"The World" system and the scriptures

God vs. Satan - which one rules your world?

The Bible talks often about "The World" system and how Satan uses it to trap us into sinning.  The scriptures talk about Satan prowling around like a lion, looking for someone to destroy.  We are told to be "in the World, but not of the World,"  that "the love of money is the root of all evil," we are to be "Salt and Light," and that "we cannot serve two masters,"  but we all struggle understanding this concept of "the World" versus "the Kingdom of God."  I mean, what does that all really mean?  It is so metaphorical, so rooted in first century Jewish culture that we don't really understand what they are talking about do we?  Satan is called "the god of this world,"  and we are told that "if anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him."

First of all, have we ever heard this truth?  If not, have we read it ourselves?  If you've read any of the New Testament, you've read teachings warning about the dangers of this world, but do we really take it seriously?  This concept of this evil world system on one hand feels right as we all know things are not right in this world, that things should be different, they should be different than they are.  But do we really live like we take this seriously in our day to day lives?  How much time have we spent considering whether our entertainment, job pursuits, wants and goals are "of this world" or are "of God?"  How much of our lives and the things we spend  our time, money, and effort on are determined by an evil world system?

Returning from a mission trip is always a disorienting time of reflection.  We naturally reconsider how we spend every moment of time in our lives.  The need is so great in so many areas of the world to hear the Gospel, to relieve hunger, pain, suffering, to cure disease, and to show God's love that we struggle with finding  important so many mundane things in our "regular" lives.  Part of this is the realization, after spending time in another culture, that much of our society is centered around the meaningless selfish pursuit of pleasure, things, and pride.  Recognizing how we are caught up in these things leads to confusion and sadness.  Sadness that so much of life is wasted on meaningless pursuits that glorify Satan and distance us from God, and confusion about how we could more authentically live as a true disciple of Jesus.

If you're reading this and wondering if this world system is really so evil, check out this link and see how marketers deliberately entice us through "the seven deadly sins": How To Use the “Seven Deadly Sins” to Turn Visitors into Customers - Smashing Magazine  After reading this, see if you feel sick realizing how you have been manipulated by your own sinful broken desires away from God rather than towards God by marketing and this world we live in.  Spend some time reflecting with me on how we can avoid getting entangled by our own evil desires.  I don't have the answers, but I do have the questions and sleepless nights.


Jim