Today, we continue to discuss the question—what function do individual church members serve in the community? The first three responsibilities we have discussed in previous articles help keep the family, government, and community’s moral fabrics from decaying with the morality of the world. “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 lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:15-16). The fourth responsibility, then, is understanding that the world is passing away, and only those who do God’s will abide forever. “The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). This responsibility transcends all the other responsibilities, because it is what will keep us on track with the others. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’This is the fi rst and great commandment” (Matt. 22:37).

The love of money is the root of many kinds of evil and sometimes deludes us into thinking that this is how we solve the various problems of family, government, and community. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:10). We often think that the more money we can pour into family, government, or community, the fewer problems we will face, but this is not true. Anytime we flood a problem with money without consulting God’s Word, we run the risk of straying from the faith because of greediness.

In the family, this becomes a problem when we neglect our spouses and children with the excuse, “I must provide the best for them.” We forget that the world is passing away and all the things we worked long hours to provide will be useless if both our souls and the souls of our family are lost in the process. God calls this attitude foolish. “So he said, ‘I will…pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods’…But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’” (Luke 12:18, 20). This man worked hard to provide worldly things but foolishly neglected God, the same as we do when we overwork to provide for our families instead of serving God.

In the government, this becomes an issue when we elect rich people who are morally inept because of their business or economic prowess, overlooking their morally despicable agendas for the economic wellbeing being of our country and forgetting the world is passing away. In the end, it is not going to matter whether our county is fi nancially stable or not. When we do this, we abandon righteousness for future generations for the favor of economic stability in the moment. “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). It is foolish to place country over God.

In the community, this becomes a problem when the aesthetic properties of the community become more important than its people. This is seen when more money is spent in town beautification or improvement than on its citizens. Sadly, in Oklahoma, teacher salaries are some of the lowest in the nation, showing where our priorities lie. How can we have strong communities without supporting our teachers? Our teachers in Allen are some of the best I’ve seen, but as a state and community, we need to reevaluate how the money is being used in the educational system and not forget that the world is passing away and the physical is temporary, but our love for one another is eternal (1 Cor. 13:13)

Do not love the world and forget that it is passing away; instead, fulfi ll your responsibility to your community by serving God and loving one another! Just something to consider.