1 John 2:15–17
What happens when the world loves itself?
“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 the pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15–17).
I scheduled this section of 1 John weeks ago. Turns out it was perfect timing.
As I write this reflection the 2024 Summer Olympics are underway. Along with celebrating sports, athleticism, and patriotism around the world, people are discussing the opening ceremonies. Controversy surrounds a scene wherein drag queens recreate DaVinci’s Last Supper as a finale to a program that began as a display of French culture before becoming a revelry of decadence, hedonism, and an unadulterated expression of all that is in the world without Christ. The desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life paraded before television audiences around the world.
Christians are up in arms. Secularists are either telling Christians to get over themselves or claiming the final scene was a tribute to Bacchanalian feasts, which to my mind isn’t any better than a desecrated Last Supper. The point is not whether the French…
