(6) The second chief element in the worldly temper is what St. John calls ' the vainglory of life' — the delusive satisfaction, the baseless sense of security (atheistic) or of superiority (egoistic) which the attainment of worldly desire engenders. Confidence in the stability of material conditions and circumstances and the security thence be- gotten take the place of trust in the living God and ' the peace that passeth all understanding.' Men presume upon the prolongation of life, and arrange their future without reference to the Divine will on which moment by moment their being depends (Ja 4'^""), and thus more readily come to think of their life-work as the doing of their own will rather than God's. They make riches (1 Ti 6") their 'strong tower' ; they regard the objects of their secular activities as the things that are solid and abiding (1 Co V^'-ai, 1 Jn 2'*) ; and thus throw away immortal powers upon what is fugitive and incidental, blind to the truth that the things which are seen and temporal are, in their proper purpose, only the bough that is meant to bear the fruit of things unseen and eternal (2 Co 4'*). And no less characteristic of the worldly mind are the uneasiness and distress consequent upon the lack of such sense of security : God- forgetting anxiety, painful and harmful as it is futile (Ph 4', 1 P 5') ; repining over worldly losses and disappointments, the 'sorrow of the world' that ' worketh death ' (2 Co 7'"), reaching its climax in that sense of instability and vanity in all earthly things which, without its counterpoise of faith in spiritual reality, leads directly to the inverted worldliness of pessimism, and by rebound to cynical hedonism — ' let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die' (1 Co 15'-).
Again, the 'vainglory of life' exhibits a form which is distinctively egotistical. Successful achievement, the possession of external wealth, or still more of personal gifts and qualities which are an object of desire and envy to others, produce a feeling and attitude of arrogant superiority tow aids one's fellows, and of self-idolatry in relation to God. The adulation of the populace is fatal to
the worldly prince (Ac 12"^' ") ; the rich are tempted to be 'highminded' (1 Ti 0"); the con- sciou.sness of superior insight ' i)uHeth up'(l Co 8') those in whom it is not united with love and a sense of love's responsiliilities. Gifts, even of a religious kind (1 Co 1''), unless safeguarded by gratitude, become incitements to arrogance (1 Co 4'- "). And here also, the self-satisfaction which is produced by the sense of possession has its negative counterpart in the no less egotistical discontent and envy which are excited by the consciousness of defect (1 Ti 6\ Tit 3^ 1 Jn" 3''). Finally, this whole view of life, for which spiritual realities are non-existent, finds expression in the ' wisdom of this world' (1 Co 1™, 'fleshly wisdom,' 2 Co 1'"), the wisdom whose furthest horizon is that of the present age (1 Co 2*), which moves, however skil- fully, only on the plane of material things and interests [rh iTrlyeia (ppovomre^, Ph 3"), and which therefore inspires much sel f-.su tticiency in men (1 Co 1-°), to which the Cross of Christ is foolish- ness (1 Co 1'*) but which is itself foolishness with God(lCo3'9).
As to the general conception, it would be a grave mistake to suppose that worldliness is due simply to the quick responsiveness of human nature to its terrestrial environment. Its sensitiveness to material stimulus is one element in the case ; but the determining factor is its insensitiveness to the Divine. The problem of worldliness runs back into the wider and deeper problem of sin. Thus the NT writers see in human worldliness the replica of a type of mind previously existing in the spirit- world, and attribute it, in part at least, to this superhuman source. St. James describes its ' wisdom ' as not only earthly and sensuous, but Sa.iixovLilibrj'i (3"). St. Paul identities the ' wisdom of the present age ' with the wisdom of its spirit- rulers, who in their blindness compassed the cruci- fixion of Christ (1 Co 2"-*), and ascribes to the ' god of this aion ' the incapacity of men to perceive His Divine glory (2 Co i* ; cf. 1 Jn 4'«). And this ' spirit of the world' (1 Co 2'-), blind to the truth of Christ and antagonistic to His cause, has its social embodiment in that section of mankind which in a more special sense is 'the world' (see art. World). Hence arises a clear and concrete issue. The sincere Christian cannot love the world (1 Jn 2"). It is the home of all opinions, senti- ments, and influences which are most inimical to his convictions and aspirations. The programme it lays down for its devotees is wholly incompatible with self-denying love and holy obedience of the followers of Christ (Tit -2", 2 P l^ 1 Jn 2">- 1«). Its friendship is enmity with God (Ja 4*).
Worldliness, as depicted in the apostolic ■wi-itings, is not a natural and naive materialism ; it is the bondage to the material of a being who is essenti- ally spiritual. Made for fellowship in the life that is Divine and eternal, man craves for satisfactions which the natural use and enjoyment of material good cannot yield ; and these he therefore seeks in wanton excess and perversions of nature (Ro 1-'"'-). The covetousness of those who have enough, the excesses of sensuality, the unappeasable hunger of vanity and ambition, the unceasing pursuit of excitement, en\'y, jealousy, the gnawincj hatred of others' good — all show how the soul, deprived of its proper nutriment, vainly flies to the world for a substitute.