The world is becoming increasingly unholy, earthly, and ungodly during these perilous End Times. People are becoming lovers of self, rather than lovers of God (2 Timothy 3:2). They are lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of truth (2 Timothy 3:4). With the rise of the loneliness epidemic, alienation is increasingly becoming the norm, an unprecedented global phenomenon affecting a whole generation regardless of nation, culture, ethnicity, or gender. Even the natural affection that once glued families together in the midst of a brutal hostile world is becoming an increasingly foreign concept, with the rise of family annihilations in recent years. Simply put, the love of many has grown cold, and the fruits of such cold-heartedness is evident.
The world today growing in its rebellion, pride, and stiff-neckedness against God and the things of God. It desires anything that gives it ease, comfort, security, pleasure, and treasure to live a ‘good life’ in this world, defined in accordance to an unspiritual, worldly mindset which perceives a ‘good life’ to be one full of an abundance of earthly wealth, temporal power, and worldly security. Anything spiritual or even the talk of anything spiritual it recoils at and sees as anathema.
It is full of distractions that lure a person away from desiring truth, which is why today’s world is utterly unspiritual, degenerate, selfish, amoral, and evil. Even most of those who profess Christ are full of worldliness, being caught up in all manner of spiritual distractions, drawing them away from God, before slowing drifting away from Him and becoming stuck in the wilderness of the world, as opposed to the Promised Land which is the inheritance in Christ and the blessings that come with it.
Instead of pursuing God, however, the vast majority of people, including most professing Christians, are distracted by at least one of the six distractions that hinder people from pursuing truth, knowing God, and drawing closer to Him. Many Christians think that because these things are licit that there is no problem, but the problem lies with their fixation on such distractions, distracting one from pursuing the Creator who made us. These are politics, entertainment, career, possessions, social status, and family.
The Problem of Spiritual Distraction
Distraction is a spiritual malaise. It is not merely a sign of spiritual illness; it is a spiritual illness. A spiritual distraction is akin to a virus that causes a patient to become ill, which without being eradicated from the body, will cause the body to not only remain ill, but continue to weaken it and thereby lose the resistance to fight the virus. As long as one is distracted by anything that causes one to love the world rather than God, one is spiritually sick and one’s soul is in eternal danger. Such spiritual illness is causing so many to become mentally ill through depression and anxiety that spirals into a more severe state as a person remains content to wallow in their spiritual illness through attachment to the world, owing to their love for it and the things it offers in this life.
To enter Heaven, one must focus on God alone, and treat all other things as trivial in being detached from the world and attached to God only. Anything in this world one loves must be loved with merely a detached love, one holds it loosely and is willing to lose, for the sake of loving God. Such a detached love is rightly ordered love that is ordered towards God as the ultimate love. Saint Paul demonstrates this detachment from the world: But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:7-8).
Likewise, Saint Paul taught that to follow Christ, one must be detached from the world:
This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
(1 Corinthians 7:29-31)
It is not enough to hold onto worldly possession and pleasures loosely. One must renounce them, living as if these were nothing as Saint Paul instructed (1 Corinthians 7:29-31), acquiring only the things one needs so that one may put them into good use in glorying God, never accumulating anything in excess or pursuing anything unprofitable to the spiritual life. Such things only distract and weigh one down in the spiritual battle for one’s soul, which begins with detachment from the world. For as Desert Church Father, Isaac the Syrian, taught: “No one can draw nigh to God save the man who has separated himself from the world. But I call separation not the departure of the body but departure from the world’s affairs.” One must cut oneself off from the world to be holy, becoming attached only to God.
Likewise, Saint John instructs: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world (1 John 2:15-16). This is because anyone who is attached to the world and the things of the world cannot be friends with God. For as Saint James said of worldly believers: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
What exactly is the world? As Isaac the Syrian explains: “The world is the general name for all the passions. When we wish to call the passions by a common name, we call them the world. But when we wish to distinguish them by their special names, we call them the passions. The passions are the following: love of riches, desire for possessions, bodily pleasure from which comes sexual passion, love of honour which gives rise to envy, lust for power, arrogance and pride of position, the craving to adorn oneself with luxurious clothes and vain ornaments, the itch for human glory which is a source of rancour and resentment, and physical fear. Where these passions cease to be active, there the world is dead; for though living in the flesh, they did not live for the flesh. See for which of these passions you are alive. Then you will know how far you are alive to the world, and how far you are dead to it.”
Disordered Love
The root of all spiritual distraction is attachment to this world and whatever it is in this world one loves. Whether it be politics, entertainment, career or whatever one loves, spiritual distractions are hindrances to one’s pursuit of God, none of which is better or more respectable than the other, the indulgence of which will ultimately lead to one’s eternal damnation.
Worldliness is a vice because it is the rejection of God through attachment of the world, rooted in self-love which is disordered love. Such love is ordered towards pleasing the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life. It is hostile towards God and cannot desire or pursue God. Whoever wants to pursue God must shun all spiritual distraction, and instead fill the void in one’s spiritual life with that which is worthy and good, as Saint Paul instructs: [W]hatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (Philippians 4:8).
The fallen nature of humankind is prone to seeking out such distractions because it is one that does not seek God, but filled with animosity towards God (Romans 3:11). Naturally, it seeks salvation in the things of this world, whether it be in a political leader, entertainment, career success, possessions, social standing, relationships, or family. The salvation it seeks is comfort, stability, and security, in finding joy, peace, and love in accordance to its worldly understanding of such things. No distraction, however, can lead one to the things one’s soul desires, that is joy, peace and love, which can only be found in God.
Seeking salvation in such distractions that the world offers lulls one into a false sense of security, a false sense of stability, and a false sense of comfort. The stability in this world is no stability at all, at the mercy of the whims of this everchanging world, with its shifts in political power, social mores, economic tides, and cultural trends. The security from this world is no security but subject to the constant changes of this world. Even the comfort one finds in these distractions is not merely temporal, but an illusion.
There is no eternal value in any of the things of the world in which people seek salvation. How foolish it is to cling onto such things! A person who when staying at a hotel for two nights decides to refurbish the room, and buy furniture, kitchen utensils and household items would be laughed at as a fool. Likewise, those who attempt to build their kingdom by accumulating earthly wealth, power, and security are fools. It is not only foolish, but a vice for which one will pay for dearly when this life ends, and one is thrust into eternity.
The Six Spiritual Distractions
1. Politics
Despite their outward appearance of godliness, the vast majority of religious people are distracted by politics, all without realising it. Whether it be church politics, governmental politics, social politics, or global politics, most religious people are fixated on the politics of this world. They argue that as much as one must pursue God, one still lives in a fallen world and thus one should be worried about the state of the world. That worry, however, is precisely what the problem is and the source of their spiritual illness.
Not only is such negativity, or pessimism, a vice, it has and still is causing many religious people to become mentally ill. This tragic state is not the result of faith in Christ, but rather the result of their worldly mindset in which they fixate their minds on the state of the world, rather than on God. They are no different from the secular people they love to point the finger at and criticise for being obsessed with politics. The only difference is their mere appearance of religiosity which counts for nothing, and in fact, makes them worse than the typical secularist who is fixated on politics, but makes no pretense of being holy or pious.
Fixation on politics is a worldly attitude. It is to trust in worldly leaders, instead of God. Such a person will not be blessed for ‘cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD’ (Jeremiah 17:5)! Anyone fixated on politics has a heart which has departed from God. Their hearts are far from God as they turn their hearts towards political leaders, parties, revolutionaries, and ideologies for salvation. That is exactly what many professing Christians are, claiming to love God with their lips, serving God visibly in church ministry, but whose words and actions are all in vain, as their hearts have long departed from God, despite their regular church attendance, as well as participating in church meetings and bible studies.
Pursuing anything other than God leads to delusion, and no greater example than this can be seen with fixation on politics. Some of the most delusional people in this world, delusional on both spiritual and worldly matters, are politics-obsessed individuals. The rise of conspiracy theorists and their wacky delusions on a whole range of matters, from science, politics, and theology is astonishing but it can be explained very simply: they just want everything in the world to suit their narrative. This failure to pursue truth is owing to such people being content in their own delusions, rooted in their love of self.
The key trait common to politically-orientated people, regardless of their political ideology or stance, is self-centredness. While self-centredness is a universal trait, it particularly pronounced in politically-orientated people, including ordinary citizens who are not significant political heavyweights by any means, but who are nonetheless fixated on the political state of affairs. Such people are constantly worried about their lack of power and standing in the world, which is itself a very worldly attitude.
In their idolatry of politics, their political values are their moral values, by which they treat their politics as that which determines what is morally right and wrong. Anyone who has a different or opposing opinion is seen as an ideological enemy, as an evil person, simply for disagreeing with their mere political opinion, even if on one relatively minor point. Anyone who refuses to bow down before their tyrannical mindset is in their eyes, reprehensible and worthy of being persecuted.
While religious people may dress up their idolatry of politics with religious garb, giving the appearance of holiness, they are unholy, ungodly, unspiritual, and worldly. Their anxiety about the state of the world is itself a vice, as it is worldliness. They are devoid of holiness. Their outward actions of piety are nothing but an outward show, a performative act. Their professed love for God is nothing but vain words and lip service.
To be concerned about one’s lack of power and standing in the world is itself to be attached to the world, rather than to God. It is to trust in the ways of man, not God. It is to treat the political leader in whom one places one’s hopes as the Messiah, rather than Jesus. It is to worship the political leader one supports as one’s lord and saviour, instead of Jesus who is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords as one’s Lord and Saviour. For as the Psalmist wrote:
Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
(Psalm 146:3-4)
2. Entertainment
Entertainment is an obvious source of spiritual distraction. Many religious people, in their pride, think it is well beyond them to be distracted by such frivolities. The love of entertainment, however, is a subtle thing, as is the distraction it brings. People who are fixated or obsessed with entertainment often do not realise it, as with all other spiritual distractions.
The vast majority of people in today’s world, both unbeliever and professing believer in Christ, are distracted by entertainment. Even the vast majority of Christians see no problem with it. This, however, stands in stark contrast with the teachings of the Patristics who condemned not merely violent entertainment, such as the gladiatorial games of the Roman empire where people competed to kill each other or some were forced to participate as they were mauled by wild animals, or obscene forms such as divination, sorcery, or necromancy; they condemned the love of entertainment itself. As Lactantius wrote in Divine Institutes:
For what must be said of those who, induced by the vanity of popular favour, expend on the exhibition of shows wealth that would be sufficient even for great cities? Must we not say that they are senseless and mad who bestow upon the people that which is both lost to themselves, and which none of those on whom it is bestowed receives? Therefore, as all pleasure is short and perishable, and especially that of the eyes and ears, men either forget and are ungrateful for the expenses incurred by another, or they are even offended if the caprice of the people is not satisfied: so that most foolish men, have even acquired evil for themselves by evil; or if they have thus succeeded in pleasing, they gain nothing more than empty favour and the talk of a few days. Thus every day the estates of most trifling men are expended on superfluous matters.
Likewise, Saint Augustine condemns indulging in entertainment as shameful:
A good Christian has no wish to attend the public shows. In this very thing, that he bridles his desire of going to the theatre, he cries out after Christ, cries out to be healed. Others run together thither, but perhaps they are heathens or Jews? Ah! indeed, if Christians went not to the theatres, there would be so few people there, that they would go away for very shame. So then Christians run thither also, bearing the Holy Name only to their condemnation.
The love of entertainment is rooted in the root of comfort, ease, and pleasure that desires what pleases the senses, instead of what is right, true, and just. Those who are enamoured by entertainment are spiritually weak, and often mentally weak, turning to entertainment as a distraction from the harsh realities of the world. They cannot handle witnessing the brutality of politics or the world of work which drives them seek solace in entertainment.
Entertainment-obsessed individuals are often slothful people who see work as beneath their dignity, owing to their pride. They only want easy yet well-paying jobs. Despite not wanting to work hard, they think they are entitled to the benefits of hard work, including the pay that comes with it because of their sloth. Sloth is not merely laziness but spiritual apathy.
Such people are the type who refuse to take anything seriously, not because of holy detachment from the world, but because they fear having to face harsh realities and hard truths whether spiritual or worldly, and lack understanding as to what is right and wrong, good and evil. They are full of cowardice and foolishness. They are rightly regarded as low-intelligence individuals who though may be book smart and quite capable of academic achievements, have their priorities wrong, in lacking an understanding of what is important and unimportant, what is meaningful and what is meaningless, owing to their own foolishness.
They are the type who want a life of ease and who love repose. They are usually the type who seek to settle down and have a family as early as possible because they desire a life of repose, whereby they can just work in an easy but well-paying job, have someone to lean on, and indulge in pleasure, owing to their weakness of mind and cowardice of heart. They fear not only harsh realities and hard truths, but also their life of their making unravelling before them.
What makes them drawn to entertainment is that it provides both an inspiration and escape for their make-belief world they create in their own minds, creating in them confusion about how their lives play out in actuality and how they imagine them to be. This type is prone to confounding the two very different things in their desire to escape from the brutality of living in a fallen world. This is the manifestation of their fear of pursuing truth, which leads them to avoid knowing truth.
Their obsession with entertainment leads such people to quarrel about the most trivial of matters and spout the inanest garbage, bickering for hours with others over which movie, song, or artist is the best, even attacking others for the sake of defending their favourite artist as the unrivalled, reigning queen of the world! Such people even go to great lengths to destroy those who dare make the slightest criticism of their idol or their idol’s latest album! Such fanaticism is not only utterly foolish and worthy of ridicule, but evil and wicked. It is idolatry, and no idolator will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Many professing Christians do not read scripture or even pray because of their love of entertainment. Their spiritual apathy is evident. Their sloth does not just manifest in their indulgence in entertainment, but their lack of spiritual practice. They want an easy Salvation that requires the mere profession of Christ, wanting both the benefits of eternal life while not desiring to grow in holiness.
3. Career
Another distraction is the love of one’s career. While the fixation on achieving career success may seem to be the opposite of indulgence in entertainment, it is the two sides of the same coin; both are distractions rooted in the desire to pursue the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Though the fixation on career achievement may require hard work and possess an appearance of respectability because of the industriousness such a person may exhibit, in contrast to the entertainment-obsessed and often degenerate sluggard, it is yet another example of worldliness ultimately rooted in pride.
For some, their career is a distraction away from their messy family life or their broken marriage. Career is what they find solace in, instead of family. For others, it is an outlet they use to numb the pain, suffering, and afflictions they endure. Career success is an attempt at finding meaning in life that gives them hope in the midst of their misery. The problem is that when that career fails to take off, or takes a fall, just as their family was shattered or their hopes for a better life were dashed, their sense of self as well as self-confidence takes a sharp dive.
Obsession with career success is as much as a vice as obsession with entertainment or politics. Yet many professing Christians are fixated on attaining career achievements and success as much as the average worldling. They strive for success, relying on their own strength, instead of being guided by the leading of the Holy Spirit and succumbing to His Power alone. They love the sense of pride that comes from achieving something, instead of being humble before God and simply submitting to whatever His will for one’s life is. They love the empty praises others heap on them. They love the sense of control over their lives that their career achievements bring.
Such people are not necessarily the type who pursue their careers for the sake of money. Plenty of career-obsessed people are not interested in the money, but with building a legacy for which they will be remembered. Their goals are lofty, high-sounding ones of ‘making a difference’ in the world, rather than materialistic, be it fighting against a certain societal ill, combating a certain scourge, or empowering a certain disadvantaged group, thinking it makes them more respectable and are filled with self-righteousness because of it.
The public sector and the non-profit sectors are full of such people. They work in this sector not because they truly want to ‘help people’, but because many such people could not make it in the private sector and ended up having to enter the public or non-profit sector. All their talk about ‘helping people’ rings hollow, and nauseatingly hypocritical. Those who work in the ‘caring professions’ in contemporary times, be it healthcare, education, or community services can testify that beneath their benevolent, altruistic image which they project to the world, these workplaces are just as commercialised, toxic, and ungodly as the commercial world, full of office politics, backbiting, and cut-throat ruthlessness. This is manifestation of career idolatry, which is rooted in pride and the love of self, rather than the love of God.
Likewise, many in the private sector are just as obsessed with career achievement as those with the idealistic aspirational goals. They are no different from those hypocrites from the caring professions who profess to care for others but are mercenary in their motives, and use expedient means to achieve their career goals. Whether it be wanting to be recognised for being one of the world’s richest men, being a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or being praised as brilliant in one’s job, whether as a brilliant surgeon who has successfully operated on thousands of patients, or brilliant barrister who has won every single case, these people are just as idolatrous of their careers.
Whether having lofty idealistic goals or more pragmatic ones, such people are enamoured with their careers. They live and breathe for their careers. It gives them a sense of purpose in their purposeless, meaningless, vain lives as they chase after a life of empty praise and hollow recognition from people, to have their name written in the annals of history, and their legacy remembered by the generations to come.
What such people do not realise in their own foolishness is that such praise and recognition will be no more, but completely erased. Their name will one day come to be seen as nothing but an insignificant, miniscule name, amounting to only a footnote in history. Their vacuous legacy will come to be trodden upon, spat upon, and trampled underfoot like a rose abandoned by the wayside. Despite being so blatantly obvious they will die one day and not be able to enjoy a single thing they acquired during this life, they will fail to see because of their lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is their love of this world.
4. Wealth and worldly possessions
Wealth acquisition is another spiritual distraction. Jesus could not be clearer when He said: ‘no one can serve both God and mammon’ (Matthew 6:24). Yet most professing Christians spend much of their lives chasing after mammon, rather than chasing after Jesus. For them, Jesus is just an add-on, and nothing more. Like the Rich Young Ruler, they run after Jesus demanding the things they want from Him, thinking themselves so holy for attending church every Sunday and serving actively in church in various roles, expecting Him to grant them their desires. What they do not understand, however, is that Jesus is not a genie in the bottle or some kind of Santa Claus who exists to grant them their wishes.
The popularity of the prosperity ‘gospel’ is evidence of this prevalent love of mammon among professing Christians – all without realising it. Even many Christians who attend normal, bible-believing, theologically sound churches, regardless of denomination, are in love with mammon, rather than God, without realising it. The complete blindness to their own love of mammon is itself telling.
Most professing Christians pursue wealth before their pursue God. They prioritise wealth acquisition over God. They spend much of their time on wealth-acquisition, whether it their regular job, property investments, or businesses, far more time than with God. They are smug behind their wealth, looking down on those who have less wealth. They think they are so ‘blessed’ for having the wealth and material possessions they have, no realising that such things have no eternal value whatsoever.
Such Christians are like those of the Church of Laodicea who were self-satisfied with their wealth and abundance that they become lukewarm, complacent in their spiritual journey, ignorant of the spiritual battle over their souls, for they had become so proud they became spiritually blind. Christ rebuked them for their lack of love for God despite professing to be believers:
I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
(Revelation 3:15-17)
Christ does not pronounce them ‘blessed’ for having sufficient material wealth and abundance, as do many Christians today when seeing that someone is materially well-off. Instead, he counsels them to repent of their apathy towards God, be zealous for the things of God, and grow in holiness, where the real wealth and abundance in Christ, lies:
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
(Revelation 3:18-19)
Finally, He invites them to open to door to Him:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
(Revelation 3:20-22)
These same professing Christians love to twist Old Testament scriptures to justify pursuing mammon and the things of mammon. They are quick to point to the scriptures that speak of the wealth of Abraham to justify their love of mammon and boast of being so wise and knowledgeable, not realising how foolish they truly are. Nor do they realise that flocks of sheep and goats were provided to Abraham, not as a reward for righteousness, or by his own labour, but as a sign of God’s provision to use to bless others. These were merely granted to Abraham for him to exercise faithful stewardship by providing for others, not to enjoy wealth for himself and his own family. These are not blessings, but merely tools to be used to exercise virtue towards others.
These people who adhere to such a theology of demons, known as ‘Abrahamic theology’ conveniently omit the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21) and Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31) which is itself telling as to the true motives of their hearts.
A man in the crowd hearing Jesus asked Him to ‘tell his brother to divide the inheritance with him’, to which He responded, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). Jesus rebuked the man for his covetousness in setting his heart on receiving his inheritance because life is not found in material abundance, but in spiritual riches stored up in Heaven that are eternal and everlasting. As Jesus told the Parable of Rich Fool:
“The land of a rich man produced plentifully,and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
The rich man owned land that reaped a plentiful harvest. He did not acquire his riches by stealing, defrauding, or deception. Nor was he as the moneychangers in the Temple who Jesus drove out, who increased his wealth illicitly through usurious gain. Instead, he gained his riches by honest hard work, which would be seen as respectable and honourable in the eyes of the world. None of this, however, pleased the Lord. Instead of dedicating his riches to the Lord by giving to the Temple or providing for the poor, he decided to selfishly and greedily keep it for himself to indulge in. He saw his earthly riches as a status symbol and spend it on his own passions which Saint James condemned (James 4:3).
His error was not frugality. He was not being frugal. He was saving up wealth, not as a matter of wisdom for a rainy day, but for selfish pleasure, spending it on himself to ‘relax, eat, drink, [and] be merry’. It was not merely that he was spending too much money on himself, but his self-indulgent disposition towards his possessions. This is covetousness.
Covetousness is rooted in self-love and begins with the heart. Since it is subtle, unlike adultery and murder which are obvious, covetousness is one that is easy to justify and comes with no shame, either from others or from one’s own guilt. Covetousness is not simply desire of what is not one’s own. The Rich Fool’s wealth which he desired to lavish on himself was his own, earned by his own blood, sweat, and tears which most professing Christians would see as ‘respectable’ and his accumulation of wealth to indulge for himself as ‘enjoying the fruit of his own labours’. Such a narrow definition fails to capture what covetousness is and is precisely what many Christians cling onto to justify their own covetousness.
Covetousness is lust, the inordinate desire for anything other than God. It is a disordered love, an attachment to anything other than God, leading to one’s self-centred love for such things that one will inevitably envy what others have, be it one’s neighbour’s house, wife, his servant, ox, donkey, or anything belonging to him (Exodus 20:17).
Envy is the daughter of covetousness. Covetousness precedes envy, giving birth to her. Envy is conceived in disordered love, a love for self that desires what it desires and demands that it be satisfied, yet can never be satisfied. Envious people work themselves beyond capacity to breaking point to acquire what they desire. Despite all the worldly sorrows that it brings, because of their covetousness, they pursue of a life of acquisitiveness. As long as their desire for material things exceeds that of the pain suffered in acquiring what they desire, they will continue this way. Only when their pain outweighs their desire of material things will they even begin to reconsider this lifestyle of vice.
5. Social Status
Social status is another major spiritual distraction. Though what brings social status varies with culture and society, pursuing social status is a universal vice. Most people everywhere live to be esteemed in the eyes of society. They want to be respected, admired, and loved by others that they become enamoured with whatever is popular.
They pursue all the things the world esteems to attain such status, from money, houses, cars, romance, friends, career success, pleasure, and entertainment, for the sake of the status it brings. Often, those who pursue such things do not even like the things that they are pursuing, but do so only to impress others – all without realising that this is the real reason why they are chasing the things they are chasing. They do not realise that they are being swayed by the ways of the world, following its ways because they are in love with the world, in pursuing the desires of the flesh and seeking to satisfy the pride of life.
A society full of people who live for social status is a competitive, bloodthirsty one. Such people become prideful and arrogant once they attain the things that give them social status, often despising, or otherwise filled with condescending sympathy towards those who have not. They gloat at the suffering of others, whether it be those who are unhappy because of their lack of social status, or those who are needy.
Not only are those who do not have the things that confer one social status looked down upon with cruel indifference, they are treated as if their misery caused by a lack of social status, is their fault. They cry out for comfort, complain, or even express disappointment over having no one to lend them as sympathetic ear, only to be mocked and scorned by others who criticise them for their supposed ‘moral failing’ of not being ‘happy’ for others, or not ‘working hard enough’ to attain social status.
It is an acquisitive society where everything that has social status assigned to it is regarded as the things worth pursuing, and the only things worth pursuing. Anyone who refuses to conform by not pursuing the things that confer social status, let alone anyone who actively goes against pursuing such things, is seen as extremely odd and hated for going against the grain. At best, they are seen as immature and childish, not knowing what they are doing, or what they want. At worst, they are seen as self-righteous, prideful, foolish, or even evil for living a life that rejects the pursuit of things that confer social status.
In such a society, there is no love for one’s neighbour, but only self-love whereby any ‘love’ one has others is ordered towards what they can do for oneself. It is a cold-blooded society whereby causing the harm or suffering of others to attain what one desires for oneself is seen as not only necessary or justified; it is regarded as a virtue. It is esteemed as sign of strength, and lauded as power of which one should be unapologetic.
However, lest one think that one is immune from falling into the trap of chasing social status because one professes Christ, do not be deceived: it is all too easy to fall into it. Many people who grew up in the faith have drifted from God once they were out in the world studying at university or working. The allure of social status is as seductive as red wine, and as subtle as the night, as it promises all the things that the flesh could possibly desire in finding comfort, consolation, security, pleasure, and happiness, such that people often do not realise it. This competitive ethic is the result of mammonisation of society whereby everything has become monetised ,whereby attain anything requires money, that even attaining the very ability to survive itself has a price.
As a result, modern life has become a hamster wheel of working, working, and working, a daily grind whereby one is living just to survive or impress others. Everything in society, from the corporate world, to the housing market, to social and family life, is accordingly centred around this way of life, based on this competitive, worldly, loveless, acquisitive ethic. Millions are reaping the bitter fruit with having the need to service debt just to purchase a house to live in and raise a family, to work in stressful jobs that one dislikes and are insufficient to pay the rent or mortgage, even if on relatively high incomes.
People who chase social status lack their own goals, their own identity, and their own purpose. They become caught into the hamster wheel that is the result of society’s own making as they chase after the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
6. Marriage and Family
For secular people, the pursuit of romantic love is often an idol in which they pursue relationship after relationship, or marry, divorce, and remarry, sometimes several times over. Many married Christians think themselves superior to such people, having found love early and subsequently marrying young, without have ever indulged in promiscuity. These professing Christians, however, are no different from these secular people who they condemn, for they themselves are full of idolatry of sex and marry out of lust, their hearts full of adultery as they attempt to justify it under the canopy of marriage, and worse still, abusing the sacrament of marriage by marrying out of sinful motives – all while thinking themselves so holy and superior to everyone else who is unmarried or an unbeliever.
Marriage is honourable (Hebrews 13:4), but the vast majority of professing Christians idolise marriage and family, specifically their spouse and children. They think that their spouse and children are to be prioritised over their brothers and sisters in Christ, and loved with some kind of ‘special’ love. This itself is error, as Christ Himself elevated the Church above the family (Matthew 12:46-50). In response to someone informing Him where His mothers and brothers are, He proclaimed that His disciples are His ‘mother and brothers’, for ‘whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother’ (Matthew 12:49-50). Biological family relationships therefore are subordinate to discipleships between members of the body of Christ. Yet, many professing Christians do precisely the opposite, even having the gall to claim that anyone who affirms this teaching of Christ is scripturally unsound, evil, or motivated by bitterness and anger.
They condemn all kinds of idolatry, be it idolatry of entertainment, education, career, money, and even politics – except for that of marriage and family. Their inability to see that marriage and family can even be idols is itself telling. For they are blinded by their idolatry of marriage and family, thinking themselves superior, and smug behind their wealth which marriage often brings.
Such people often think that one must marry and have a family to be truly devoted follower of Christ, but this goes against scripture and Church teaching. They may claim that there is a narrow exception for celibacy being acceptable, being celibacy for the sake of building the Church. Saint Paul and Jesus, however, taught that celibacy is superior to matrimony, in relation to which, made no reference whatsoever as to whether one is called to build the church or whatever other condition (Matthew 19:10; 1 Corinthians 7:25-38). Likewise, the Church accordingly affirms that celibacy is objectively better and more blessed than matrimony, and anathemises anyone who claims that matrimony is superior or equal to celibacy (Council of Trent 1563, Twenty-Fourth Session, Canon X).
Therefore, the idolatry of marriage and family is not only sinful idolatry, but utter foolishness. Claiming that marriage and family is mandatory or necessary to be truly devoted to God is not only theologically unsound, but blasphemy. It is to profess a moral and theological error in the Name of God, and to do so under a false guise of holiness that has caused much pain, suffering, anguish and spiritual bondage to many.
Idolatry is to give worth to anything more than to God; idolatry of marriage and family is no exception. Idolatry of marriage and family is no better than idolatry of entertainment, money, career, pleasure, or politics. It is neither more respectable, more moral, nor honourable to idolise marriage and family than to idolise other things. God hates idolatry and will not bless the marriages and families of those who idolise such things. Nor will He bless those who think themselves superior for being married with family. This is precisely why many professing Christian marriages have ended in divorce or endless misery, for they have bought into worldly ideas of love, marriage, and family, of whom Christ was not their foundation of their marriages. Owing to their idolatry of marriage and family, they married out of lust, the desire for financial security, fear of loneliness, or family and social pressure, only to reap the bitter fruit of such worldly motives.
Shunning Spiritual Distractions
Shunning spiritual distractions is fundamentally critical to holiness in an unspiritual world. It is a serious matter of spiritual discipline so that one may not stray in a world full of distractions that allure the flesh, thereby turning one’s heart away from God, as did the abundance of wealth, power, and pleasure of Solomon that caused his heart to turn away from the God who gave Him all such things.
Those who willingly allow their hearts to turn away from God because of the distractions of the world and return to it are like a dog that returns to its vomit. They are fools who need to be awakened to their own foolishness and wickedness of returning to the world, despite having received the knowledge of God and His abundant grace.
Being distracted by worldly concerns is the result of a lack of detachment from the world, which leads to a lack of rightly ordered attachment to God. The result is a failure to experience the fullness of everything God gives to those in Him, His love, His grace, His joy, and His peace.
Do not despise the richness of God’s grace and mercy. God is calling to you to cast off the alluring, but ultimately empty distractions of the world, and to return to Him now where true peace and joy lies, and to be who He created you to be.
Pray and fast that you may keep your eyes fixed on Christ and your eternal inheritance. Mediate on His Word daily. Ponder daily on His wonder, His goodness, His splendour, His glory, His beauty, His majesty, and His love. Seek out the will of God in your life. Ask the Lord to grant you wisdom in everything you do so that you may glorify Him in everything you do.
Lord, lead us back to You and teach us to stay focused on the things of God, and of Christ. Amen.
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