Cling to Jesus, not the world.
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
– James 4.4
How shall we shun the world, which we ought not to love, when we are in the world and are taught to die to it, and yet on the contrary fold to our breasts with a sort of envious lust that world which we ought to have spurned as it were beneath our feet?
– Columbanus, Sermon III, Irish, 7th century[1]
Of course, neither Columbanus nor James meant to suggest that we should avoid, reject, eschew, repudiate, or otherwise distance ourselves from everything in the world.
We do, after all, live here, as Paul reminds us (1 Cor. 5.9, 10), and we are on a mission here to reconcile all things back to God through Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5.7-11).
At the same time, we must be always mindful and on guard against the world’s tendency to want to be our god. Its things, successes, experiences, knowledge, and so forth will, from time to time, suggest that, in themselves, they are the good we seek, they are our true source of happiness, fulfillment, and peace.
When we seek anything other than God as our highest source of joy, satisfaction, fullness, and delight, we make an idol of it.
This includes even the blessings God Himself grants us each day.
It is in this sense that we must practice the discipline of “shunning” the world. The idea of “shunning” is related to the practice of church discipline. When someone is put out of the church because he refuses to repent of a known sin, then it is the duty of the rest of the church to “shun” that person – as Paul puts it, not even to eat or drink or have any fellowship at all with him (1 Cor. 5.11).
That seems harsh, I know, but in the case of church discipline, it’s not the last word (cf. 2 Cor. 2.3-8).
This is the sense in which Columbanus, echoing James, urges us to shun the world. Resist its allurements. Steer clear of its traps and pitfalls. Give no place in our time or hands for that which insists it is more to be desired than God.
As Luther is reported to have said concerning temptation, we can’t stop the world from flying over our heads, but we can keep it from building a nest in our hair.
And so we must. The love of God requires it; and love for our neighbors will not proceed as freely, fully, or fruitfully, where we are too busy loving ourselves with the enticements of this idolatrous age.
Today, brethren, be careful what you fold into your breast. If you fold Jesus deeply enough, and hold fast to Him there, nothing else will find a place.
Psalm 48.9-11 (Cwm Rhondda: “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”)
For Your grace and lovingkindness we proclaim Your matchless worth!
As Your Name is, great and boundless, let Your praise fill all the earth.
Let Your people sing rejoicing for the judgment of Your truth,
For the judgment of Your truth.
Lord, let me be concerned more with the health and goodness of my soul than of my body, so that I look always to You and never merely to things. Adapted from The Rule of Ailbe
Please join us in giving thanks and praise to God for those who support The Fellowship of Ailbe with their prayers and gifts. We hope you are among them, because the prayers and gifts of our supporters are God’s way of allowing this ministry to grow, and we praise and thank Him for moving and enabling so many of you to share with us.
It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Dr., Essex Junction, VT 05452.
T. M. Moore, Principal
tmmoore@ailbe.org
All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
