Don't love the world, but love lost people

As we heard this morning, if we love the world system and its values, love for God gets pushed out of our lives. Indeed, being controlled by our sensual desires, living for pleasure, will quickly blunt our love for God. Indeed, Paul says in 1 Timothy 6.6-10:

...godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Note that it isn't money or the "stuff" of this world that is a problem, but a live for them. Misusing God's good gifts, misplacing our priorities, will be sure to get our life out of whack and away from God's will.

If we live according to God's priorities, we will indeed look odd to the world around us. This doesn't mean, however, that we should try to be strange to the world. We shouldn't try to offend people by appearing as condemning, judgmental, prudish people, but instead we should love lost people. Jesus loved lost people, Jesus hung out with lost people. W ought to care enough about lost people that we are in touch with their needs, hurts, and hopes, and we ought to bring Scripture to bear on those things. We have real answers to the questions and problems people are facing, but if we're out of touch with lost people, we have fewer opportunities to share the hope Jesus gives.

There is definitely a balancing act to obeying our mandate to "Be in the world, but not of the world." The key in relationships with lost people is to frequently ask ourselves (and trusted Christian friends) whether we're influencing our lost friends more, or if they're influencing us more. I loved Pastor Perry's analogy to scuba diving. We need the "fresh air" of the Word, fellowship, and accountability. These things help remind us of God's priorities. But we still need to be in the water, living for Jesus as we encounter people who are drowning, who desperately need to breath the air.