Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 1 John 2:15
In this text, John is not speaking of the people in the world for “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,” but the systems of the world that are controlled by Satan. These are the systems of philosophy, power, politics, media, etc. that war against the kingdom of God and draw men away from the Father.
The nature of the Kingdom of God is countercultural to the world. Paul draws the line when he says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord” (2 Cor. 6:14-17). Paul asserts that there are ultimately only two kingdoms and only two people groups. You are either in the kingdom of God or the kingdom of darkness. The presence of the Holy Spirit within a person or the absence of the Spirit defines who you belong to. There is no middle ground.
On several occasions, Jesus himself observed that the world hated him and the same world would hate those who follow him. Now, more clearly than ever, lines are being drawn between the systems of the world and the Kingdom of God. People are choosing sides…many without even knowing it and the sides are at war. What people fail to realize is that spiritual forces are at work behind everything we see and hear in the natural realm and whoever you align with places you in their camp. Paul said the dividing line is Jesus.
The opposing values of each camp are becoming increasingly clear. What God calls good, the world calls evil. What the world parades as good, God clearly identifies as evil. This is not a new conflict. Isaiah warned, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isa.5:20).
American pop culture now celebrates abortion and condemns those who stand for life. Homosexuality has now hijacked the rainbow and is granted an entire month to parade and celebrate its perversions. Those who speak out against it are branded as haters and bigots. The world promotes premarital sex and cohabitation and views those who value virginity and sexual purity as strange and even deranged. The world tolerates religion as long as it is inclusive and compromising, To declare that Jesus is the only source of salvation is treated as offensive and ignorant. Accomplished scientists who would declare creationism to be true or, at least, a valid alternative to a godless universe are marginalized in their profession. University professors who would profess to be Christian will also be marginalized and discriminated against in most “leading universities” for their narrow-mindedness and bigotry.
The challenge for believers is to not be moved in their commitment to biblical truth and standards. When we hear the constant drum beat of tolerance for every lifestyle and are surrounded by so much sin that we are no longer shocked by it, incremental compromise is a very real temptation. However, To compromise on these and other important biblical truths and values out of a desire to fit in or be accepted by our culture is a form of denying Jesus. Just as Peter denied knowing Christ out of fear, we too can deny him out of our own fear of man, our own fear of rejection, or our desire to advance in the systems of the world. We may claim Jesus as Lord, but if we abandon his standards of righteousness and adopt out culture’s standards, then he is not truly our Lord.
We have quickly come to a time in which we must accept the fact that if we follow Jesus we will be rejected and even cursed by those who hate Jesus. I think we must decide ahead of time who we stand with without exception. We must accept that following Jesus may come with increasing costs.Some level of persecution is inevitable as our culture continues to reject Jesus and those who follow him. But Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Mt. 5:10-13).
We must decide now that if we stand for Jesus and the word of God, we may well lose promotions, jobs, friends, positions, opportunities, and perhaps, even our freedom. We must count them as lost ahead of time but know that blessing will come to us as a promise of God. We may lose our reputation on earth, but our reputation in heaven is all that counts. We must be clear about where Jesus stands on the issues of the day and stand with him. By definition, the kingdom of God will always be countercultural until the Lord returns. Stand firm then and be blessed in these days of trouble.