How Something Becomes "Worldly"

When I was a teenager, bell-bottomed pants and hair "over the ears" on men were among a list of things considered worldly by many pastors and Christian leaders. There and other similar infractions received frequent mentions in sermons and Sunday School lessons. Now, of course, they're never mentioned. And most people laugh at the idea that such things ever had anything to do with the biblical concept of worldliness.

The Apostle John defines worldliness in terms of three underlying values: (1) the lust of the flesh; (2) the lust of the eyes; and (3) the pride of life (see 1 John 2:15-17). The lust of the flesh refers to desires that originate in our bodies under the influence of original sin (which resides in our bodies according to Romans 7:17-18). The lust of the eyes points to desires that come into our minds through the eye-gate. The pride of life refers to a sense of independence from God that comes simply from being alive and able to make decisions and carry them out without any input or consideration from the Lord.

So how to we get from what the Apostle John wrote all the way to bell-bottomed pants and hair over the ears on men? And how is it that concerns like those often do not last for more than a generation or two?

The answer lies in understanding that the Apostle John defines worldliness in terms of values. Values are often, very often, expressed through symbols. And the underlying meaning of symbols can change. And, in the case of things that point to worldliness, symbols also can be redeemed.

What makes anything a symbol of something else is its association with the other. Association is the key concept here. For example, there's nothing particularly worldly in and of itself about a guy with head hair touching his ears. (I know all about the verse that says it is a shame for a man to have long hair, but no one can seriously think that hair touching ears is "long.") The reason why hair touching ears on guys became a symbol of worldliness was because of its association with the Beatles and ultimately the hippie movement. Both the Beatles and the hippie movement were known for values lined up with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Hair style and length on men became a signature indication of association with them and their values.

Eventually that association diminished and even dropped off completely. There are large numbers of people in the world today who, though they may know about the Beatles, have no idea what they looked like. So they do not make any association at all between their values and head hair on men long enough to touch their ears.

Similar scenarios have developed over time with any number of things that at one time were closely associated with the values of worldliness. In other words, for those symbols too, the close association diminished over time or it dropped off altogether. In some cases, Christians redeem symbols that otherwise are associated with the values of worldliness. That discussion requires its own blog entry at some future date.

Of course, there are some attitudes and practices that are impossible to redeem. They are either direct representations of some worldly value, or they are so closely associated with the lust of the flesh, and of the eyes, and the pride of life that no other association with some righteous is possible. Perhaps this too requires its own blog entry.

The critical application here is for each generation of Christians to examine which values are closely associated with which practices in their day. Then, according to 2 Corinthians 6:17-18, they are to separate from those practices that are closely associated with world values. This requires both a willingness to do it and the biblical discernment necessary to make judgments that please the Lord.

But what happens when Christians disagree? More on this in my next entry.