The Wrong Love

Here are two well-known pieces of Scripture.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate (Gen 3:6).

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 desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life -- is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15-17).

The first comes from the end of Satan's tempting of Eve in the garden. He had questioned Eve, questioned God, and then contradicted God. "You will not surely die." Instead, he assured her that God was just being mean and if she would only do the only thing God had told her not to do, she'd be much better off. Genesis 3:6 is her response.

Far down the track of time, then, John writes his warning. Don't love the world or the things in the world. Don't do it. Why? Well, first, if you love the world, you don't love the Father. Plain and simple. You can't serve two masters. But John doesn't leave it at that. He explains what "the world" means in this context. The world is a function of human desires. They are the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life -- the desires that focus on "self". Don't love that. If you do, you don't love God. Don't tell God you love Him and not give Him your love.

There is, in these two passages, a parallel. Eve saw that the tree was good for food -- "lust of the flesh" -- and it was a delight to the eyes -- "lust of the eyes" -- and was to be desired to make one wise -- "pride of life". In one swift, single sentence Eve fulfilled every function of the world that John warns against. And I'm pretty sure, given these common and easily encountered concepts, that we can do them ourselves, even with some frequency.

We probably don't need to expand on these three, but I will anyway. "Desires of the flesh" is not merely a reference to sexual immorality; it is a reference to all bodily desires. That would include all the "works of the flesh" (Gal 5:19-21). Check out that list¹. We know what "desires of the eyes" is. Our society lives there. It's part of the "body image" problem for women in particular and for men as well. It's the lure of pornography. Adultery occurs first as a desire of the eyes (Matt 5:28). It is "keeping up with the Joneses". It is built on covetousness (Exo 20:17; Luke 12:15; Col 3:5). It is the "never enough" syndrome. And "the pride of life" is easy as well. We all long for applause, for recognition, for attention. We all tend to think more highly of ourselves than we ought (Rom 12:3) even when we think we're thinking too lowly of ourselves. It is ambition in this world for temporal things and power and position and glory. These are not of the Father.

John tells a key problem with engaging in the desires of the world over the love of the Father. (You'd think that would be obvious, wouldn't you? But I think John's reminder is important.) These things -- the desires of the world, the things we are not to love -- are temporary. They are passing away. They are short-lived. What we are exchanging when we feed our sensual desires or our visual appetites or our pride is a short-term pleasure for an eternal one. Why would we do that? How does that make any sense?

It doesn't.

We still do it.

Don't.
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¹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal 5:19-21).