The Christian and Media, Part 2: Of God or Of the World?

Part 1: The Christian and Media, Part 1: The Fundamentals of Sanctification

The conversation about Christians and media continues to surface in church communities, prompting believers to wrestle with fundamental questions about cultural engagement. This discussion stems from a universal instinct among those who are born again: there exists an awareness that certain aspects of human culture, society, and daily living fall short of God’s standards and displease Him.

This spiritual sensitivity varies among believers. One Christian might recognize worldly elements in something that another Christian finds acceptable. While this reality calls for charity toward one another, the central point remains — people who are born again possess an inherent sense that things in the world do not align with God’s will.

Two Competing Realms

The apostle John’s declaration in his first epistle captures this tension perfectly: “We know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” The phrase “the power of” appears in italics in many translations, indicating that the literal text reads simply “the whole world lies in the evil one.”

The word “world” here refers to the organized system of society. It comes from the Greek word cosmos, which conveys the idea of order. This same root gives us the word cosmetics, products designed to impose order on disorder. The cosmos represents the organized world system: our society, our social networks, and the structures that make up public life.

When societies experience war, these social structures break down. Culture fragments, and the ties binding communities together unravel into confusion. Each nation possesses its own individual culture with distinctive ways of expression. Food provides one clear example. Mexican cuisine differs from Chinese, which differs from Indian. Even American food, however unhealthy, represents a cultural expression. Canadian cuisine brings to mind Tim Hortons, Nanaimo bars, poutine, and butter tarts.¹

Beyond food, cultures express themselves through arts, music, painting, and writing. All these elements fall under the influence of the system, the culture, the society, and the world in which we live. More importantly, they often reflect the influence of the evil one who dominates this world.

The Spread of Cultural Influence

Certain cultural aspects now transcend national and ethnic borders. Western culture, for better or worse, continues spreading globally. Some aspects appear relatively innocuous. People in many countries adopt Western dress. World leaders often appear in Western business suits, though at other times wear their culture’s formal attire.

However, a more troubling trend emerges. The entire world seems to be adopting an anti-biblical, anti-God point of view. This shift is accelerating particularly in Western countries, and Eastern nations seem to be adopting the worst aspects of current Western culture. Western societies are rushing headlong into an anti-God culture.

This reality makes our text even more crucial. Recognizing that believers are of God while the whole world lies in the power of the evil one means acknowledging a fundamental divide in lifestyle and thinking. The world exerts real impact on believers and their environment. The whole world rests under the influence of the evil one.

The Challenge of Discernment

Decisions about media struggle with identifying these competing realms. The core problem lies in our inability to always see where worldliness resides.

Two spiritual realms exist. First, believers come out of God, produced by Him as a new creation, part of the regeneration. Those with the Spirit dwelling within possess self-awareness of what the Spirit has accomplished. They instinctively know how to think about their world. They also recognize the state of the rest of the world.

The spiritual realm encompasses both the state of believers and the state of the world itself. This extends beyond merely the people of the world to include the entire mindset of everything involved in our world system: the people, the culture, the arts, the media, everything. Believers are out of God, but the whole world lies in the evil one.

The world rests, relaxes, lies down, reclines, and finds support in the evil one. This truth fuels the imagination of the world, drives its conversation, and informs its proclamations and communications. The mind of the evil one infects or affects everything happening in our world outside of God.

Two realms exist: the spiritual or heavenly realm on one side, and the natural or worldly realm on the other. The natural realm represents the default position from our creation. The spiritual realm represents the changed position from our regeneration.

What the Bible Means by Worldly

Understanding what Scripture means by “worldly” requires examining how the term appears throughout the biblical text. The word “worldliness” never appears in any translation. “Godliness” and “ungodliness” do, but not “worldliness.” However, the term “worldly” does appear in several contexts.

Common or Profane

Paul instructs Timothy to have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women, counseling him instead to discipline himself for godliness. (1 Tim 4.7) The Greek word here means unhallowed, common, or ordinary. It can be translated as profane.

When something is profane, it becomes common or ordinary. Taking something holy and making it common constitutes profanity. However, in this context, the fables were never holy. They simply lack any hallowed quality.

Paul repeats this theme, warning Timothy to guard what has been entrusted to him by avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what falsely claims to be knowledge. (1 Tim 6.20; 2 Tim 2.16) He reiterates this counsel in his second letter, noting that worldly and empty chatter leads to further ungodliness.

The term profane denotes a place which anyone may enter, something accessible, a common place. It corresponds to the Latin word profanus and acquires the sense of what may be said publicly in contrast to what must not be uttered on religious grounds. In English, the sense conveys something casual, ordinary, having no significant meaning. Something that is common or profane is worldly.

Natural Rather Than Spiritual

Jude identifies certain people as those who cause divisions, worldly minded and devoid of the Spirit. (Jude 19) Paul uses related language when discussing the body: “There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.” (1 Cor 15.44-49) comes from the earth, earthy. The second man comes from heaven.

This sense of worldly means not spiritual. It refers to what is corruptible rather than incorruptible, earthly rather than heavenly. The basic nature is soulish, natural, related to the soul. Being worldly minded means orientation toward physical things while being devoid of the Spirit.

According to Worldly Standards

Paul reminds the Corinthians to consider their calling, noting that not many were wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. (1 Cor 1.26) Some translations render “according to the flesh” as “according to worldly standards.”

In the world, many people demonstrate wisdom after the flesh according to worldly standards. Those who know how to accumulate wealth are wise after worldly standards. Those who know how to gain fame and attention are wise after worldly standards. They possess a sense of how to get along in the world. This, too, is a kind of worldliness.

Worldly Troubles

Paul addresses marriage, noting that while marrying is not sinful, those who marry will have trouble in this life. Some translations render this as “worldly troubles.” (1 Cor 7.28) These troubles are according to this life, parallel to the cares and troubles that spring up in thorny ground and tend to choke the word.

The focus in these passages concerns human society or the general course of human life. It describes the way people get along in this world according to the flesh. Not every meaning of worldly carries evil connotations. Sometimes it simply describes the way things are without being contrasted with spiritual matters.

Concerns of This World

Paul observes that a married man is concerned about the things of the world, specifically how he may please his wife. (1 Cor 7.33-34) All married men recognize this concept, even if they do not always act on it. The married man grows anxious about worldly things.

The thought involves taking care of parts of life related to paying bills and keeping a roof overhead. These are worldly things. Similarly, the married woman concerns herself with things of this world, how she may please her husband. She must consider matters that did not require attention when she was single or widowed, when she could make decisions without considering another person.

This usage resembles the meaning “according to the flesh.” It means the earthbound character of the troubles and demands of this life.

Worldly Grief

Paul distinguishes between godly grief and worldly grief. (2 Cor 7.10) The sorrow that accords with the will of God produces repentance without regret leading to salvation. The sorrow of the world produces death.

Worldly grief is unspiritual, selfish, and self-centered. It represents something not submitted to God or arising from a response to God or godly motivators. Instead, it reflects self-centered sorrow over the painful consequences of sin. When someone feels sorry about being caught rather than sorry for doing wrong, that demonstrates the worldly mind focused on self rather than on God or getting right with God.

Earthly Rather Than Heavenly

The writer to the Hebrews notes that even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. (Heb 9.1) Some translations call this the worldly sanctuary as opposed to the heavenly sanctuary. This distinction concerns the difference between heaven and earth. The first covenant possessed a worldly sanctuary, the tabernacle existing in the world rather than in heaven.

Worldly Desires

Paul instructs Titus that the grace of God teaches believers to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. (Titus 2.12) This verse provides a key for understanding and studying worldliness.

Worldly desires characterize the worldly mind in general. They represent desires for earthly things, lusts for earthly pleasures.

A Working Definition

After examining these various uses, a clear definition emerges. Something is worldly when it belongs to the affairs of life on this earth, especially as opposed to the life of the Spirit or of heaven.

This definition matters because essentially everything on this earth could be considered worldly in a certain sense. However, when the things of this earth stand in opposition to the things of heaven, that particularly identifies worldliness.

Applying the Framework

Decisions about media struggle with identifying competing realms. Consider selecting a movie. Years ago this meant leaving the house and going to a movie theatre. Then came movies on television, and later VCRs meant visiting a video store. Now it involves streaming services that bring all kinds of movies into our living rooms with no effort on our part. A discerning Christian examining any movie must recognize that on a very basic level, every movie contains something worldly. It is of this world, a product of this culture, of this world in which we live. It is worldly.

The crucial question becomes whether it is worldly in the sense that it opposes the heavenly. That points at the real issue.

If something is merely a product of this world, used in an innocuous way to relax the mind or for entertainment, there may be nothing inherently wrong with it. However, the critical decision concerns when that worldly thing actually opposes heaven. That creates the issue. When it becomes anti-Christian, it crosses a line.

The problem extends beyond simply not being Christian. It becomes serious when something is anti-Christian, when it communicates values that are not godly, not Christian, or that actively oppose Christianity.

Believers cannot live outside their world. However, they can live with an awareness of their world and make good decisions about it. This requires opening eyes to discern where the worldliness of things, especially media, stands in opposition or contradiction to God’s way. It demands a determination to walk God’s way and reject the anti-Christian aspects of the world we inhabit.

The struggle to identify these competing realms continues. Yet with careful attention to Scripture’s teaching about worldliness, believers can navigate their cultural moment with wisdom, discernment, and faithfulness.

---

Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.

This article reproduces a sermon preached on March 26, 2023, which you can view or listen to here. We used Claude.AI to turn the transcript into the article. Pastor Johnson has reviewed and edited the final form of this article.

1. We like to think of these as the four major food groups. [↩]