From Wikipedia: In Christian theology, the world, the flesh, and the devil have been singled out “by sources from St Thomas Aquinas” to the Council of Trent, as “implacable enemies of the soul”.

When I grew up, we were really clear about the flesh. Adam and Eve were tempted and sinned, Jesus died for our sins, when we sin we confess/repent/forgive, and there’s no more sin in heaven.

We didn’t know what to do with the devil. If someone had nightmares or heard voices or was trapped in an addiction, we could tell them to stop sinning, but we didn’t even consider that their problem might be spiritual.

Over the past few decades that’s changed in a lot of churches. We learned that we have authority to resist the devil and cast out demons. We are no longer unaware of his schemes, and therefore we are not powerless against him.

What about the world? It seems to me that we don’t know what to do with the world, and so we submit to its rules without resistance. Without even awareness.

If you have died with Christ, away from the principles of the world, why, as if living in [the] world, do you submit to [its] decrees? – Colossians 2:20 (sorry about the sentence structure, that’s directly from the Greek.)

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.  – 1 John 2 NIV

Imagine helping your church respond to someone saying you should put on an unusually big event. What things would you consider first?

How much will it cost? Who will pay for it? How much work is it? Who will do the work? Can we do it responsibly and make it safe? Does it fit within our church’s mission statement? Does it fit within the government’s criteria of what a church can do? Will people come? Does it work for families?

How would your unbelieving friends work through this decision? Would they use the same criteria? If we make decisions the same way the world makes decisions, using the same criteria as the world….

Of course, we’re in the world, but can we tell when we’re of the world?

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. – John 15:19