The World Is Not Enough (1)
“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” John 17:15 NASB
Take them out – Hedonism, cynicism and stoicism: the lethal combination of worldviews that defines our culture.
Hedonism—the pursuit of personal pleasure coupled with the belief that happiness is the key to life found in sensual self-indulgence. Eat, drink and be merry. The highest good is feeling great.
Cynicism—a worldview that sees self-interest as the only true basis of personal motivation, questioning the value of doing any act other than those that contribute to personal gain. The highest good is taking care of me—first!
Stoicism—the ancient Greek philosophy that virtue is found in knowledge alone and that hardship and pain are inevitable tests of one’s resolve to accept life as it is without complaint. Stoicism becomes the excuse that things can’t be changed, that fate has cast her lot and that those who suffer somehow deserved it. “S__t happens.”
What kind of world results from combining these three? A world that we know all too well. A world where “What’s in it for me?” is closely connected to “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” and “Love the one you’re with.” In this world, the greatest sin is not taking it while you can. The combination is the epitome of selfishness justified by appeal to a morality without God. In the end, it is a world where might makes right and everyone serves the master. Convert or die.
Why didn’t Yeshua pray for his disciples to be removed from this kind of world? Didn’t he know that it’s a living hell here? Didn’t he understand that history is a nightmare, not a lullaby? Why didn’t he want us to have some relief? Even the Christian Church offers an escape plan (get saved and go to heaven after you suffer appropriately). Why did he want us to endure all this?
The reason is shocking, disturbing and revolutionary. Yeshua wants us to be here because God didn’t finish the job! We are called to complete what God began. Creation isn’t over until righteousness is restored on earth—until the Kingdom arrives here. It is useless of us to be in heaven when the creation of the Kingdom is on earth. We must stay in order to “walk ahead of [God] and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). God gave us the responsibility and the authority to complete His creation outside the walls of the Garden. He gave us the model and the instructions and told us to build. Now He waits while we work. It is our job to overcome hedonism with compassion, to destroy cynicism with self-sacrifice, and to abolish stoicism with relationship and hope.
Time to get to work.
Does that sound burdensome? Just more work when we are already inundated with obligations and commitments? Now God has to load us down with the weight of Kingdom completion? Ah, but this work—overcoming the subtle self-destructiveness of the world—ushers in the glory of the King. And that means it is not toil He is asking us to perform. It is fulfillment of who we really are. “For the joy set before me, I did what He asked.”
Topical Index: stoicism, cynicism, hedonism, take them out, John 17:15, Genesis 17:1
Good word today. I honestly thought that since you had made bold “take them out” that you were going to touch on escape theology again. The Earth is our home for sure. We’ve got to change thinking from “get me off this rock” to “thy kingdom come”.
“Straight is the line of Duty,
Curved is the line of Beauty,
Follow the straight line, thou shalt see,
The curved line ever follow thee.”
William McCall
If I cannot look around me and see those around me through the eyes of my Saviour; the eyes if of my Saviour on the execution stake that those around Him PUT HIM ON; the eyes that see salvation from THAT PLACE – not for me, but for them, then it is very likely that I will never be invited to the Place beyond this place at all.
We all must hang together or it is for sure that we will all hang separately. We all have to make it off the island together, which is to say what is needed is not a boat; what is needed is to figure out how to become an ant ball.
When my pond flooded after long drought, there were seven fire ant hills in the bottom that flooded. Every ant of those hills hung onto the other ants and formed a floating ball. Like bees, they took turns about who was under water, and who got to breathe. Those balls floated for FIVE MONTHS. Storms broke them up into smaller balls; some of them drifted onto weed stems in the water. They ate spring pollen that drifted on the water. Eventually some of them got blown to shore, some of them became pollywog food. If ants can do it, surely we can.
Laurita,
This is a beautiful story of how the Ru’ach teaches through nature! Thank you for sharing this story about the ants. I will share it with my young students this week as we are studying being created in His likeness and the body.
The Song of Victory
Sin. Satan. – and Self(?) Know thine enemy!
~ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit ~ “You (we) must be born from Above!”
Hopefully, by now we know sin is wrong. And we also know, according to the word of God, we are (all) sinners. “ALL” have sinned.. Yes, “self” included! Sin is, (in its most simple form), disobedience to the instructions (Torah) of YHWH, disobedience to the word(s) of God. God says “don’t,” – we do. God says “do,” – we don’t. And (just the facts m’am), ALL have sinned.. with, of course, the exception of One. One who lived a completely Torah-obedient life.
Satan? A (thoroughly) defeated foe. When? Where? How? – at the tslav, the execution stake of Calvary.
And now we come to the final frontier, “self”- the last enemy to be destroyed. The big “I”. EGO. Edge God Out. Our theme song? I Did It My Way. I’m the captain of my fate! I’m the master of my soul! “I” am large and in charge! – Uhh.. excuse me, – no, – you are not. You are neither “large” nor -“in charge,” – God is. ~ He must increase, but “I” must decrease ~
How is this made possible? ~ “I” am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live! ~Yet, not “I”, but Christ. ~ This is our “new life in a nutshell”- “Not I, but Christ!” So long self!! And?? ~ if any man (any woman, any child) be *in Christ*- he, (or she) is a new creation!- Old things? (past away) All things? (made new!)- Brought to you by, our Sponsor-Savior-Sustainer, the Crucified-Buried-Resurrected-Reigning One: Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus (who is the) Christ.
One who now ~ ever lives to make intercession for us!! ~ One, whom to know is life everlasting! ” This is eternal life, – that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
~ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him ~ (John 3.17)
I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins;
And won the victory.
O victory in Jesus!,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me e’re I knew Him,
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.
I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing power revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
– Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and brought
To me the victory.
I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
(And this good day, I’ll sing down here!)
The song of victory.
~ and He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God! ~
WILL WORK FOR GOD!
Jesus told us He choose us and appointed us to
“bear fruit”.
That being, fruit of the Spirit.
Love. Joy. Peace. Longsuffering. Kindness. Goodness.
Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control.
That takes work. So how do we accomplish it?
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me,
and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
Jn 15:5
With Him abiding in us, and us abiding in Him, we ARE new creations
chosen to bear fruit and to do it abundantly while we’re here!
That work takes faith! “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
“And the world is passing away, and the lust of it;
but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 Jn 2:17
“And I also heard the voice of the Lord saying”
“Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” Is 6:8
Hedonism, cynicism and stoicism: the lethal combination of worldviews that defines our culture.
What is it we must endure before we change?
Perhaps it is “change” that we must endure. 🙂
Skip, there is something else the world is full of that has kept me from “kingdom work” even more than hedonism, cynicism and stoicism. It is far more subtle and therefore even more deadly than these three. Until we recognize it for what it is we will never fully live out our true identities. What I’m referring to is a religious spirit that causes those who are zealous for God to continue eating from the wrong tree. I don’t care how biblically accurate our theology is, if we have not learned to discern this spirit (IN OURSELVES) we will never be able to truly live out the first and greatest commandment (and the second which is like it).
I so appreciate how God is working to bring His people back around to recognizing and connecting with their Hebraic roots. But it grieves me when I see my brothers and sisters who are rediscovering this wonderful reality fall into the same sin that the Church has been falling into ever since The Ephesian church went down the path of separating the true apostles from the false (which was a good thing), but losing sight of what was most important. The moment we indulge ourselves in the thought that we are somehow “better” (in any way, shape or form) we have taken the bait and are hooked by this vile (but it looks and tastes so good, so right) spirit.
We can point out the obvious sins in others (whether it be the world, or the Church that has gotten so far off-base). But are we willing to do the REALLY hard work of examining where the enemy still has a foothold in our own selves?
Bruce,
I so agree with you. We must remember to love. We only see in part. Thank you for the reminder!