Who or What Are You Worshiping?
Commentary
John Piper once said, “books don’t change people, paragraphs do – sometimes even sentences.” His implication is that it is often a single profound thought that will stop us in our tracks and force us to examine ourselves. Such was my reaction to the following quote in this book:
“We meditate most on the things we love.”
I had to ask myself, what is it that consumes my mind throughout the day? What is it that I love most? Even more alarming is when you consider that meditation is a form of worship. The quote hits home because we all intuitively know that when we truly love something it captivates us and dominates our minds. Now, obviously there are multiple things Scripture commands us to love. For instance, we are to love our spouses, and we are to love one another. These are clearly things of the world, so what is Greenhill getting at in this book?
I believe he is trying to get us to see that we must make a choice. Much like we cannot serve two masters, we also cannot love the world and God. Jesus commands in Mark 12:30 to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” When we love the world as Greenhill defines it later in the book, it becomes impossible to follow this command. When we chase the world and the things of the world, we are showing our high regard for the world, and it ends up consuming our minds. In other words, we’ll meditate on it without even knowing because it is truly what we love foremost.
Greenhill is really employing two types of logical arguments here, both of which are drawn from Scripture. First, he uses a hypothetical syllogism (what we commonly refer to as an if-then statement). If x happens, then y results. In this case, he argues that if we love the world, then we do not love God. In fact, he is simply pointing us to what Scripture clearly states, that we are in fact enemies of God when we love the world. The second form of argument he uses is called a disjunctive syllogism (what we think of as an either-or scenario). In Greenhill’s argument, either we love the world or we love God. We either love creation, or we love the Creator. Scripture makes it clear that the logic in this statement is valid and true. If we love the world, then it necessarily follows that we don’t love God because only one can occupy our highest regard and receive our worship. Either we love the world or we love God. As you can see, this argument is something we should not avoid. We must ask ourselves some difficult questions and Greenhill’s book provides succinct guidance in this endeavor.
Greenhill’s book is most likely a compilation of many sermons on 1 John 2:15, which states:
“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.” (ESV)
To exposit this text, he first sets out to define what is meant by “the world.” The world includes creation and all that goes with it. As we’ve previously stated, while we are in fact commanded to love certain created things, Greenhill is saying that we are not to love those creatures over and above the Creator. It’s a question of supremacy. This becomes clear in the next section when he says what it looks like when we love the world. One description he gives is that “we favor the world most.”
After defining terms, Greenhill presents reasons why we should not love the world in chapter two. He lists many but I want to focus on one: “Because it makes God our enemy.” Therein lies our if-then statement. If we love the world, then we make God our enemy. He draws this from James 4:4 which states:
“You adulterous people! 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.” (ESV)
Pretty clear right? It gets even more clear in Philippians 3:18-19:
“For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” (ESV)
The correlation is clear between minds set on earthly things (loving the world) and being enemies of God. Furthermore, Greenhill states that “the world is a great enemy to growth in grace and communion with God, for the things of the world divert the heart from spiritual things.” This is a point we must all confront. It is safe to say our lives are far busier than those in the 17th Century. In fact, we find ourselves so busy that we have very little margin remaining. We scurry through life filling every minute with extracurricular activities, work, and other responsibilities. When we find ourselves short on time, what gets omitted from our day? I know in my own life I recall times when the first thing to go would be my time with the Lord each morning. What was I saying when I chose this path? I’m revealing my priorities which are driven by my affections.
Thankfully, he doesn’t leave us there. In chapter three, knowing that we have no option but to relate to the world somehow, he teaches us how to biblically interact with creation and how to use it rightly. For instance, we are to use all things to glorify God, to keep the good of creation in proper perspective, and to keep our affections in check. Affections are important to note. While reading this chapter, another quote came to mind from J. Oswald Sanders when he said, “worship flows from love.” Using Sanders’ position, when we love the world in the way Greenhill defines it, we are essentially worshiping the world. When we worship the world, we are by default not worshipping God. Therefore, we have put other gods before Him.
In chapter four, we get the gold that has settled to the bottom of the pan as Greenhill gives us applications of the doctrine and an examination for our hearts. By way of application, we are to realize that our nature is very prone to love the world, therefore we are to examine ourselves while learning to be content with little of the world. In order to examine our hearts, he offers multiple questions:
Am I more concerned about the things of the world than I am for heaven and spiritual things?
Does the world push aside and cut out the things that are of God?
Am I content with a little when it comes to matters of the soul?
In what then do I find most sweetness and contentment?
Do I use questionable or unlawful means to get the world?
Do I love ideas, learning, wisdom of words, talents, gifts, and things of this nature?
Am I more grieved over the loss of outward, worldly things than I am for the loss of spiritual things?
How did you do with that test? If you’re anything like me, it cut straight to the heart. Perhaps the one I struggle with most is the final question. I may not think I am idolizing something until it is taken away, and that is when my true affections bubble up to the surface.
In chapter five, he offers more motivations to not love the world, but one shines through and that is his pastoral heart breaking through with urgency when he pleads, “I urge you, stop loving the world and the things of the world.” Picture yourself sitting there in the congregation as he preaches these words. It was the middle of the 17th Century and he’s begging his sheep to not love the world. Now, fast forward over three centuries and just think about how many more distractions and temptations we have in the world today. What would Greenhill think of the people in the church today? Would he see a church that was clearly different from the rest of society in how it relates to the world, or would he see people confessing to be Christians but relating to the world no differently than pagans?
If you find yourself convicted after the examination in chapter four, Greenhill offers you directions for getting your heart off the world in the final chapter. He says we should be convinced of its evil, take pains to mortify our lusts, look to eternity instead of the temporal, diligently guard our hearts, submit to God’s will, and love God more than the world. In addition, he puts forward what I believe is the most potent antidote for this sin: “If you would have your heart removed from the things of the world, behold the crucified and glorified Lord Jesus Christ.” Remember back in Philippians where Paul argues that having our minds set on earthly things makes us enemies with the cross of Christ? Well, reverse the argument and set your mind on Christ crucified. In the life of the believer, I would argue it is impossible to do so and maintain the pride necessary to love the creature over the Creator.
In 1918, a faithful woman named Helen Lemmel wrote a hymn titled “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” In the refrain, she offered up these words: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of the earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” If you focus on Christ, the world fades away. If you focus on the world, Christ fades away. It’s binary. We are not in this world to love it and to worship it. We are in this world to work out our salvation and to glorify God. When we direct our love to something not ordained in Scripture, we deviate from God’s commands and thereby enter into sin, making ourselves His enemies. This should cause all believers to pause and question our relationship to the world. Are you loving the world? Have you justified it in your mind? Do you subconsciously skip over the relevant verses that are so clear? We would all do well to daily remind ourselves who we belong to and what our purpose is here on this earth before we walk out the door each morning. Scripture doesn’t promote isolationism. We still live and carry on in the world. There is no getting around it. However, we must remember there is a right and wrong way to do it.
What does your mind turn to when not occupied? Does it turn to things of the world or to the Creator of the world? This is a very important question we all must answer. If you don’t answer it now, you will one day. We meditate most on the things we love. If your mind is consumed with things of the world, then you love the world and you don’t love God. I would urge all believers to read this short book, examine yourselves regularly, and to turn your eyes upon Jesus as the one true antidote. Love and worship God, not the world. You can’t have it both ways.
Structure of the Book
The book is divided into six chapters:
Concerning the World and Our Love for It
What is meant by “the world”
What it is to love the world
Reasons for Not Loving the World
Our Relationship to God’s Creation
How should we actually relate to the world
Applications of the Doctrine
Further Motives for Not Loving the World
Directions for Getting Our Hearts Off the World
Five Key Quotes
“There is a great suitableness between the world and our corrupt hearts and natures.”
“The more our love for God grows, the more our hearts will be estranged from the world.”
“Every creature contains a vacuum, an emptiness that will not produce satisfaction.”
“The world is a great enemy to growth in grace and communion with God, for the things of the world divert the heart from spiritual things.”
“A man who loves the world, grows, little by little, to be a stranger to God and Christ. We cannot simultaneously have our eyes on both heaven and earth.”
Recommended Complementary Reading
“A Treatise on Earthly-Mindedness” by Jeremiah Burroughs
“Spiritual Mindedness” by John Owen
“The Christian on the Mount: A Treatise on Meditation” by Thomas Watson
“The Religious Affections” by Jonathan Edwards
“The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment” by Jeremiah Burroughs
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