Lovers Of Pleasure Rather Than Lovers Of God

Why shouldn't I enjoy whatever I want in this world? Hasn't Jesus given me freedom?

Yes, Jesus gave us freedom that we could seek the Father and be free from our sin nature to make a clear decision. But too many of us are turning off our brains and just sucking up whatever the world is dishing out, without a thought of how it is effecting us and our family.

Most of us watch ten times the amount of television than what we spend in Holy Scriptures and prayer. Worse than the amount of time, we are not being wise in our choice of entertaibnment. We are feeding lust, cruelty, hatred, profanity in our mind and hearts. What does the Word say about the last days:

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Have you considered Psalm 1 lately?

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
    Nor stands in the path of sinners,
    Nor sits in the seat of the scornful. (Psalm 1:1)

What do you think we are doing when we sit down and watch the entertainment of this world, listen to its music and seek after the same pleasures as our unsaved neighbour? We are walking in the counsel of the ungodly. We are standing in the path of sinners. We are sitting in the seat of the scornful. We are far from being blessed. Yet we have been told that there is a way that pleases Yahweh:

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    And in His law he meditates day and night. (v. 2)

Our delight is not in sin-filled entertainment but in our Lord Jesus, in his Word, in fellowship and worship. For those who turn and decide for Jesus; turn and look full in his face; turn and immerse themselves in the love and joy of the Lord and not the world; he is described as this:

He shall be like a tree
    Planted by the rivers of water,
    That brings forth its fruit in its season,
    Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper. (v. 3)

I don't know about you but that is what I want and it is what Yahweh has promised from the very beginning: walk in obedience with me and I will pour out my blessings on you. Do you desire, as I do, to have a rich fellowship that we would never want to jeopardize over a sin-filled 30 minute comedy? A show that could never come close to the preciousness of our relationship with Jesus? How could we ever desire to pollute our minds and hearts and threaten our eternity perspective? Well, that's what most of the Church is doing, even tonight. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. There are decisions to be made.

The Danger Of Being Entertained

Sometimes we consider our church pretty boring. It's not as hip and exciting as some of the churches out there. Sometimes we wish there was a way to make Bible reading and Bible study more interesting. If only we could dress it up somehow and repackage it; a lot more people might get into it. Sometimes we are a bunch of spoiled children who have been over stimulated by this world and have lost all spiritual sensitivity. We have no idea how absolutely fantastic our church and Bible are.

When we come into our churches we are looking to be entertained. We look for the wrong type of value in our experience. What we should be realizing is that we are about to look into the great mystery of our God and what he has done. We consider, "Yeah, yeah, I know already. God loves us, yada yada yada". We have this attitude because we look at the results without understanding the roots of it.

Do you think that apostle Paul found this boring? Was he looking for entertainment value as he suffered for it? I think Paul woke every morning with a sense of excitement and urgency because of what he had to share and teach to people:

This grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. (Ephesians 3:8-9)

Look at that wording: the unsearchable riches of Christ. Guess what? Through the revelation that has been given those riches are now searchable to you every time you open the Word of God. Not everyone can see it. You have to have Jesus to have the Spirit and it is the Spirit who gives us understanding. That's us, understanding that mystery of God and are able to tell other people about it.

Paul's job was to make plain the administration of this mystery. How is it possible for us, who were not a people to become a people? How is possible for us to receive salvation? How is it possible for us to be possessed by the Holy Spirit? How is it possible for us to be in the presence of God? These things were unknown before. The people of Israel did not enjoy what we enjoy today. This mystery was kept hidden in God until now, revealed in this age of grace.

What is available to us now was not available to even the prophets. They could only look in on it, from a distance, write about it, long for it; this thing that we consider dull and lacking entertainment value. Do you not realize that Jesus said the least of us, so the one with the smallest amount of faith, is greater than John the Baptist. As great and important as John was he did not get to enjoy what we have today.

This world with all its sensuous delights, with all its entertainment value, its bright lights, loud noises, and time wasting activities, is dulling our spiritual senses. It is overwhelming and distracting us. It is ruining our palate so we can no longer distinguish between junk food and the riches of Christ. If church is boring and the Bible dull you need to ask Jesus to clean your palate so that the things of this world become dull and uninviting, and the things of God explode with excitement in you. I think we can all do with a little palate cleansing.

I Bet You Didn't Even Know You Were Being Corrupted

If it wasn't so tragic it would be funny how we always think we are the exception. It doesn't matter how old we are or from what generation, we always think we can get away with something that others cannot. For years I was told that I needed to be careful about the people I hung out with, the movies I watched, the books I read and the music I listened to. I never believed it. I read anything that looked interesting and watched whatever came out and it did a number on me.

We find this in Scripture:

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)

It's there because it is the truth. Whatever you submit yourself to will have an effect on you. It isn't that we lack intelligence or that we are brainless droids, it's simply that most people are open to suggestion. That is why advertising works. Wait a second. You probably think you are immune to that as well, right? I was raised in an area of the country where Coca-Cola was the dominant advertiser. It is what my family drank. Before I quit soft drinks Coke was the only thing I would drink. Same with my tooth paste brand. It was what I was raised with because it was advertised the most and until I married I was a devote believer in only one brand being of any use. I do not consider myself weak. I am a very strong character; stubborn as a mule, my dad used to say (probably still says it). But even the strongest, most stubborn people can be influenced.

You don't realize it but you are being shaped by everyone in your life, the things you watch, the things you listen to, the things you read. We need to make wise choices and parents need to help their children make those wise choices until they have the maturity to make the choices on their own. It is amazing the number of parents who will allow their children to watch things that are damaging just because it is popular, their friends watch it or because parents think their children are exceptionally mature. They have no idea the hidden damage they are causing in their children, what influences they are allowing to take root, and how much they are contributing to the corruption of their mind and heart.

There is a reason the Scriptures guide us with this:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. (Colossians 3:1)

This is an awesome passage; you should read the whole thing. After we are told to set our hearts we are told to do the same thing with our minds:

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:2)

And why should we do this? Because of what we claim to be. Because we say that we are followers of Jesus. Because as followers of Jesus we do not think, perceive or pursue things like non-believers:

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

And in case you were not sure what it meant to be a follower of Jesus:

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)

That's important right there: "When Christ, who is your life...". We tend to forget. Church becomes something we do, not something we are. Jesus is a concept not our reality because if he was our reality a lot of things would change. We wouldn't be interested in entertaining ourselves with sin. What do I mean by that? We don't kill but we are entertained by murder. We don't have sex with a hundred different people but we are entertained by it in our prime time television drama shows. We don't believe in people living together but we accept it in our entertainment. We think homosexuality is wrong but we allow our children to see it as acceptable as they are entertained by it in almost every movie and television show they watch. See what I mean? All of this begins to influence us and we begin to accept it and maybe even practice it. Just consider some of the things our younger generation is beginning to accept because of the "bad character" they have been influenced by. Do you realize how many young people believe that a person can be a practicing homosexual and a follower of Jesus Christ? Do you know how many people believe it is possible to live with their boyfriend or girlfriend and still follow Jesus? This is all a result of the influence of the things they watch and read, not as a result of learning from Scripture or from the Holy Spirit.

Hate me for this if you want but the truth of the matter is we have allowed ourselves to be corrupted by bad character. If we want to love God with all our heart, to love our neighbour as ourselves and serve Jesus with our entire being, we need to start making wise choices of who we "hang out" with. We need to start turning off the TV, switching our music, looking at our friends, considering the books we read and start getting our hearts and minds back on Jesus. After all, we do claim that he is our everything.