As a fellow professor once said, “This job would be great if I didn’t have to deal with students.” At times I’m sure we all feel that way when our fellow man seems intent on throwing our lives off kelter. At times we would like not to have to deal with others, at all, ever. But that is not the way God designed His most important creation. A famous poet once reminded us that “No man is an island”–each of us is connected to other people to one degree or another. The Ten Commandments by which we must live remind us of this fact in that six of the ten concern man’s relationship with his fellow man. In this world God’s people find themselves surrounded by those who do not share their priority–a life dedicated, consecrated and sanctified unto Him. To the sanctified (set aside) saint, pleasing Him is not the main thing–it is the only thing. He is not everything–He is the only thing. He is not the bottom line–He is the only line. He is not the best there is–He is all there is. Relative to Him, life itself is irrelevant. Nothing–not fame, fortune or family–is of importance compared to Him. If called upon to do so, the true saint will give up everything, including his life, in order to please Him. To the true God-seeker this life is merely a vapor, a mere speed bump on his way to the kingdom. All of this world’s offerings, even life itself, are but garbage when compared to what lies ahead.

But, alas, the Christian’s fellow man does not view the world and its offerings from the same perspective. Looking around at the hustle and bustle of social life it becomes obvious that the world’s masses spend their waking hours in search of what they do not have, or in search of more of what they do have. This is not wrong in and of itself. We all want to better our material lives. The problem is that man tends to focus on material things rather than the Lord. To the one striving for the things of the world, the idea of tithing his time to the Lord is out of the question. He can read, recreate, watch t.v., etc. for hours each day, but can spare only a few minutes for prayer, Bible study and meditation. What comes from his car’s speakers is not the Word of God, but the word of the world. He knows more about the political, economic, sports and entertainment world than about God’s Word. He lives in an iPod, internet, television universe that pays no homage to the God Who created that universe. Though having a good vision of man’s world, his vision of God’s world is whatever someone describes to him.

The question then becomes, what is the saint’s relationship with the world? “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. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but of the world. The world passes away, and the lust thereof, but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 Jn. 2:14-17). In 1 Peter 4:2 God tells those who seek to please Him that they are not to satisfy the lusts of the flesh, but are to live according to the will of God. In Revelation 18:1-5 we find the angel explaining to John what he had seen as recorded in the first five verses of chapter 17–a religious entity identified as the Great Whore, Babylon the Great, mother of harlots and abominations of the world. These verbal symbols represent Catholicism and the Protestant churches. Another voice then speaks to the Truth-hungry God-seeker who would find himself trapped within this religious beast: “Come out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues, for her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities” (18:4,5). In Matthew 4:4 Jesus summarizes His people’s relationship with the world around them, including the religious world: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'” The Words in the Bible were spoken by God the Father to Jesus Christ Who spoke them to the prophets and apostles who recorded them for mankind. God’s people learn, believe and obey those Words, knowing that there is no other way into His kingdom. Those who remain within the Great Whore or one of her harlot daughters believe that they have found a better way (Catholicism/ Protestantism) and a better destination (heaven).

The true Christian rejects the social and religious customs and practices of the world around him. He will not “go along to get along.” He will instead seek God’s will in every aspect of his life. He will, with Jesus, say “… not my will, O Lord, but Thine be done.” The earnest seeker of righteousness will diligently, hungrily and faithfully search the Scriptures in order to learn God’s Will. The seeker will also heed the words of the Lord’s messengers sent to help him in his search. To be continued. L.J.