Worldliness

Worldliness in Scripture is the orientation of a person’s life around the values, desires, and judgements of a world that has rejected God. It is not a matter of geography or culture; it is a matter of what a person lives for and what they count as gain. The “world” in this biblical sense is not the created order, which Yahweh made and called good, but the system of thought and value that has organised itself around the rejection of God and the pursuit of what satisfies apart from him.

James writes with characteristic directness: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?” (James 4:4). The statement is absolute. A person cannot serve two masters: the pursuit of what the world counts as success, honour, and security is directly opposed to the pursuit of God and his kingdom. The two are not compatible. The call of the gospel is a call out of worldliness, not an accommodation to it.

The New Testament repeatedly calls believers to a life that is recognisably different from the world around them. Paul writes that the Christian is not to be conformed to this age but transformed by the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2). This transformation is not the product of religious effort; it is the work of the Spirit in those who belong to Christ, reorienting desire and judgement away from what the world values and toward what God values. The articles below trace this theme through several key passages.