What is wrong with the world?

I used to think the world, the flesh, and the Devil were more or less synonyms. I used to think all the dimensions of evil could be captured in one photo of a Las Vegas crime scene.  You have the scantily clad ladies, the casino owner with a big cigar, and a couple of pimps in the shadows.  There you have it. That's evil.

This view of evil is clear. It is also convenient because all you have to do to avoid evil is stay off the strip.  One simple rule fixes it all.

But the other day I was thinking about an old cliche I used to hear in sermons, "the world as referenced in the Bible is the world system."  That never made much sense to me.  What exactly is the world system?  Is it the Vegas strip or is it something far more subtle?

For the last thirteen years, I have spent my life deep in the world system. My profession and the profession of my closest associates is to look deeply at the problems in the world and try to fix them. Solutions are offered that involve politics, business, churches, neighbors, anyone at all. We try to pull it all together and make the "system better."  So what is this world system that is so bad?

This is what I see.  Everyone trying to make rules for other people, so things can be better.  We call it a lot of other things -- clear expectations, best practices, protocol, policies and procedures, and they are all so good but they are often built on the core worldly notion that there is clear cause and effect, and I can reduce what is expected of me to simple behaviors that I can achieve. If I can just get everyone else to follow, things will be better  --and I will consequently be on top because I picked rules I can follow.

It happens in subtle ways.  Every time I go to Manhattan to one of the city or state offices, I hear some semi-frustrated Quality Assurance Officer say, "I need you to tell your staff to get me a copy of Form 2393439 on time! It will make your program better." Hmmm

Whenever there is a crisis -- like a shooting or robbery, I hear the chorus of protocol lovers.  We need to have more policies and procedures.  There certainly is a place for preparation and clarity, but what I really sense is that we want a system of rules that will save us.  Last week a 15 year old came with a loaded gun to one of my sights where we have English classes.  Fortunately, no one was hurt, but it wasn't the policy and procedure manual that saved us that day.  It was good people doing good things -- compassion mixed with courage.

I used to hear it preached that the world is lawless, but I see quite the opposite.  The world system is brimming full of laws. Everyone's got an expectation for everyone else. There is a rule or policy for everything, and everyone is slightly frustrated that others won't listen.  It is morphing into a giant, global murmur of "should's"

At work, we are trying to make Fulton St. a more inviting beautiful place to be.  Some of the merchants purchased beautiful new awnings and signs.  They were promptly fined by the city and forced to take them down because they did not have the proper permit and somehow did not meet the specifications.  The sign can't hang over the sidewalk more than 4 feet!  Apparently, 5 feet would create a safety hazard (eye rolling).

The tactic is not new.  Job's friends were men of the world system.  If you do X, then Y will happen.  Period. So stop doing X, Job, that's all there is to it. God provides an air-tight system of rules and rewards.  Sowing and reaping is all there is to it. What a convenient world view.

This view is very useful and seductive because it is partly true.  With the cause and effect world view, you can do a lot of things.

You can put people in their place.
You can clearly identify who is in and who is out.  
You can make the world more predictable.
You can blame the victim for their own problems. (i.e. people begging are lazy)
You can blame the victim for your own problems.  Like my neighbor who won't let his kids play with Spanish kids.

If life runs on a clear cause and effect rubric, a system of levers and buttons, you can be in control.
You don't have to be dependent on anyone else's good graces.
You can get what you deserve.
You can be sure of a good outcome.
You can be successful.
No need to be poor in spirit, meek, mournful, or hungry.  All you need is discipline and clear commitment to the cause and effect principles in God's Word.  You can be in the driver seat of your own faith. 

You can also make yourself feel like you are actually fixing things -- like you are bringing much needed law and order.  We even call Job's friends "comforters."

Job instead cries out for a mediator to plead his case in the heavenlies.  Isaiah pleads that God would rend the heavens and come down. The Israelites gratefully looked to the serpant on a pole.  Salvation doesn't come from protocol. 

"In repentance and rest is your salvation" (Isaiah 30:15).

"So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins." (Romans 8:3b) NLT