Archimedes famously once said “Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world.” If the devil were to go in for such practical mechanics, where would he stand, what lever would he use, if he wanted to move a Christian?
We are talking what it means to not pay close attention to what we have learned, and what it therefore means to moved slowly away from Christ.
With many believers today that place to stand is the world and its ways, and the lever is the bar of coolshaming. The world offers us sweets, sure enough—the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes—but it also establishes and maintains a value system. That value system is called the pride of life.
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:15–16).
This is the snare that captured our first parents. They saw that the fruit was good for food (lust of the flesh), they saw it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes), and they saw that it was able to make them wise (pride of life). Let us focus for a moment on this last one.
How many times do Christians find themselves avoiding something, or adopting something else, because of how they think their action will be evaluated on a pride of life scale? Worldliness has a police force, and they do write tickets. That dress is dorky, or that movie is lame, or that book is uncool.
When such a ticket is “written,” and you feel shame, that is what we call coolshame. And what it means, since you obviously care about the world’s opinion, is that you are in the process of being moved. You are drifting away.
This happens too often to even be funny anymore. Even when leaders do stand for certain truths, they strain hard to do it in a way that will still let them keep their cool points. So afraid of being called the dreaded “f” word, (fundamentalist) that they at best only halfway say the truth.
I’m so grateful for these reminders. The temptation is strong. I also hate when I respond by trying to out cool back. So, when someone tries to cool shame my son for homeschooling, my 8th grade rejoinder is something about how they’ve never read an entire book, let alone a classic back. It isn’t pretty. :(
Maybe with all that’s happened around us lately showing us where their “cool” or “kowtowing cool” has brought them/us/the “church”/America, we won’t be so intimidated or “shamed” so much any more. For the sake of our sanity and our families, it’s time to realize these people and their philosophies are not our friends. Time to take back control, have courage, and focus on God rather than man.
Very true, thanks!
Not caring about the world’s opinion is a really big lever. The prophets are always cool – in hindsight.
If the key to world history is right worship, the devil would most likely strike in the very sanctuary itself.
Hasn’t he already? Or did we surrender without a fight?
“The adversary” also offers the temptation to those steeped in self righteousness. Behold the Book of Job: as the prologue discloses, Satan is given the freedom to assail Job with whispers and lies, and to misrepresent the nature of the Lord God. “The adversary” prompts Job’s wife to anger and resentment, saying that God is the cause of calamities and disasters in the world. Job’s neighbor, Eliphaz the Temanite, gives forth a treatise on “prosperity theology”, saying that God causes the innocent and upright people to enrich themselves on Earth, and that Job just lost out. Bildad the Shuhite declares… Read more »