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The Real World

In the movie “Flags of our Fathers” scenes switch back and forth between the combat on Iwo Jima and the bond tour in the US that a few service men (who raised the famous flag on Iwo) were assigned to. In a way, the contrast between the foolish politicians and media circus and the harsh reality of combat are representative of the difference Christians should see between themselves and what the bible calls “the world”.

Those who have lived in reality such as combat veterans, hardscrabble farmers, street cops, emergency room nurses, abuse victims, and even ex-cons seldom find the soft pleasure to be found in the world that resonates with vanity, greed, pride, or ambition to be appealing. Environments of celebrity, status, position, fame, or even wealth and power hold little attraction. Those who elbow each other jockeying for position in the social world of prominence and influence are often seen as fools of corrupt character.

Satan runs the course of this world (for now) and makes great use of the foolish, vain, and greedy. Not all who experience harshness in life come to see reality, but many do. For those who have been spared harsh experiences, being able to see reality clearly can be much more difficult. The Christian who has been raised in comfort has the opportunity to gain the advantages of seeing the reality of the world but has to consistently seek wisdom and grow in the knowledge of truth as well as exercise discernment.

Many in the world doing worldly things are not evil mustache twirling villains. They are often those who find the worldly systems not only acceptable, but advantageous. It is their ignorance that can cause them to endorse these systems with a believable sincerity. Many Christians have been taken in to lend their support to worldly systems as well.

The “world” Satan is shaping is a network of collectives (governments, schools, corporations, and even some churches). These are administered by those driven by greed and vanity to advance their control over the lives of everyone so that all might ultimately be brought under Satanic rule. The three groups cited by Jesus as hypocrites might be motivated by vanity for the Pharisees and Sadducees and more by greed for the Herodians. These forces continue today but vastly expanded.

Technology has been used by Satan to create an alternate reality to the natural world God created. As a result, most of the world has the opportunity to indulge levels of selfishness that only the wealthy few in the past could afford. Sometimes youth are chastised for the time they spend amusing themselves with diversions such as video games. They can be told that they need to learn how to function in the “real world” by which is often meant the social world of school and employment.

A case can be made that the “real” world was the one God created including the hardships that the use of technology has eased. One measure of the transition from the natural world to the artificial one is the ability to support a mostly urban society as opposed to a mostly rural one. England transitioned in 1850. The US became mostly urban in 1920. It is estimated that the world all together became mostly urban by 2010. As a result, the measures of a person such as what they own, how they dress, and their prominence have become more significant than how honest they are, how willing to help a friend, or how faithful.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. - 1 John 2:16

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