The Gospel According to Lily Allen - 4/5/09
By Josh Mickhaiel
Those of you who are up with the latest and greatest in popular music will more than likely be able to recognize the next few lines.
I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don’t care about clever I don’t care about funny
I want loads of clothes and I want truckloads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them
And I’ll take my clothes off and it will be shameless
Cuz everyone knows that’s how you get famous
I’ll look at the sun and I’ll look in the mirror
I’m on the right track yeah I’m on to a winner
‘The Fear” by Lily Allen has been topping popular music charts around Australia for the last few months. Looking at the world around us, you might not be surprised that these are the things the world values. In today’s society this is what our friends, the media, music and even our families seem to be pushing onto us. To be successful you have to look out for yourself above all else and do whatever it takes to get the spotlight for yourself.
So how then as Christians should we live in a world with these values?
This is a daily challenge with no easy answers.
The Bible speaks very clearly to us that God has called us to be separate from the world – not to separate ourselves from non-believers, afraid to catch their infectious sinfulness, but to be transparent in our faith and to live a distinctly Christian life. A life which rejects the ways of the world and acts as a light for our non-Christian neighbours.
Paul tells us, “Be not conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). When Jesus prayed for us in John ch17 he said that we had been given to him from the world (vs.6). He then said that he was going to leave us in the world (vs.11) and also that we were not of the world (vs. 14). We are told, however, that ‘our citizenship is in heaven’ (Philippians 3:20).
So if our citizenship is not here on earth then we are separate from this world and the way we live our lives should reflect this. The apostle John said that we were not to ‘love… this world, neither the things that are in the world’ (1 John 2:15) but rather, as Paul says, ‘set your affection on things above not on things on earth’ (Colossians 3:2).
I think this verse from Colossians goes much deeper than we would like to believe and I think if Paul was still on earth today he would be horrified at how obsessed with the world we are as Christians. If you think this doesn’t apply to you tell me you haven’t recently filled out a Facebook quiz on 5 things you wouldn’t leave the house without and included your iPod, lip gloss, slide phone and designer clothes but not your Bible. Tell me you’ve never become angry over the fact that your reception dropped out or that your CD player ate your favorite album. Tell me you’ve never let the offering plate pass you by because you were saving for that new pair of jeans or a few beers at the pub after church.
If we search our hearts honestly every one of us can find something in our lives which could be described as materialistic in some way, shape, or form.
There are two kinds of materialism. Human materialism is the act of putting ourselves before others and before God. This, it would seem, is the first and greatest commandment of the world today. But the Bible comes to a very different conclusion about materialism. God’s ‘materialism’ can be found in us putting him first so that he may put us first.
Which will you choose?
“Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
Josh is in his first year studying Journalism.
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