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Loving this Present World

Paul wrote Timothy (2Tim 4:10) that Demas had departed from him having “loved this present world”. The word translated “world” is aion and simply meant “age”. Confusingly this same word is often translated eternal. The idea Paul is communicating is that Demas “loved” this age more than the one (the one ruled by Christ) that was to come. Jesus told Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). Many take this to mean that the kingdom of God is spiritual. However, perhaps a more accurate view is that the kingdom that will be Christ’s will be established once the “world” now run by Satan (Eph 2:2) is ended (Rev 12:12).

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. - 1 John 2:15

Satan set this present world (age) to accomplish his goals. This required a major effort to collectivize humans. To this end Satan made use of those things that appeal to our baser nature (greed, vanity, fear, and comfort). He needed schools to transition people away from families. He has made use of many sincere people working hard to make this institution function, yet people like John Taylor Gatto have been able to view it in the larger historical context as being ultimately harmful. While many will powerfully defend public education, it is only one of the systems Satan has established to pacify humans to be compliant to the collectivized world he has been creating.

Satan has been particularly effective in getting us to institute and defend his collectives. We have come to the point where most may not even be able to imagine the world without them. Even churches can operate as mechanical systems where programs, events, and scripted activities carry one on with a feeling of comfortable collective repetitiveness instead of making steady individual progress in Christ-likeness. Church and school are not the only “sacred cows” in the world, but are two of the biggest and represent how resistant we are to hear anything negative about them.

Karl Marx thought religion was the “opiate of the masses” which was stopping them from rising up in revolution against the ownership classes. Perhaps a better “opiate” candidate is entertainment. With TV, movies, video games, and now the Internet, there seems to be increasingly little chance that people will intentionally choose to question much less separate from “this present world”.

Many people will be outraged to hear anything disparaging of the institutions they cherish. This may be reflective of the degree to which they love this present world. James wrote that even “friendship” with the world made one an enemy of God (James 4:4). Paul wrote the Corinthians that it is impossible to withdraw from the world (1Cor 5:9-10). However, one can transcend the world by cultivating discernment such that seeing the world in truth allows one to be free from its captivating influence. For example, seeing a young woman in a seductive advertisement can be rather interpreted as a picture of a little girl who grew up with poor parental instruction and exploited by advertisers promising her fame and riches helps reduce the allure the advertisers were hoping for.

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. - John 8:31-32

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