Blogging BCM: Cut and Paste

Probably the most convicting statement during last night's message for me was when Tim said that he had seen a lot of previous BCM'ers forsake their faith and fall into the seduction of the world, and that most of us probably would too. I woke up this morning still reflecting upon that. Take a moment and think about where you are right now in your faith, where you are spiritually and try to imagine yourself falling away. Is it hard? You may say that it's impossible, there's no way you will be one of those "most" Tim was talking about. We fail to realize though how easy it is to fall into the seduction of the world. CJ Mahaney writes in Worldliness of how subtle it can be to fall into loving the world without hardly realizing it:

A love for the world begins in the soul. It's subtle, not always immediately obvious to others, and often undetected by the people who are slowly succumbing to its lies.

It begins with a slow conscience and a listless soul. Sin does not grieve him like it once did. Passion for the Savior begins to cool. Affections grow dim. Excitement lessens for participating in the local church. Eagerness to evangelize starts to wane. Growth in godliness slows to a craw.

We are all susceptible to easily falling in love with the world. The slow seduction of the fallen world is powerful. Satan wants to deceive us into thinking we are immune, but we aren't. He wants us to think we aren't doing anything wrong by the steps we're taking as we're being pulled to the world, but we are. Satan wants us to believe in our hearts we're still doing good, while he slowly pulls and pulls and pulls and before we even realize it, we're in love with the world. Mahaney describes this fight for the world as being an every day battle.

Every moment of every day we're making choices - whether we realize it or not - between love for a world that opposes God and love for the risen Christ.

This struggle with Satan between loving the world and truly following and loving our Savior Jesus Christ is an every day war. The decisions that every day pop into our heads.

Should I really read my Bible today? I just don't have the time and I can just pick back up tomorrow and nothing will happen.

This movie doesn't have that much wrong in it. A few images won't really do much to affect my walk in Christ.

I'll pray as I go to sleep and if I fall asleep in the middle of praying, God knows my heart is right and knows who and what needs prayer.

It starts with questions like these. Before we know it, we haven't read our Bible in over a week. We fall into the entanglements of lust by the movies and media we infiltrate our lives with. We haven't truly had good prayer time with God in over a month due to our exhaustive nature. These are daily decisions that either pull us slowly but surely to developing a love for the world, or draw us closer and closer to the relationship with God we were created to have.

You may say these scenarios do not necessarily describe you. First, you're probably lying to me and yourself. Second, if they truly don't, you have your own scenarios. You know what decisions you're faced with daily that can turn you're harmful ignorance into a love for this world or bring you into a stronger communion with Christ. Mahaney concludes almost by saying:

Worldliness is so serious because Christ is so glorious.

How true is this statement?! Worldliness is serious and therefore we must be serious and diligent in our everyday fight against it. We must one by one, face our decisions head on with the attitude like that of Christ Jesus. We must think about what choice we make will bring us closer to glorifying Him. We must resist Worldliness by seeking him. If we do this, not just alone, but together as brothers and sisters in Christ, we could be the group that Tim might one day say did not fall away to the world, but chose to seek and serve Christ instead.

This week as you go throughout your classes and the many things you have to do, do not let busyness become an excuse to be slowly taken into the grip of the world. Prayerfully face every decision knowing that it could help drag you into having a love for the world. Reflect on Tim's message and about the areas of your life that may not be reflecting a love for Christ, but a love for the world. For deeper reflection, study and application, think about these things throughout your week:

"Are the lines between Christian and worldly conduct blurry in your mind - and more importantly, in your life?"

"Is your lifestyle obviously different from that of a non-Christian?"

Read 1 John 2:15 and Galatians 6:14. What are these verses telling us and how are they related to one another?

Just to let you know as a final thought, the fight against worldliness is a battle that does not need to be fought alone. If you ever need someone to talk to or have questions regarding worldliness or even Christianity, Tim and myself are always available to talk. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask.