What is Worldliness?

TV can be too easy . . . right there so you can watch it, free of charge.

But, about worldliness > being unforgiving is worldly and I would say what Jesus is much more concerned about.

And we have >

"Do all things without complaining and disputing," (Philippians 2:14)

Arguing and complaining is worldly. And it can do harm to how we relate. TV might be not a good way to use our time; however, arguing can be very destructive and can help to bring a person on into bitterness.

I wonder now if a TV isn't a greater source of worldliness

We know that Satan sets the course of the world (Eph 2:2). We can surmise he has objectives such as the collectivization of the world so that he can leverage his influence. One might see that media would be an important tool for him to imprint successive generations with values he wants people to have.

Since we are all born helpless, ignorant and selfish, it is to his advantage to use media to replace parental, familial, and cultural values with those he has established. Feminism, homosexuality, and transgenderism might be seen as only some of the ways Satan wants us to indulge our natural selfishness.

His control of academia has resulted in the promotion through media of various mental constructs that are important to him. For example the "scientific" idea that nothing existed, then blew up and became everything, which then organized itself into us (evolution) is endorsed at almost every turn so that even the idea of God seems at best archaic.

Perhaps the best key to disengagement from the world is to seek after truth. If one is able to hold to truth, one is less likely to be taken in by Satan's deceptions.

Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; ye shall know them by their fruits. I’m not going to list every do & don’t. So much of it boils down to conviction & standard. A good barometer is to ask yourself, does this edify Christ? Anything that is not of virtue, you will find is a vice.

dms1972 said:

I wonder now if a TV isn't a greater source of worldliness than going now and again to the cinema?

Click to expand...

Perhaps, you have known people who watch TV and are very worldly.

Well . . . if you do, it could be easy to think that watching TV is what made them worldly.

But . . . which comes first . . . the chicken or the egg? Does the being worldly cause the TV watching, or does the TV watching cause the worldliness?

I keep hearing in the news . . . on TV, yes . . . how something is connected with something else. For example > let's say they did a study and they found that there is a greater percentage of domestic abusers who smoke, than there is of non-abusers who smoke. So, ones could conclude that domestic abuse causes smoking, or that smoking helps to cause domestic abuse. Ones could jump to either conclusion.

But it could be that neither causes the other. But if a person has an abusive character, the person's character could make the person able to abuse others, and also to abuse one's own self. And so, neither activity causes the other! But they both come from the same character.

And, like this > if a person is worldly, this is not caused by TV, perhaps, but it is caused by the person's own character that is worldly. And so, also, the person's worldly nature can cause the person to watch too much TV. Plus, *how* the person watches can be worldly, just because the person is worldly . . . no matter how much the person watches TV . . . or what the person watches. Even a good show can be watched in a worldly way

You are going to get as many different answers as there are Christians..

Some might consider going to the movies, watching TV or even going the the Dr. when sick to be "worldly". Others, might think none of those things are..

dms1972 said:

Ok so lets say I don't have faith - then I am worldly? I grew up in a christian home, I have a bit of knowledge of christian things - theology etc. but thats not really faith. And lets say I try to not watch TV. But it doesn't work, the problem is deeper, and other family members wonder whats the matter with me - refusing TV. I could avoid all the "worldly things" but still be worldly in myself?

Click to expand...

How does one come out of the world? Through Christ. John 3:6-7 If we aren’t transformed then we are conformed. What are we conformed to? Jesus or the world. A decision needs to be made.

I have never understood why people even watch TV, it just bores the hell out of me

John 17:14 "I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world."

I use to like horror movies as well. The Exorcist freaked the hell out of me. But I think the fascination with such things is spiritual and real. The idea of being scared by some demon or satan suggests abelief there is such things. Even for atheists.

I now realise that horror and other genres like violence and of course sex that there are certain forces that come with negative emotions and spirits that should be avoided. Even within psychology its recognised that negative emotion is unhealthy.

Though I don't think a violent or horror movie itself will make someone deranged or a sinner. I think the continued immersion within such a mind set can affect someone phycologically and spiritually.

But I think media and tech has morphed into a monster itself as an influence on the world and reality itself. With the rise of fake news and Ai it seems people are losing touch with reality and the truth. Modern tech has more or less turned everything into a movie and humans are the actors.

Look at how fixated people are on their iphones. I can see virtual reality becoming a big thing. People will be living in virtual reality more and more.

I think this is a big instrument for manipulating minds with all sorts of demonic forces.

I don't like movies that much. I like docos and true life stories. I will say one good thing about Ai is that it can for example recreate the time of Christ and the Roman Empire. Take us back to that time to imagine what it was like. So long as its true to the facts. But best of all I like inspirational true stories.

I think there is a place for media as a way of education and information soi that we can know the facts and truth. But like anything it can be used for evil and when it becomes saturated its overwhelming for many to handle. In some ways people are longing for the old ways of entertainment. Like games that get people interacting. Or going on adventures in the great outdoors.

@dms1972 > back to your first post >

dms1972 said:

Coming from a christian background, I came to associate worldliness with behaviours like listening to secular music, gambling, going to the cinema (the first time I went to the cinema I was 17 years old) .

Click to expand...

Those would be "behaviors" . . . while being worldly has to do with how we are in our character. And something much more harmful than movies is unforgiveness. Jesus says >

"'And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.'" (Mark 11:25)

Also, beauty discrimination can help to cancel us from being able to love genuinely.

And arguing and complaining can be very destructive so we do not love and share well in our close relationships. And children with a bad example of arguing and complaining can grow up not knowing how to love in a close relationship.

So, if you are mainly concerned about TV and movies, it is possible that your attention is being tricked away from what is much more of a concern.

dms1972 said:

While discouraging some forms of worldliness (eg some sorts of pop / rock music), my parents were not super-strict, or forbidding.

Click to expand...

So, it is possible that they were not "legalistic". Maybe they knew that how we are in our character is what really matters.

dms1972 said:

Some things I would have watched on TV growing up were not very edifying, I had a fondness for horror movies.

Click to expand...

Yes. However, that TV stuff does not decide how you really are, in your character in comparison with Jesus.

But easy-going things like TV can keep us and our attention away from God and how Jesus has us loving. Vain entertainment can maintain us in our weakness until we get into more harmful things, like arguing and being unforgiving against someone. We can get hooked on certain treasure pleasures, so then we can get into fighting to keep and to protect a pleasure which has become a treasure. First we can get comfortable with some pastime; but this can be hooking us . . . so when somebody comes and threatens that pleasure . . . then is when we can get to acting even like a lunatic.

This happened with certain Jews in the time of Jesus. They got comfortable with having their own families and children and religious culture. They could be religious and respectable and patriotic. But then Jesus came. And ones felt He was a threat to their culture which they used for status and for money. And those cozy family Jews were easy to fool. The religious leaders stirred them up against Jesus, so that they even cursed their own kids with the shed blood of Jesus > they "all" said, "His blood be on us and on our children" > in Matthew 27:25.

So, only by loving their own lives, they stayed ready to be used by Satan, like that. And then, later, yes they lost so much.

"'He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.'" (John 12:25)

dms1972 said:

I wonder now if a TV isn't a greater source of worldliness than going now and again to the cinema?

Click to expand...

May be, we can see how TV isn't much, on its own, but it can help to maintain us in vanity and its weakness so we stay weak enough to get into **more obvious** trouble, later.

For example, in the culture where I was brought up, there has been a lot of beauty discrimination. There have been even "beauty pageants", which can help me to favor more attractive women, instead of evaluating someone by one's real character. And so, this discrimination can help to keep me from finding out how to love. And then, in my stupidity and weakness for outward beauty, I can get into a wrong relationship in seeking mainly the pleasure of beauty, versus finding out how to love in a close relationship.

Lots of movies I have seen have this trick, included > how a main actor is charming, speaks well, and is attractive. Such outward stuff is favored; and so there can be the sneaky thing of getting men to be, and then to stay, foolish for outward beauty. And then we can get into our lusts and get deeper in what is not love.

So, then, TV and movies can **help** to get and keep us men in **our** ways of vanity!!

However, our character has so much to do with what we are capable of doing. And only God is able to change our character.