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Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World

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Any book on worldliness faces a difficult challenge. The author who takes too firm a stand on issues may slip into legalism while the author who takes too lax a stand may slip into the worldliness he seeks to avoid. The discerning author will need to tread the line, being careful to say no more than Scripture does while still dealing effectively with issues of contemporary importance. Because such a book is long overdue I was pleased to see that Worldliness would be coming from C.J. Mahaney and those whom John Piper affectionately refers to as "his gang."

Mahaney handles the introductions in this book, beginning with a reflection called "Is This Verse in Your Bible?" He biblically defines worldliness saying that this world we're not supposed to love is "the organized system of human civilization that is actively hostile to God and alienated from God." Worldliness is a love for this fallen world and, specifically, "to gratify and exalt oneself to the exclusion of God." Mahaney is careful to point out that worldliness is not extrinsic to us but intrinsic, inhabiting our fallen hearts. Worldliness does not consist of outward actions (though such actions can certainly be evidence of worldliness) but instead is a heart attitude that rebels against God. The antidote to worldliness is the cross of Christ. "Only through the power of the cross of Christ can we successfully resist the seduction of the fallen world." Worldliness dulls our affections for Christ and distracts our hearts from him. Hence it is so serious "because Christ is so glorious." While resisting worldliness is the theme of the book, its aim is to exalt Christ.

Each of the subsequent chapters is meant to build on this foundation. In "God, My Heart, and Media," Craig Cabaniss discusses issues related to the pervasiveness of media in our society. Cabaniss grounds the discussion in grace, saying "any discussion of biblical obedience, including entertainment guidelines, must spring from a robust understanding of grace." He offers the fair warning that we must guard our hearts as the conscience is prone to become dull over time. As we relax our standards and as we engage in ungodly media habits, our hearts may slowly become dulled to the things of Christ. He warns against the temptation to see anyone with stricter standards as us as legalistic while seeing anyone with more lenient standards as worldly. He encourages us to view proactively, to view accountably and to view gratefully.

In "God, My Heart, and Music," Bob Kauflin takes on the subject of music, beginning with the fact that music was God's idea long before it crossed the mind of any human. He states that "listening to music without discernment and godly intent reveals a heart willing to flirt with the world." Saying that music itself is amoral (there are no holy or unholy harmonies or melodies) he warns that music does convey three things: content, context and culture. The Christian will need to discern what is being communicated through the music he listens to in order to ensure that he is not, perhaps inadvertently, absorbing messages that would conflict with his Christian faith. Kauflin closes with some good thoughts on using music for the glory of God.

To this point I felt the book was excellent. Though in a work of this nature each of the chapters could be little more than a cursory introduction to what might have been a book-length project, I felt the authors did a great job of teaching, exhorting and illustrating while avoiding those perilous extremes of worldliness and legalism. Unfortunately I felt that Worldliness soon stalled out badly. And this is where the job of a book reviewer gets tough. What do you do when you like an author (or a group of authors) but just don't like the book they've produced?

The fourth chapter, entitled "God, My Heart, and Stuff" was authored by Dave Harvey. While I haven't ever met Dave (at least to my recollection) I have benefited from reading his book When Sinners Say 'I Do'. From my experience in reading that book I had high hopes for his contribution to this one. I was disappointed. While he addressed the heart so well in his book on marriage, in this case I found little of real depth. The next chapter, from the pen of C.J. Mahaney is titled "God, My Heart, and Clothes" and discusses the issue of modesty. It had very little application to men beyond stating that this is an issue for pastors and fathers to consider. Ultimately he provided a lot of quotes and a few good thoughts on modesty and encouraged women to dress properly. Both of the book's appendices carried on the theme, with "A Modesty Heart Check" and "Considering Modesty on Your Wedding Day." But this was a superficial look at modesty and one that offered little that we haven't heard C.J. and others say before. It did not take the issue of modesty to men (where modesty of heart and intention comes into play) but instead serves as just another encouragement to girls to check their neckline and test their hemline. Jeff Purswell concludes with a chapter titled "How to Love the World" in which he reminds the reader "To impart biblical discernment in areas that increasingly escape the scrutiny of the evangelical world so intent on 'relating to the culture.'" He offers a summary of redemptive history in the grid of Creation, Fall, Redemption and Consummation and gives the reader a three-part charge: to enjoy the world, to engage the world and to evangelize the world. These last three chapters and the appendices were uniformly disappointing to me. I couldn't help but feel that they represented somewhat passionless efforts. Missing was the depth and intensity I'd expect from a book authored (or edited) by Mahaney.

Had I been hoping that this book might be another Humility or The Cross Centered Life, Worldliness would have been quite a disappointment. Though it got off to a strong start, it quickly tapered out. In the end it just seemed shallow--a work of far less depth and offering far less application than I'm accustomed to seeing from a book with Mahaney's name on the cover. It came across as a cobbled-together collection of essays of unequal value. I almost feel I should apologize when I say, it just isn't that good of a book.

Worldliness is a book edited by C.J. Mahaney of Sovereign Grace Ministries. The authors are contributions from the Sovereign Grace family. The subtitle asserts the ambitious goal of the book: "Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World".

As with any book by this title there is a danger right out of the gate to make your points from the reservoir of legalism rather than gospel. Many times this comes from an unbiblical definition of worldliness. Mahaney aims to plug this hole right up front as he quotes 1 John 2.15 but then points out that verses 16-17 (1 John 2.16-17) help define what this is.

Mahaney writes, "Worldliness, then, is a love for this fallen world. It's loving the values and pursuits of this world that stand opposed to God. More specifically, it is to gratify and exalt oneself to the exclusion of God." (p.27)

From this discussion on worldliness in general the authors move into more specifics. And frankly this is where things get a little disjointed. I felt in reading the book straight through that I was reading 6 different books rather than one book with 6 chapters. Overall the book seemed to lack the unity of thought that leads to logical progression.

Bob Kauflin wrote a chapter on music. Kauflin is always helpful in thinking about music. However, I would have liked to see him talk about "Christian Music" that is not particularly edifying and how believers should not just be buying a label or an artist but exercise discernment. I'm convinced that the theological teaching in many Christian albums do more damage than Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews Band and Jay-Z (whom Kauflin cites as unhelpful to a Christian's growth).

Mahaney wrote a chapter on modesty, specifically how we dress. Or better, how women dress. In this chapter Mahaney helps ladies to see how their attire can have a desanctifying effect upon their brothers in Christ. No doubt what Mahaney writes is helpful to ladies who may have never thought about this before. I think it would have been helpful to talk about what men do and do not wear as well. It is not just a female problem. Men should be dressing in a way that brings honor to Christ and does not distract or harm others.

I want to pick on one chapter in particular because I think it highlights what was good and bad in this book. The chapter I am reffering to is Craig Cabaniss's piece on God, My Heart, and Media. His goal was to take a look at the effect of media upon our sanctification. Cabaniss spent most of his time with television and movie viewing. Let me first give you the positives.

Cabiniss demonstrates the danger of thoughtless and immune watching. By this he means that we are not mentally and spiritually engaged when we watched and therefore we become dulled and desensitized to what we are seeing. This is a good and much needed warning. Further, the author points out that the `true' enemy is not "out there" but rather he is closer. "He's not lurking behind the curtain in the movie theater. He's much closer. He's us. Our battle is with the flesh." Amen. I was pleased to read this helpful warning.

Cabiniss then raises the `legalism' card. He notes that standards for evaluation of what we should and should not watch are not bad but rather it is our motivation for such standards. "The solution is not necessarily lowering our standards. It is necessarily raising our understanding of and response to the glorious grace of God."

If the chapter would have ended there I would have been more comfortable. But in coming pages we are given nearly two and a half pages of `discernment' questions to evaluate if we should or should not be watching something. I truly believe that the author was trying to be helpful. However, when you give me a list, I want to obey it and I want to obey it for merit. This becomes a problem.

It probably would have been more helpful to help us think redemptively about our time, thoughts and ambitions rather than give me an extrabiblical list of questions to evaluate how godly I am being.

Remember this is to help me discern if I should watch something:

"Is sinful self-sufficiency honored? Are the heroic characters concerned for others or merely for themselves?"

"Does the program or film portray materialism as `the good life'"?

"What's the view of man's nature?"

"What's the view of sin?"

"What is the view of God-ordained authority figures?"

"What is humorous in this work?" How are people made fun of? What is mocked?"

If we rush to answer these questions that we are provided I am fairly certain that we won't ever be able to watch another movie again (this includes most of the so called "Christian movies" since their theology is as jacked up as most secular movies).

Finally, Cabiniss urges us to pursue accountability with others in effort to stem off sin. Accountability is often quite helpful. However, many times folks end up fearing their `accountability partner' while remaining numbly void of a healthy fear of God. This does not kill the root of sin, but unwittingly increases a fear of man (idolatry).

Giving me lists and things to do to tend to create a sort of law that I measure my morality (sanctification) by. I like how the authors talk often about grace, gospel and cross, however, they do not saturate the book with the gospel in such a way that obscures the view of Sinai. I am not saying the book is a handbook on legalism (because it is not) however, I think it could have been much more clear, gospel-dripping, and therefore practical.

I have loved the other books by CJ Mahaney, however, I just can't get behind this one as passionately and wholeheartedly.

What is worldliness? Well, before reading this book I would have said it was the state of a person whose whole life is dominated by material things. I would have answered, worldliness is something others struggle with, but certainly not me. Well, in classic Mahaney fashion, I was humbled...again.

In "Worldliness, Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World ", C.J. Mahaney has compiled 6 essays that clearly point out that you don't have to be totally sold out to the world to be "worldly". Worldliness exists in little areas of our lives that we consider as harmless or manageable. Yet, it is from those little areas that worldliness relentlessly launches its attack with the goal of completely taking over and destroying us.

In fact, worldliness hunts everyone down. No-one is immune. If we avoid it, it finds us. The world bombards our senses with sounds, images and thoughts that remain in our minds forever. Because of this fact, today's victory can become tomorrow's battle. As CJ puts it:

"Today the greatest challenge facing American evangelicals is not persecution from the world but seduction by the world. We are not under attack from without, we are decaying from within"

Yet, CJ points out that worldliness is not a uniquely 21st century thing. We can't blame it on the convenient Christian scapegoats of TV's, iPods, movies, DVD's, video games, fashion or consumerism. Worldliness has always existed in some form, relative to the time and culture where Christian's lived. He quotes CH Spurgeon from over 150 years ago:

"The one reason why the church of God at the present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church."

The Apostles even warned of it in their day.

Traditionally, the Christian response to worldliness has been withdrawal from the culture, monasticism and more commonly today; legalism. Today, many Christians fall for the list of do's and don'ts or practicing some rigorous set of rules as a panacea for worldliness. The list does not even need to be formal. It can be a set of personal moralistic views about things like Bible versions, holidays, type of church, TV channels, movies or music. Yet, in doing so, there is a tendency to deceive ourselves into a false sense of security. The list becomes the measure of our "goodness". Pride in accomplishing this list further obscures the realization that no matter what we do, we are still sinful when compared to God. Legalism, denies the power and grace of God. That's why it's so dangerous. Our only hope, the grace of God, and our grace-sustained faith, is conveniently replaced by a deceptive creation of man. While I don't know this to be true, I would imagine worldliness exists within the Amish community, a group of people who we tend to view as having successfully resisted worldly influence.

In the face of what seems to be an impossible battle, CJ points the reader back to the Bible. "Only through the cross of Jesus Christ can we successfully resist the seduction of a fallen world" , he says. As he so simply pointed out in his book "Living The Cross Centered Life", the cross of Christ empowers us not only through it's past significance and what Christ accomplished on it but also in its significance in the way we view it relative to our lives, today. We are no less in need of the cross today than when we lived a life of unbelief.

The book contains short but thorough discussions on those places where worldliness is most commonly found. They represent things that are clearly gifts from God and not intrinsically bad, but without discernment, become the catalysts of worldliness. Things like:

Media: What we choose to view or listen to
Music: What we enjoy listening to.
Stuff: The choices we make with our money
Clothes: What we wear and why we wear it


Each section deals openly with worldliness from a personal perspective and addresses the heart issues that cause Christians to "worship" man's creation rather than God himself.

The essay's section end with a call by Jeff Purswell to "love the world" as Christ would have done; by acknowledging the provision of God in His goodness, engaging the culture and acting in love for the world, with an eye to evangelism.

The book concludes with the Mahaney family's " Modesty Heart Check" and a unique challenge of Considering Modesty on Your Wedding Day. While aimed mainly at women, they certainly have application for men, especially teens and father's of daughters.

The final section lists a set a questions, dealing with issues presented in the book, that can be used as a personal study or in a small group.

Where did this book affect me? It was in Craig Cabaness' section titled "God, My Heart and Media" that I found my greatest challenge. While I don't watch much television, by nature, I am a "multi-media sponge" and self-described political junkie. The media coverage of the current election cycle is a major struggle for me. Again, not that there is anything inherently wrong with wanting to be an informed voter. It's a worthy cause that many more people should pursue. However, I find it easy and convenient to use the informed voter excuse as a way to justify watching political news, when in-fact I have already made up my mind who to vote for. It's also very easy for me to "pile on" when I see my candidate's negative ads, regardless of whether I know them to be true or not. I also find a certain "joy" in watching my candidate hurl "zinger's" at his opponent. I also take pleasure in hearing the media "spin" things in favor of "my guy". The bottom line is that I am an arrogant and proud supporter of my candidate. The media has me right where they want me. I am a full-fledged member of the TV mob, cheering for my candidate and demanding blood from his opponent in the Colosseum of presidential election politics. Through my actions, I am demonstrating that I am no different that a 1st Century Roman arena spectator. I am worldly.

What I learned from this book is that I was not the man I thought I was. I was big in my own mind but prideful in God's eyes. I learned that the sin of pride is a key ingredient in worldliness (I Cor 10:12). For me, this sin weakened my Spirit-led discernment, one of the weapons I need to fight against being pulled into the world. This book was a call to guard my heart even more and to crawl back to the Cross even more frequently.

Originally written my me and posted on my blog www.spiritfilledpuritan.com

Others think of me as worldly. I don't usually play along with what a lot of Christians are doing to avoid the label of "worldly." For starters, I haven't made the switch to only listen to the Christian radio station. In fact, I never listen to the Christian radio station so I'm always at a loss when people want to talk to me about whatever new album Toby Mac has released. When I was a teenager, I was told of the evils of "secular" music and taught to only listen to Christian music. I did. I learned a lot about the Christian music industry and learned that it was a lot more industry than Christian.

I also don't shun every TV show that AFA doesn't like. I'm not a fan of the American Family Association, so there's that.

I'm a political cynic, so I have yet to buy into the idea that the Republican Party loves Jesus more than the Democratic Party. I think they both love money and power more.

So I don't fit in with Christians a lot. These opinions come up and I get this look from people. It's a look that makes me feel like I have the Ebola virus. My worldliness is exposed. I don't live up to the rules. My only hope is that grace abounds enough to keep talking to me.

So, when I'm standing in line at T4G and the first free book comes my way, I was a little apprehensive when I saw that the title was "Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World." It was edited by C.J. Mahaney. Over the next few days, I learned who he is. (I realize that other T4G attendees think I have just committed heresy so here it is: I was drug to the conference by friends. I didn't know anything about it before I went, but its ok, I enjoyed it. I'm learning as fast as I can, ok?) He struck me as a funny, thoughtful, gracious, compassionate, deeply passionate kind of guy, so I figured I'd give it a read.

Here is what I didn't want: rules. I can find the faults in your rules. I really can. I'm really good at pointing out inconsistencies. Its my judgmental way of dealing with judgmental people (' Look! An inconsistency!), so I'm not impressed with your rules. This book covers worldliness as it pertains to media, music, stuff, and clothing. I expected rules.

I was pleasantly surprised. There were no rules. There were no lists of satanic rock stars. There were no shocking stories of what's on TV. But that doesn't mean its easy to read.

Mahaney and his Sovereign Grace pals do a great job of explaining that worldliness (and holiness for that matter) is not an issue of rules, but an issue of the heart. But, fellow rule-haters, that doesn't let us off the hook so easily. The question I began to ask as I read about the heart issue of worldliness, is what is in my heart when I hate the rules? Granted, no one is anymore holy because they do the right thing for the wrong reason, but its not better doing the wrong thing for the right reason, is it?

The struggle I have is that I know this book is pointing in the right direction. I realize that I am making choices everyday that compromise my faith; that expose my heart for loving something other than Christ.
Applying the rules will not help. I know that. I have long since realized that living according to rules has very little to do with Christ. I just can't stop there. Now I have to look deeper to my heart.

This book is a challenge. If you are like me and you hate the rules, hate the legalism, and hate the judgmental attitude that is so often associated with Christianity, I recommend you read this book. The challenge to be on the right path is before us, even though we have dismissed wrong paths in the past.

Any book entitled Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World promises not to be your average book on the shelf of today's Christian bookstore. The subject of worldliness, or love for the values of this fallen world, is not a popular theme.

The contributors of this book, start off by asking if 1 John 2:15 ["Do not love the world or anything in the world":], is really in most Christian's Bibles. All of us are guilty of worldliness. But how do we go about avoiding this sin? C.J. Mahaney explains:

"Some people try to define worldliness as living outside a specific set of rules or conservative standards. If you listen to music with a certain beat, dress in fashionable clothes, watch movies with a certain rating...surely you must be worldly.

Others, irritated and repulsed by rules that seem arbitrary, react to definitions of worldliness, assuming it's impossible to define. Or they think legalism will inevitably be the result, so we shouldn't even try.

...Both views are wrong. For by focusing exclusively on externals or dismissing the importance of externals, we've missed the point.... the real location of worldliness is internal. It resides in our hearts."

The book goes on to try to navigate between these two extremes and call today's church to a healthy carefulness about how we interact with the world at large. With chapters on movies, music, money and modesty, the book aims to guide believers as they think critically about the myriad of choices facing us in today's culture.

As one who came out of a very strict fundamentalist background, this book especially interested me. I was encouraged to see contemporary evangelical Christians warning about the social dangers that abound. And I noted that the book did not offer a list of rules which I should follow more closely than Scripture. Instead the authors were careful to encourage discernment and teach general guiding principles.

To some the book will seem quite strict. Think "radical", instead. The authors aim to glorify God in everything they do. That will come across as totally radical, and will require a unique focus on the temptations and opportunities that surround us.

While the discussion on media (movies) and music was quite good, the chapter on money and modesty wasn't quite as captivating for me. I'd heard a lot of Mahaney's stuff on modesty before, so maybe that's why. But any lull in those chapters was more than made up by Mahaney's opening chapter and the closing one by Jeff Purswell.

That final chapter focused on how to love the world. We are to love God's creation and the people He has made. We are placed within His world and called to serve for its good. Perhaps since externals were over emphasized in my fundamentalist roots, this chapter on healthy interaction with the world resonated with me so well. In any case, Purswell paints a glorious picture of God's covenant dealings with all the earth.

Moving from God's overarching redemption plan, he elevates our mundane day-to-day duties as part of that plan. He closes his section on work with this appeal:

"So don't just "go to work" and "do your job"--see your job as a way to imitate God, serve God, and love others. This doesn't mean work will never be difficult or frustrating or tedious; the curse ensures that it will be at times. But God's creational purposes and Christ's redeeming work infuse our work with meaning, and promise God-glorifying fruit as a result."

Purswell calls us to enjoy, engage and evangelize the world. "We receive God's earthly gifts, pursue God's purposes in earthly life, and work for the salvation of people made in God's image. All of life lived for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31)".

The final chapter exposes the tension once again. While we are to be in the world and working for its good, we are also not to love what it loves and prize what it prizes. Once again, the book stresses two bents which typify Christians:

"Some have strictly spiritual preoccupations. For them the present is of little consequence, pleasures are periolous, spirituality means self-denial...

Others relish life in this world. Their delight in God's temporal gifts is unrestrained, their enjoyment of their physical existence untempered, their hope in earthly endeavors absolute...."

The answer finally is the cross of Christ. The cross tells us who we are, interprets the world we live in, transforms our view of people and gives our lives purpose. Finding our place in God's story of redemption is the ultimate cure for a love of this world's desires.

This book has the potential to transform your view of the Christian life. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Crossway Books for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

It is hard to review a book on worldliness. Not nearly as hard as writing one, but still hard. The tension is viewing worldliness as not anti-world, viewing holiness as a worthy goal, a desire to avoid legalism, the need to focus on the grace of Christ and the tendency to focus on a fairly narrow set of outward sins makes for a book on worldliness easy to take shots at.

I did not realized when I started this book that it was a series of essays by different authors rather than a complete work by Mahaney. And that makes a difference. What I liked so much about Mahaney's book Humility (my review) was that it was so tightly pastoral. And that seems to be a bit missing in some of the essays. It also seems like it might be oriented toward young Christians. After all the chapters are about media, music, consumerism and how to dress right. (The chapter on dress really was inappropriate, it should not have been in the book and the focus seemed to be blaming women for being attractive. Guys can lust if a woman is in a Burka. The sin is the lust. The women are the victim of the sin, not the perpetrators. Yes, women can be immodest. Yes, that is a sin, but having a chapter about modesty without talking about the sin of lust means that you are picking on women without dealing with the root issue. And the long section on wedding dresses really crossed the line.)

On the other hand, when read in the most generous fashion, mostly, there is little to disagree with. There is a very long chapter (in relation to a fairly short book) on the consumption of media. Most of it is quite true. We are very much affected by the media in this world. We do waste too much time in mindless consumption. We should train children and others in how to look deeper in the the meaning of what is in front of us. It is very convicting, especially the questions at the end of the chapter. But it seemed to lack some of the pastoral focus that I think would have made it better. It felt guilt inducing. Maybe that is because I am guilty about my media consumption. It is hard not to be. As important as the particulars of the chapter were, I thought that being placed as the first chapter after the introduction, gave a prominence to an 'easy target' that might have been better balanced by placing it later in the book and cutting the length a bit. (I also thought there was very little added by having another fairly long chapter on music, when most of the points were fairly similar to general media consumption. And there was another section in the consumerism chapter that also dealt with advertising which again was repetitive.)

The chapter on consumption was probably the best chapter and came closest to my desire to deal with the actual internal issues of desiring to be like the world (instead of focusing on issues of appearing to look like the world.)

In the end, I wanted more of a focus on the positives of Holiness and less a focus on the problems of being in the world. We are all in the world, that is part of our calling as a church. And I certainly agree (and this it might be the best line in the book) when it says in context of being relevant that "we too often cloak our transformation by Christ in order to share Christ." That is convicting. (The final chapter looked at ways that we can love the world and I thought that chapter was OK, but really too little too late.)

The main problem I have is one of editorial decisions of focus more than any real individual essays. Personally, I think that a focus on holiness as a gift of the Holy Spirit is a better approach. (The chapter on consumerism actually said that the main way to not focus on the world is to focus on the gospel, but the book seemed to mostly ignore this.) When the focus is mostly on external view-able sins (and that is what this book is mostly about) then it is hard not eventually move to legalism or just to give up. We cannot become holy by striving to not be worldly. And the hardest sins of worldliness are not those external sins like watching the wrong movies or listening to the wrong music, or dressing too provocatively, it is the internal sins of desire, greed, a lack of trust in God for our provision, the internal sins that can only be confronted by the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

I like Mahaney, but I felt there is so much wrong with this book that I have a very hard time recommending it.

____________

This book was provided by [...] for purposes of review.

How do Christians live in the world, but not of the world? C. J. Mahaney and fellow writers in Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World offer what they believe to be a Biblical approach to "enjoying the world, engaging the world, [and] evangelizing the world" (168) while obeying the clear Scriptural command in 1 John 2:15 to not love the world. Throughout the book, many specific suggestions are mentioned in the areas of movies, TV, music, possessions, and clothes, but the overarching theme has nothing to do with prohibitions, but has everything to do with the heart. Overcoming worldliness, first and foremost, is a heart issue. What is one's motive for doing what they do? Is it to impress someone else by keeping up with the latest trend, to please one's self, or is it to glorify the Lord? All throughout the book, the authors offer challenging statements that avoid legalism and intentionally point the reader to the cross of Christ. The reader is to do all they do Coram Deo ("before the face of God") for the glory of God; that is the main thrust of the book.

CJ Mahaney offers a great perspective on worldliness and avoids legalistic rants that many fall into. It provides a balanced way to view our world as Christians and how to deal with worldly seduction without hiding in the closet.

A collection of essays by several authors is bound to be somewhat uneven in terms of quality and this is certainly the case in Worldliness, edited by C.J. Mahaney, author of the excellent book The Cross-Centered Life. I believe that each essay is written with a view toward thoughtful engagement with worldliness in a specific area of life. The reader's response to each area may in part be affected by the reader's own areas of struggle. I did not identify very much with the sections on modesty and possessions while the section on media was very helpful, supplying several penetrating questions which helped me analyze my media habits. I was a little disappointed with the essay on music, mainly because it was too short and treated the subject in a shallow way. But someone who was challenged in the area of music may be helped even by this chapter. The questions in the media section were so helpful that I would have appreciated a list of probing questions at the end of every chapter, with the understanding that these questions were not to be used in a legalistic way but simply in an effort to examine one's heart.

I picked up this little book at the Christian bookstore recently. I read the back cover and the commendations on the back. Several were by authors I was familiar with and respect (like Randy Alcorn) I was also very interested in the foreward by John Piper. But I hadn't ever heard of any of the actual authors of this book. I found it hard to decide how many stars to give this book. There was some information that I found timely and practical. But there was also other information that was unhelpful at best.

First, the chapters on media and music. I definitely agree with the authors that this is an area where many Christians need to exercise more discernment. Just because a book, album, tv program or movie is labeled Christian doesn't necessarily mean it's Biblical or edifying. I have come across things in all of the above that were anything but biblical and edifying. But on the other hand, I have also come across some media labeled "secular" that helped draw me closer to Christ. Personally, I believe this is an area where Christians should follow their conscience. If they don't feel comfortable or right about watching a particular movie or listening to a particular album, then don't. I do listen to both secular music and R-rated movies. But I make sure that I know what I'm getting into before I do. I don't just listen to or go to anything. I make sure I read a review written from a Christian perspective before buying the album or purchasing the ticket. I know some Christians who listen to some secular music, I know some who listen to only Christian music. I know some who go to R-rated movies and some who don't. I don't look down or condemn anyone who has a different view. Discernment is key!

I also liked the chapter on materialism and stuff. Materialism is definitely a problem in the world today. Unfortunately, I think it's also a problem for a lot of Christians. Myself included. For readers who would like a much much exhaustive and indepth treatment of this subject, I highly recommend "Money, Posesstions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn.

Now, for the negative. The chapter I disliked the most was the one on modesty. Now, please don't minunderstand me. I'm not saying modesty is a bad thing. I don't think it is at all. I think it is something that a lot of Christian women need to think and pray about. In the chapter on modesty, the author mentions 2nd Timothy 2:9 but this verse is not intended to forbid adornment. There are some who take this to the extreme and say that women shouldn't have any kind of adornment or hairstyle or make-up at all. The author rightly points out that modesty is a heart issue (and I completely agree) but then spends the rest of the chapter talking about clothes and hemlines.

Another complaint that I have is one I have with many books etc that deal with the topic of modesty. They lay the responsibility and blame squarely on the woman. The author also includes a couple of testamonies from men about their struggles with lust. The message I got from this chapter is "Men have very strong sex drives and are stimulated visually. Therefore, they can't help it if they lust after a woman. It's the woman's responsibility not to cause her brothers to stumble." I agree with that up to a point. As a woman, I don't pretend to completely understand the struggles men have with lust. But I think there are things about being a woman men can't understand. Personally, I think this book (and many others on this topic) let the men off way too easy. The Bible certainly doesn't let men off the hook so easily. The Bible clearly calls adultery sin in both the New and Old Testament. In fact, it is one of the Ten Commandments. In the New Testament Jesus talked about both spiritual and physical adultery. Matthew 5:27-30 says "Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart." I would like to know why so few Christian authors talk to men about lust as forcefully as they do to women about modesty. It just seems so lopsided to me.

Modesty is a heart issue. I believe that it is very possible to be outwardly modest and still be inwardly immodest. Following the "rules" these authors suggest doesn't necessarily mean a woman will be modest. I found it interesting that all their suggestions for modest dress deal only with the outward appearance. I also found it somewhat offensive to subject that a woman should not wear a strapless or spagetti strapped wedding gown. It also annoys me that any outfit that reveals any curves of a woman's body is labeled "immodest". What do they suggest? Women should wear shapeless gunny sacks or perhaps veils that cover the entire body like in the Middle East? I'm being sarcastic of course, but I think that this authors take the modesty issue too far. Here again, I think each individual woman should follow her conscience and be discerning. I don't think Christian women should go out of their way to dress like "worldly" women, but I also don't think that they should be relegated to wearing only out of date, formless, and unfashionable clothing. Both are extremes that need to be avoided. Balance is so important here. I think the Bible makes it clear that both men and women are supposed to treat each other with dignity and respect. It isn't just the woman's responsibility.

I also found the chapter on loving the world out of place. It just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book.

I honestly don't know if I would recommend this book to someone else or not. It's something I would definitely have to think and pray seriously about beforehand. What's good is really good, but what's bad, is really bad.