Fundamentalism

You don’t hear much preaching against worldliness these days. Having grown up hearing negative references to “the world,” “worldly” and “worldliness” on a fairly regular basis, the absence seems odd to me sometimes. On the other hand, where worldliness is still a frequented topic, the term seems unclear, disconnected from biblical intent—or both. Whatever happened to worldliness?

More than one phenomenon is occurring.

First, we have a problem of omission. In some cases, this is due to nothing more than uncertainty by pastors and teachers as to how to handle the subject effectively. But sadly, in many ministries, the neglect is due to philosophies of ministry that embrace worldliness as the number one way to “reach people” and achieve “relevance.” What has happened to worldliness in these cases is that—as a pulpit and classroom topic—it has been shelved.

Second, in some ministries, the terms “worldly” and “worldliness” occur rarely from the pulpit simply because they occur rarely in Scripture. Though references to “world” abound in the Bible, “worldly” occurs only twice in the KJV (Titus 2:12 KJV, Heb. 9:1 KJV). The 1984 NIV uses it ten times (Luke 16:9 NIV; Luke 16:11 NIV; 1 Cor. 3:1 NIV, 1 Cor. 3:3 NIV; 2 Cor. 1:12 NIV, 2 Cor. 1:17 NIV; 2 Cor. 5:16 NIV, 2 Cor. 7:10 NIV; Titus 2:12 NIV). Still, the term “worldliness” does not occur in the Bible at all. So, what has happened to worldliness in these ministries is that it is being handled biblically using different language.

Originally written for The Body Builder, a publication of Highland Park Church.

Many times folks have mentioned that a relative has begun attending church. When I ask the name of the church, people sometimes have no idea. When I ask what kind of church they are attending (Baptist, Methodist, Christian, etc.), they often have no clue either!

The lesson, of course, is that most Christians are confused about various denominational beliefs and differences. Some do not take seriously the differences in belief between churches. In their view, as long as one attends church, that is all that matters. In my mind, attending a non-evangelical church can be worse than attending no church.

Still, I admit, it is confusing. To make matters worse, some churches believe the Bible is historically and theologically reliable (we call such churches conservative) while others doubt some or much of it (we call such churches liberal). Others have a mixture of belief and unbelief.

This June is a month of changes for SharperIron. Several design changes are planned by month’s end. A restructuring of the Forums is in the works.