been withdrawal from the culture, monasticism and more commonly today; legalism.  Today, many Christians fall for the list of do’s and don’ts or practicing some rigorous set of rules as a panacea for worldliness.  The list does not even need to be formal.  It can be a set of personal moralistic views about things like Bible versions, holidays, type of church, TV channels, movies or music.   Yet, in doing so, there is a tendency to deceive ourselves into a false sense of security.  The list becomes the measure of our “goodness”.  Pride in accomplishing this list further obscures the realization that no matter what we do, we are still sinful when compared to God.  Legalism, denies the power and grace of God.  That’s why it’s so dangerous.  Our only hope, the grace of God, and our grace-sustained faith, is conveniently replaced by a deceptive creation of man.   While I don’t know this to be true, I would imagine worldliness exists within the Amish community, a group of people who we tend to view as having successfully resisted worldly influence.

In the face of what seems to be an impossible battle, CJ points the reader back to the Bible.  “Only through the cross of Jesus Christ can we successfully resist the seduction of a fallen world” , he says.  As he so simply pointed out in his book “Living The Cross Centered Life”, the cross of Christ empowers us not only through it’s past significance and what Christ accomplished on it but also in its significance in the way we view it relative to our lives, today.  We are no less in need of the cross today than when we lived a life of unbelief. 

The book contains short but thorough discussions on those places where worldliness is most commonly found.  They represent things that are clearly gifts from God and not intrinsically bad, but without discernment, become the catalysts of worldliness.  Things like:

  • Media: What we choose to view or listen to
  • Music:  What we enjoy listening to.
  • Stuff:  The choices we make with our money
  • Clothes: What we wear and why we wear it

 

Each section deals openly with worldliness from a personal perspective and addresses the heart issues that cause Christians to “worship” man’s creation rather than God himself.  

The essay’s section end with a call by Jeff Purswell to “love the world” as Christ would have done; by acknowledging the provision of God in His goodness, engaging the culture and acting in love for the world, with an eye to evangelism. 

The book concludes with the Mahaney family’s “ Modesty Heart Check” and a unique challenge of Considering Modesty on Your Wedding Day.  While aimed mainly at women, they certainly have application for men, especially teens and father’s of daughters. 

The final section lists a set a questions, dealing with issues presented in the book, that can be used as a personal study or in a small group. 

Where did this book affect me?  It was in Craig Cabaness’ section titled “God, My Heart and Media” that I found my greatest challenge.  While I don’t watch much television, by nature, I am a “multi-media sponge” and self-described political junkie.  The media coverage of the current election cycle is a major struggle for me.  Again, not that there is anything inherently wrong with wanting to be an informed voter.  It’s a worthy cause that many more people should pursue.  However, I find it easy and convenient to use the informed voter excuse as a way to justify watching political news, when in-fact I have already made up my mind who to vote for.  It’s also very easy for me to “pile on” when I see my candidate’s negative ads,  regardless of whether I know them to be true or not.  I also find a certain “joy” in watching my candidate hurl “zinger’s” at his opponent.  I also take pleasure in hearing the media “spin” things in favor of “my guy”.  The bottom line is that I am an arrogant and proud supporter of my candidate.  The media has me right where they want me.   I am a full-fledged member of the TV mob, cheering for my candidate and demanding blood from his opponent in the Colosseum of presidential election politics.  Through my actions, I am demonstrating that I am no different that a 1st Century Roman arena spectator.  I am worldly. 

What I learned from this book is that I was not the man I thought I was.  I was big in my own mind but prideful in God’s eyes.  I learned that the sin of pride is a key ingredient in worldliness (I Cor 10:12).  For me, this sin weakened my Spirit-led discernment, one of the weapons I need to fight against being pulled into the world.  This book was a call to guard my heart even more and to crawl back to the Cross even more frequently. 

Read more information about or purchase “Worldliness”  here.

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