Lost, Funerals, and Loving the World

This morning I was listening to K-Love on my way to the office and one of the DJs was talking about some friends who had just gotten the complete series of Lost on DVD. What made it such a neat gift for them was that they had never seen it before. Not a single episode. So apparently I'm not the only person in America who has never seen a single episode. Anyways, they started watching (wait, now I am the only person who's never seen an episode). And they got into it. Really into it. Like watching 2-3 episodes per day every day into it. And talking about nothing but Lost all the time into it. The DJ said, "They were telling me, 'It's all we talk about! When we're at the table, when we get up, we wonder what will happen to Butch and Linda and Gilligan (or whatever the names of the cast were--wasn't there a Jack in there somewhere?) and the rest of the gang.

My first reaction on hearing this was, "How sad." And don't misunderstand-I got no beef with Lost. Seemed to be a great show, lots of people enjoyed it, all that. And I'm thrilled for everybody that got into the smoke monsters and unanswered questions. But I couldn't help but think how sad it is that this couple who professes Christ, who have surrendered their lives to Him, who have sworn their allegiance to the King of Kings are spending all their time talking about something that didn't happen.

And I post this because as soon as I thought about how sad it was that they were doing this, I was immediately reminded that I do the same thing. Maybe I'm not crazy into Lost. But how many times per day do I check my facebook page? "Ooh, I wonder if anyone commented on my witty status? Maybe someone will think I'm cooler now!" How often do I spend time thinking about the things of this world rather than the Savior of this world? What a waste of a life that could be spent pursuing Christ and His glory.

I John 2:15 says, "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." Read that again, slowly this time. You don't have to be a theologian to interpret that one. Pretty plain. John says very plainly that we are not to love the world, that if we do love it then the love of the Father is not in Him. Consider the implications of that verse. We can say that we love Jesus, that we've given Him our lives, all that stuff. But if I still love the world with the same fervor then the love of the Father isn't in me. This is why we must constantly guard our hearts, make sure that our joy is in Christ and not in the world. Because when we let the things of the world begin to take hold there's a problem.

I suppose this really stuck with me today because I'm preaching a funeral in a couple hours. And funerals really help bring things into perspective. See, the thing I always remind myself when I'm at a funeral is that one day I'll be the one in the casket. One day, I'll be the one laying there while my family listens to a preacher. And on that day it won't matter how well I understood the plot of Lost, it won't matter how many comments I got on facebook, and it won't matter how well liked I was. All that will matter is what I did with Christ. Did I love Him above everything else? Did I serve Him with gladness? Was Jesus my righteousness and my joy? That's what matters.

Father, thank You for Your love. Thank You for Your salvation. Help me to love You more. Help me to be swept away by You, to be caught up in how amazing You are. Help me to love you so greatly that everything else in my life fades into the background. Amen.