Slideshow image

There are many things that can hinder a Christian from growing spiritually, which, in turn, will hinder the local New Testament church. One of those dangers, which is common among God’s people, is materialism. 

Materialism, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is “a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.” 

In our day, we have been blessed immensely in this country. The Bible tells us in James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

This does not necessarily mean that all financial gain or material possessions are sent to us from God. The qualifier of the gifts that are referenced in this verse is “good.” This would mean it is based on what the Lord defines as good, not necessarily on what man defines as good. 

There is no doubt, however, that God has blessed this country with great wealth, and we have been recipients of that blessing.  With this blessing comes the potential danger of becoming material-minded. John, in His first epistle, spoke very specifically about not allowing ourselves to love this world or the things in it. 

1 John 2:15-17 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

Not only are we to guard ourselves from loving the world’s system and philosophies, but we also see in these few verses that we are not to love the “...things that are in the world.”

One way for you and me to keep ourselves unspotted from this temptation is to heed the exhortation given to us in the book of Colossians 3:1-4, which states, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

God’s wisdom to us is to seek those things which are above—to set your affection on things above. My friend, if you will look to the Lord Jesus Christ, seeking Him and setting your affection upon Him, then as the hymnist wrote, the things of this world will grow strangely dim.