Tag: worldliness

The Vanity

Most people appear (to me) to be walking around in vanity, foolishness, emptiness, consumed with frivolous, temporal concerns. (Ep 4:17-18) What occupies the hearts and minds of almost everyone around us will vanish like vapor in the wind. (Ja 4:14b) It will all come to nothing. (Ga 6:7-8)

This may seem harsh, but think about it: what’s left of the earthly concerns of those nameless, faceless masses of humanity who’ve been dead for 1000 years? whose careers, family and friends are all long forgotten? Except for those rare exceptions recorded for us in history, art and stories, every detail of their entire existence has completely vanished from this world. You and I will be no exception. (Ec 1:2)

We may find this troublesome, distasteful and unpleasant, to think our entire existence is pointless, and rightly so. We experience an intrinsic desire to be meaningful, to fulfill a special purpose or destiny, to be significant, to be remembered. (Ge 11:4)

But vanity carries the idea of waste, purposelessness, of being empty, void, without substance or weight. It implies a problem, that purpose or meaning has been missed or lost; an open opportunity to become significant forfeited forever. (Mt 7:23)

This instinct for meaning implies our behavior is being monitored, measured and evaluated according to an eternal, moral standard (2Co 5:10); there is divine expectation in all we do (Ec 12:14), and in that sense meaning is timeless: God will treasure His elect uniquely for all eternity (Re 2:17); He will never forget us and what we have done for Him. (He 6:10)

To find true significance then is to find it forever. (Ro 2:6-7) Our longing for purpose is only fulfilled in being remembered and acknowledged by God throughout eternity (Re 3:12): we can only have real significance in Him. (Da 12:3)

The alternative is to squander one’s life in temporal concerns (Php 3:18-19) and perpetually bear the shame of having frittered away our own eternal significance. (Da 12:2)

What we’re observing is that only the God-centered life is truly meaningful (Mt 7:24-25); only God-honoring thoughts and actions pass the test. (26-27)

Those who don’t love Jesus Christ (1Co 16:22), who err, who deviate from God’s Law as a manner of life, are trodden down by God Himself as waste, pointless and vain (Ps 119:118); in the Day of His wrath He will trample them all in His fury. (Is 63:3) There is no purpose or meaning left when we alienate ourselves from Him. (Ps 73:27)

Moment by moment, what kind of treasure are we laying up in Heaven? (Mt 6:19-21) Are we storing up gold, silver and precious stones, metaphors for godly motives and actions in this life? or is it mostly wood, hay and stubble? (1Co 3:12) What tiny little fragments, what puny remnants of our earthly existence will survive the fiery evaluation of God? (13)

Our labor in God is not in vain (1Co 15:58), but absolutely everything else is. Let’s lay up for ourselves a good foundation against the time to come, laying hold of eternal life (1Ti 6:18-19), such that we’ll be remembered as eternally significant for the glory of God. (1Pe 1:7)

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Be Ye Separate

God tells us we’re to separate ourselves from the world (1Co 6:17-18), to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers (16) and to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them (Ep 5:11), yet we find Christ eating and drinking with sinners, and being very friendly with them. (Lk 17:34) God gives sunshine, rain and health to His enemies, effectively enabling them to continue in sin (Mt 5:45), and He tells us to love them and seek their good. (44)

It’s relatively easy to look down our nose at other sinners and separate from them in a spirit of pride and self-righteousness, but this isn’t Love. Yet it’s also unloving to encourage anyone to continue in sin. Where do we draw the line?

There’s a difference between treating sinners with respect and kindness and explicitly promoting perversion. There’s a difference between doing business with someone who self-identifies with sin and encouraging them to continue in their sin. There’s a difference between enabling a person to sin by helping them in non-sinful ways and actually participating with them in practicing their sin.

And there’s a difference between offering a gentle rebuke to a fellow truth-seeker (2Ti 2:24-25) and casting our pearls before swine. (Mt 7:6, Pr 9:7) Often, a godly example is sufficient reproof. (Mt 5:16)

How good does a person, organization or government need to be before we engage with them? What types of flaws, indiscretions or iniquities are acceptable before we withdraw and separate ourselves, or even rebuke and resist?

Rome was about as evil and corrupt as any nation, requiring its subjects to worship Ceasar as god, yet John the Baptist, in preparing the way for Messiah, didn’t advise publicans to stop collecting taxes for Rome (Lk 3:12-13) or soldiers to stop serving Ceasar. (14) Not only did he not resist Rome, he encouraged those who were providing a legitimate service on behalf of Rome to continue to do so with integrity.

Perhaps the rule of Love will help us clarify (Ro 13:10): how do we want others to handle this matter of separation? Do we appreciate fellow citizens standing up for godly principles and resisting those who are actively defrauding and harming others, when they are in a position to do so effectively and legally? Yes, we generally do.

Does it annoy us when the self-righteous get to meddling in the affairs of others they think are in sin, calling them out and harassing them, when they’re not deliberately harming anyone? Generally, yes.

When it’s within our power to prevent open injustice, to defend the vulnerable and the weak, and we don’t … we certainly are to blame (Pr 24:11-12, Ja 4:17), but we also must be careful not to suffer as a busybody in other men’s matters. (1Pe 4:15)

Every situation is different; we need wisdom, humility and love in each circumstance. God be merciful to us and lead us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. (Ps 23:3)

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