Where Is Your Heart?

[The following was delivered at New Gilead Reformed Church, Concord, NC, on Sunday, August 3, 2008.]

Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
-- Mark 16:9-20 [NKJV]

The scriptures I just read (from Leviticus 20:22-26, 2 Corinthians 6, and Mark 16:9-20 above) may seem contradictory. In Leviticus we are told to stay separated from the people of the land, or the world, and to distinguish between clean and unclean things. In Second Corinthians, Paul cautions us to not be "yoked together" with unbelievers. But then in Mark, we hear Jesus instruct us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Second Corinthians Chapter 6 even seems to contradict itself - be ministers of God but stay away from unbelievers, from lawlessness, from darkness.

The last time I was here, I asked the question, "Why are you here?" Today I would like for us to consider the question "Where is your heart"? But before we provide possible answers to that and to the seeming contradictions in our scripture lessons, let's look more closely at this idea of separation, separation from the world our text mentions and see what else the Bible might say about it.

Besides what Paul wrote in Second Corinthians Chapter 6 about being separate from unbelievers, John, in his first epistle, chapter 2, furthers this view and enhances it some:

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves 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 is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." -- 1 John 2:15-17

James, in Chapter 4, pretty much draws up sides:

"Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, 'The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously.' But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'

Therefore submit 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. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." -- James 4:1-10

That is a pretty powerful statement: "Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

Make no mistake: the world is a very dangerous place. I don't mean physically. We all know the world out there presents many dangers to our health and our bodies. Just watch the evening news. No, I mean that our very souls are in danger of falling prey to the temptations of the world. Paul lost a follower and a friend to temptation and the lures of the world. In his second letter to Timothy, he implores his brother:

"Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica — Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia." -- 2 Timothy 4:9-10

We read all this and take it to heart and we think one way to stay separate from the world, from those who might ifmperil or tempt us, is to stay away from worldly things. We make lists of things to avoid. Dancing is not allowed, no card playing, no wearing make-up... These seem a little silly to us today, but not that long ago folks held these as dear and sacred. Some still do. We make these lists and call them Christian standards. After a while, we begin to accept our list and the items on it as truths, we pass them on to our children. And we can easily mistake our prejudices for our convictions. We can think that because we hate something, or some ones, that they must be worldly so we put them on our list. Going back to our "no dancing" example, if we really don't like someone and think them worldly, and that person really loves dancing, then we might begin to consider dancing a worldly act since this worldly person dances all the time. And then, by extension, if dancing is evil, then everyone who dances is worldly and should be avoided, even the little ballerina spinning around on the music box I want to give my daughter. But none of this is from God, no matter how we might come by it. The only list of things to do and not do in the Bible, from God's holy word, is the Ten Commandments.

If all we've learned or been taught, if the things on our list, are not in line with the principles clearly given in the Bible, then we'd better revise our standards, edit our lists, and get back in line with the Bible. We need to get an attitude adjustment. There are indeed standards we should follow, but the method we use to determine those standards must be in accordance with God's word.

Now one problem with this method of separating ourselves from people and activities and things that we consider "worldly" is that we can tend to either consciously or unconsciously try to avoid temptation by avoiding other people. We withdraw a little, build our own little worlds of like-minded believers. The ultimate example of where this can lead is a monastery. We go into a remote region and build an enclave with a wall around and a fortress-like structure at its center, and we fill it with people who believe what we believe and do what we do and think what we think and discourage any others from entering. We even tend to separate from other believers seemingly by degrees or levels of worldliness. I know some Baptists who will not associate with Methodists, and Episcopalians from one part of the world shun Episcopalians from another part of the world.

Sadly, rather than teach our youth how to confront and overcome evil, we show them how to avoid it, how to try to hide from it. But how can we teach them to "fight the good fight" when we don't know how ourselves, when we've never been taught?

This separation, this isolation leads to a growing sense of boredom and frustration with life, especially for younger folk. We avoid trouble, we hide from danger, we shun the worldly, we ignore our brothers and sisters in prison, we retreat. There's no challenge, no peril, nothing to keep the blood pumping and the adrenaline flowing for the Lord. Maybe this is why some young Christians seem so lifeless in "traditional" worship services. Maybe this is why people keep drifting away from the church year after year. Maybe they seek out the world for stimulation, wanting to experience its temptations just so they can feel alive.

Another problem with this form of separation is that the more we try to isolate ourselves from the worldly, the more the world creeps in to our lives. We feel safe, here on our island surrounded by our like-minded friends. We follow our lists and know we are doing the right thing. We let our guard down. And the world just sneaks right in, slipping through thousands of cracks in our armor.

For the truth is, worldliness is not a matter of things.

Let me illustrate by example. If you wear a really pretty dress or fine suit to church so other people can see you and admire you and think how nice you look, that's worldly. On the other hand, if you wear a frumpy dress or a threadbare suit so everyone can see how lowly and humble you are, well, that's worldly too. If you buy a big fancy car so everyone will know how well you are doing and important you are, that's worldly. But if you drive an old heap so people will see your humility, that's still worldly. If you are hurt when people fail to notice you, then that is worldly.

For worldliness is all about what is in your heart. Worldliness is all about your attitude. Everything is worldly if your attitude is worldly. And the Lord knows what is in your heart.

We can't just make lists and be safe, but there certainly are things we should and should not do; not because someone else thinks we should or should not do them; not because the church is watching; not for some other reason that originates from outside ourselves: that is worldly. We do or don't do some thing because we know deep down inside that God would want us to do or not to do that thing. What does that sound like - a conscience? Doesn't that sound like the Holy Spirit living within us telling us what we should or should not do?

Reread a bit of our text from First John again. "All that is in the world... is not of the Father". If we exclude God from our considerations of what to do or not do, if we make decisions without turning to God for counsel, then that is worldly thinking, no matter what we do. Always seek our Father's guidance.

Another result of this Christian isolation is a lessening or even outright loss of the sense of sacrifice for our Lord. When we withdraw to our secure little island, safe from all temptation, we can become complacent at best, or smug and insensitive and uncaring at worst. We avidly support missionaries with our dollars as they work in far off lands while ignoring or even shunning someone right next door who might be struggling in spiritual despair. We can lose our will to step outside our own door for fear of facing the devil.

The Lord didn't say "send your people" or "spread your money into the world". In my message scripture from Mark, we heard Jesus say, "Go into all the world and spread the Gospel". The King James Versions keeps in the implied "you" and commands, "Go ye into the world".

There are two ways to look at this phrase, go into the world. First, in order to spread the Gospel, we must tell it to people who have not heard it before or have forgotten it or who have been turned deaf by Satan, to unbelievers, to the worldly. But isn't this a contradiction to Leviticus and Second Corinthians? No, not if we don't become worldly. Remember: it's all in the attitude, it's all about what is in your heart. We cannot spread the Good News throughout the world while staying isolated from the world. We have to leave our island. But if we keep our hearts clean and give full consideration to the Father in all things, we will not become of the world, we will not be worldly.

The second view of going into the world is so that we can learn more about the worldly, to build sympathy for them, to stir us more in our God-given desire to help lead them to Christ. We can learn about the ways of the world, the attitudes of the world, so we can help the wretched, lost souls - those across the world and those right down the street. This is part of our personal responsibilities as Christians: witnessing to others. We should try to imitate Jesus. He gave everything to save us. But we sometimes find it tough to give up an afternoon of golf or a night of television to share God's wonderful grace, or to open our homes for Bible studies or prayer meetings.

Have we already become deaf to the cries around us, numb to all the hands reaching out to us for help from all sides? We are living in the middle of a sea of people who are dying for what we have, unknowingly searching for what we've found or been shown; people who are putting bullets through their heads, jumping of buildings, overdosing on alcohol and drugs... just to end the misery that their lives have become, because they don't have Christ in their lives.

Do we sit on our island, or go into the world?

Now our danger lies in forgetting what we are and our purpose in all this, in losing sight of God and becoming worldly. For if we become worldly ourselves, if we become like the world, then we lose all our power to influence the world. And that is where we need to impose separation. We need to be in the world, but separate ourselves from the attitude of the world. We must keep our clean attitude, focused on God.

Remember the story of Lot? We read of him in Genesis chapters 13, 14, 19 (mostly). God instructed Abraham to take up his household and head out; God would tell him where to go later. Lot, Abraham's nephew, went with him. Eventually, they parted ways and Lot took his household into the land of Sodom. Now in those days this was a green and lush land, a veritable Eden, even though many reports came out of there of evil men and evil activities. So Lot settle in Sodom and tried to do good there. He tried to help God and lead the people back to Him. But he did so by becoming like the people their, by adopting their attitudes, by becoming like their world. And in the end the whole area was destroyed, wiped clean, and Lot was barely able to escape with his life and his daughters, losing even his wife as they fled. This is a very clear warning that we must keep separate from the attitude of the world, and not become of it or like it.

To do the work Jesus commissioned us to do, we must go into the world, make worldly friends, invite them into our homes and visit with them in theirs so that slowly, by example and word and deed, we might bear influence upon them and their thinking and their attitude and their heart, and help them find Jesus. Just remember not to think like the world, for our attitude, our thoughts are different. We have the greatest news in the universe and we just can't wait to share it! That is what our attitude should be.

But isn't all this dangerous, going so deeply into the world where it can reach out and tempt us? Sure. Sure it is, but that's what makes it exciting. That's what makes it thrilling, gripping, vital, challenging, daring... and that can provide tons of motivation to folks who've become bored with island living. In a way, God wants us to face problems so we can learn how to overcome them. How else can we grow? How else can we help others overcome their problems?

So it's our job as Christians to be in the world, but not of it; to identify and sympathize with its suffering, but not with its attitude; to be Christ's representative and help bring His influence to bear on the world's life, but not be corrupted by its ways.

And that brings me back to my question - Where is your heart? Is it in the world? The Bible is correct and true when it says this world is really unimportant and will pass away. If we believe that, truly believe it, then living a Christian life should be the easiest thing in the world, if nothing else matters. But if the world's things really do matter to us -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, as John put it -- then being a Christian is going to be tough.

As Christians, we know the Truth. We look to things unseen rather than seen, for we know that things seen are here only today and are quickly passing away, but those things unseen are eternal.

Keep your heart's desires away from the world. Keep your heart on things unseen. Keep your heart in heaven.

Amen.