Most of us almost never think of ourselves as being worldly. We can see worldliness in others, but not in ourselves.

Worldliness can take on different forms. One form leads us to ignore God's moral principles and actively live in sin. Most of us manage to eschew that. But another form involves simply making our physical lives our overarching priority and passively sinning by omission. In this sense, worldliness is the opposite of spirituality.

John wrote, "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)

The Apostle Paul wrote of those "whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame-who set their mind on earthly things." (Philippians 3:19) And James wrote, "friendship with the world is enmity with God." (James 4:4) These passages indicate that the sin of worldliness is quite serious.

Assessing Whether We Are Worldly
Here are some questions and thoughts to consider in assessing whether we are worldly.

• When you assess your physical (financial) needs and your spiritual needs, which takes priority? Ask yourself the following questions:
  
  1. Do I work at so many jobs, or for so many hours, that I have little time for my family?
  2. Do I excuse myself from worship services because I'm "working?"
  3. Am I unavailable to teach Bible classes because work is constantly a greater priority?
  4. Do I view my regular absence from my home and from worship as nothing more than evidences that I am industrious and hard-working?
  
  
• What does the way you spend time say about your worldliness?
  As Christians, we must be disciples every hour. We must devote a goodly part of our time to life's ordinary things--earning a living, cleaning the house, caring for others' needs, etc. These, in fact, are required parts of discipleship. Vacations, recreation, and entertainment also serve useful purposes.
  
  But the issue is with our priorities? What is most important to you? Do you focus on doing things that satisfy YOU physically? Or do you look to things that benefit others and things that enhance the spiritual welfare of yourself, your family, and others?
  
  Where is your priority on the Lord's Day? Are you trying to soak up as much Bible knowledge as possible? Are you hustling about to edify others before, during, and after the assembly because Monday you have to head back to the factory or the office?
  
  Where do Bible study and teaching fit into your agenda? So many Christians come to Bible class and leave the impression they've never even looked at the Bible text being considered. Many congregations have great difficulty finding volunteers to teach classes. Since teaching is a central objective of discipleship, what does this say about our spirituality or worldliness?
  
  
• Other examples of worldliness.
  Dress is often an indicator. Skimpy or provocative clothing is a sign of worldliness. We are to be "transformed," not "conformed" to the world (Romans 12:2).
  
  One's attitude toward sin in the church can be an indicator. By ignoring sin, I provide strong evidence of a worldly mind.
  
  If I view a brother's sins as "his business," it indicates that I have a temporal mind that doesn't consider the judgment to come and the spiritual implications.
  
  If I am more concerned about my "image" and what people think of me than about what is good, right, and true, I am worldly.

Judging Whether an Attitude or Practice Is Worldly
To avoid worldliness, I need to be able to judge whether my thinking and behavior is worldly. Here are a few tests to use in determining whether a thing is worldly.

Attitudes That Emerge From Worldliness
When a person is worldly, it not only affects the outward behavior, but inward attitudes as well. Many times, when priorities are tilted, Christians decide to take care of the physical now and deal with the spiritual later.

There develops a sort of satisfaction with being just a member of the church. There is no drive to teach, encourage, admonish, or evangelize. That, the worldly mind concludes, is for others to do. We become spiritual freeloaders or sponges. We take, but we don't give.

Indifference toward personal growth and development arises. Peter's command to grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18) is ignored. We remain spiritual midgets or dwarfs.

We develop near-sighted attitudes, looking only at what is immediately before us and unable to see the long-range picture of judgment and beyond.

Remedies for Worldliness
What can we do to avoid becoming worldly? The first and most practical answer is to recognize the potential danger. If we don't recognize how easy it is to become worldly, we won't be alert to the danger.

We need to try to look at things the way God looks at them. Studying God's word personally, and with our brethren, is the means to this end.

Become involved in the work of the church. If you don't know what you can do, ask some of the brethren to point you in a good direction and help you.

Conclusion
When worldliness controls the Lord's church, God is robbed, the church is robbed, and you are robbed. We can even rob our children of their spiritual heritage, if they adopt worldly priorities they learn from us.

We must live in this world, but we are not to be part of this world. We have no greater challenge than to learn this lesson.

All I can say is AMEN! Brethren, please take brother Blackaby's test and see if you are in the world, and of it-but, as yet, you just don't realize it! (KMG)