Fluff

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:4-10 ESV). Recently I heard someone say that Pluralism was the new reality of our world. I wondered if they were correct in that assertion, so I did a little research. We certainly do live in an age of pluralism, where, in fact, the Christian church no longer holds a position of power and influence in the culture. Further, we can see the changing of the philosophy of a broad spectrum of religious leaders and organizations. Today the watchword seems to be inclusivism. The worldview to which one’s religious belief is not the sole and exclusive source of truth is prevalent in our culture. Religious tolerance has become the mantra of virtually every denomination and organization. Ecumenism and the promotion of unity regardless of belief are prominently held in our culture. And, there exists a multiplicity of religions in our nation as never before. Many Christians, “What can we do to keep our children in church and walking in our faith?” Some change their worship style to incorporate new music. Others try different methods of programming. There’s the remnant who stick to the ways of old. In all of this chaos lies the opportunity for compromise. We would do well to listen to the warning of James in our reading today. He simply says, “Don’t be friends with the world!” In this same conversation where the individual I was talking with lamented pluralism, they offered the simple solution of returning to “the good old days.” I wondered aloud what that looked like. They said we needed to retake our churches and schools with a return to strict discipline and remove ourselves from any worldly activities. In fact, they said the root of the loss of a fundamental belief in the “truth” was the development of technology. Their exact words were, “If we didn’t have a computer in every home and the internet, our country would not be in ruin.” Well, let me be quick in dismissing either that path or the one that says every path leads to the same goal of eternal life. Neither of those is correct. The answer is in the simplicity of the Gospel. God took on human form in Jesus; he died, was buried, and rose from the dead for the remission of our sin; and, He is coming again to judge the living and the dead. There is only one way to escape condemnation and that way is through the redemptive work of Christ. Forget all the other stuff; that’s mere fluff. Keep your eyes on Jesus. You won’t go far wrong from that perspective. That will certainly keep you from becoming a “friend with the world.”