James 4:4 "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."
What a challenging time to be a follower of Jesus. We aren't threatened with death yet for choosing to make our loyalties to the Lord but there is a great cost and great danger. Just as "friendship with the world is enmity with God", in like manner, friendship with God is enmity with the world. Serving Jesus makes us an enemy of the world, its system and its culture. We are called to go into all the world and preach the Gospel and that means bringing the Gospel to current culture. We hear a lot about that today but how far do we go and what does that journey into culture really look like? It has to do with what is inside us being greater than what is on the outside of us. It has everything to do with our appetites. Christians who have a history of alcoholism shouldn't go into bars trying to bring the Gospel.
Believers who haven't had a true cleansing of sinful appetites still have an attraction to the atmosphere and culture of the world. We used to call that "worldliness" just a few years ago. It seems today that it is difficult to discern between the world and the christian. As soon as I say that I know I lose some who think that is just old fashioned religion that isn't flowing with the church in this hour. Maybe it is. But every true follower of Jesus needs to pause and get into the Presence of Jesus and ask for what Romans calls a "renewing of the mind." You cannot follow Jesus securely without a renewed mind by the Holy Spirit. It is from that platform of a renewed mind and with renewed appetites that we are directed into the will of God.
I have seen so many fall away in the last few years. Some who feel the Church isn't needed any longer. Others, even ministers have abandoned their faith. Many of them lessened their pursuit of God and increased their pursuit of the culture of this world. At first they thought it was even a calling to become like the world in order to win them to Christ. A downward spiral occurred. Their love for God and His Word lessoned. I watched helplessly as they washed away from Truth in the river of modern culture and changing morals. They embraced the LGBT movement believing that was showing the love of God. They allowed same sex marriages in the church and finally left their own families to live that sinful lifestyle themselves. Never seeing it as wrong but blindly believing they had made progress and the rest of the Church was wrong. Culture is an always changing river that is flowing against God, His Truth and His Church. It is easier to flow with it than to resist it. It is a river that leads to a love fest with the world and its culture. To stand in Christ and His Word is difficult and strenuous. There is only one way to stand and that is to make sure we have a strong foundation. That strong foundation in only found in Jesus and God's Word. The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay has stood since 1937. How could anything stand in such powerful Pacific currents so long? It was built upon a strong foundation designed to stand against all the currents and forces of time. As we stand strong in Him and His Truth the currents of this world will not move us.
