Article
"Worldliness and Materialism"
        By Dr. John Williams

The root cause of all Wars, Terrorism, Crimes, Power Struggle in Politics, Traditions in Religions etc.  is primarily Worldliness and Materialism.  Materialism or Worldliness is an Evil Spirit which influences people:

·         To Amass Wealth
·         To be Greedy
·         To be Covetous
·         To be Discontent
·         To be Proud
·         To be Possessive
·         To be Avaricious
·         To be Materialistic
·         To be Worldly
·         To be Jealous etc.

These Evil Spirits cause the people to be more Worldly and Materialistic.  In order to enrich themselves people are willing to indulge in any wrongful act and to resort to any methods.

The truth on any issue can be discovered in the Word of God.  Worldliness and Materialism manifest themselves in a variety of forms as mentioned in the previous paragraph.  What one should know is, as King Solomon has stated in the book of Ecclesiastes, "Vanities of Vanities, all is vanity...(Ecclesiastes 1:2).  In other words the Materialism does not add  real value to the life of anyone in terms of Spiritual Blessings such as:

·         Joy
·         Peace
·         Love
·         Good Family Relationship
·         Safety
·         Long Life
·         Salvation
·         Eternal Life
·         Spiritual Welfare
·         Divine Health etc.,

But it gives only a Psychological or Ego Satisfaction and a Sense of Pride.  King Solomon says, in Ecclesiastes in chapter 2:1-11 that in spite of the fact that he had and achieved the following that he did not have real fulfillment or satisfaction in life:

·         Made him great works
·         Built him houses
·         Planted him Vineyards
·         Made Gardens and Orchards
·         Planted Trees in them of all kinds of Fruits
·         Made him Pools of Water
·         Got him Servants
·         Had Great Possessions of Great and Small Cattle
·         Gathered him Silver and Gold and Peculiar Treasure of Things
·         Got me Men Singers and Women Singers and Musical Instruments of all sorts
·         I was Great and Increased more than all that were before me
·         Whatsoever Mine Eyes Desired he kept not from them

Then he looked on all the works and all was Vanity and Vexation of Spirit, and there was no profit under the Sun.

The purpose of this article is to give some real examples in the life style of people living in the world, in palaces, castles and mansions, who have stated that all the luxuries that they have in life do not really give them fulfillment and satisfaction in life.  They confess that they experience boredom, emptiness and lack of excitement, thrill and meaningfulness in a situation like this with all the riches they have.  It is interesting to note that in a span of 6000 years, since the world was created and even during the last one or two centuries, when there was a technological break through resulting in all modern Appliances and Gadgets, the world has produced only about twelve boxes of metal or plastic in different shapes and sizes with capabilities to perform different kinds of operations, such as the following

·         Television
·         Video/VCD Player
·         Radio
·         Tape Recorder
·         Oven
·         Refrigerator
·         Washing Machine
·         Dryer
·         Micro Wave Oven
·         Computer
·         Telephone
·         Car (on four wheels) etc

While these Appliances and Gadgets certainly have some practical value and utility, they cannot really add to or enhance the real value of life.  Further we should note that there is nothing beyond these materialistic things used in homes, no matter how backward or modern their life style and the degree of wealth they have may be.  Interestingly, generally speaking, a lot of people in advanced nations do possess all of these items and yet they are very worldly and materialistic and constantly seek ways and means to earn more money with which they can only increase the size and the capacity of these Gadgets and Appliances, even though it would only perform the same operation and give the same satisfaction.  Again, it will only give the owner the pride of having the best and the largest item of that kind, that is available in the market. Again it should be reiterated that Materialistic and the Worldly spirit only drive people crazy to desperately do anything to make more money by hooks or crooks,  or in other words, by any means, no matter whether it is Morally, Socially or Spiritually acceptable and right or not. 

Let us  examine the reason for a moment as to why people in general want to put their children in the best schools; to get the best education; to get the best jobs; to make the top salary; to buy the best goods (all of those 12 boxes referred to above in larger sizes and of the latest models).  In other words, the motive of an average person is nothing but Materialism and Worldliness, whether or not he is consciously aware of it.   Therefore, we have to deal with this problem of Materialism and Worldliness which causes people to indulge in a variety of unlawful and immoral activities as mentioned above causing heavy loss, damage and destruction to the people at large, for the sake of the pride and ego of a small percentage of people.   Its important to note that the spirit of materialism and worldliness is not subject to the wealthy people only.  This spirit operates at all strata of the society whether they are rich, poor or middle class people.  In order to eradicate this grave issue of materialism and worldliness which indulges in a variety of violent and immoral activities, good Christian values such as Love, Peace, Friendship, Charity, Humanitarian Service, Peaceful Coexistence, fair distribution of Wealth etc, should be taught and enforced.   Obviously the solution to this spiritual problem of Worldliness and Materialism is nothing but something Spiritual.   The Bible says that the people are either  Godly or Worldly; either Spiritually Minded or Carnally Minded; either they serve God or Mammon etc.

The following are some Scriptures from the Bible on the subject of Materialism and Worldliness:   

·         "Godliness with Contentment is great gain"                                             (I Timothy 6:6)
"Ye cannot serve Mammon and God"                                                     (Luke 16:9)

·         "For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while
  some coveted after, they have erred  from the faith...."                        (I Timothy 6:10)

·         "Thou  shalt not covet thy neighbors house...."                                       (Exodus 20:17)

·         ".....Thou  shalt not covet"                                                                       (Roman 7:7)

·         "....denying ungodliness and worldly lusts"                                             (Titus 2:12)

·         "Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
 extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."                                  
 (I Corinthians 6:10)

·         "And I will break the pride of your power.... "                                           (Lev 26:19)

·         "I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart"                             (I Samuel 17:28)

·         "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor"                                   (Psalm 10:2)

·         "Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence
covereth them as a garment"                                                                  (Psalm 73:6)

·         "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy,
and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."                           (Pro. 8:13)

·         "When pride cometh, then cometh shame..."                                        (Pro 11:12)

·         "In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride"                                       (Pro 14:3)

·         "For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire,
  and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth"                    (Psalm 10:3)

·         "....if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous...." (I Corinthians 5:11)

Conclusion
This article condemns Worldliness, Materialism, Covetousness, Discontentment, Pride, Greed, Love of Money, Serving Mammon etc.   At the same time the Bible talks about Material Blessings, Prosperity, Abundance etc. which should not be confused with the content and the purpose of this article.  The Emphasis made in this article are summarized below:

·         We should control money and money should not control us.

·         We should have abundance of riches at the same time it should come to us as a Blessing of God and, we should not be discontented, greedy, avaricious, covetous, worldly, proud, materialistic, worldly, egoistic and have love for money.

·         We should rather  be spiritual, godly, contented, loving, liberal and generous in giving, doing good, sacrificial, humble and charitable.
                              - The End -