Disavowing Demas

“For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me…”—2 Timothy 4:10

As believers in Christ, we do not consider this world our home. We are citizens of a heavenly city (Philippians 3:20), ambassadors to this world (2 Corinthians 5:20), residents of the kingdom of God that is already ruling in our hearts, waiting for its fullness to be seen when Christ comes again or we go to be with Him in heaven. While we are here, however, we are at war. The Christian’s enemies are three: the world (1 John 2:16), the flesh (Romans 7:23), and the devil (Ephesians 6:12). The “world,” according to David F. Wells, is “anything that makes sin look normal and righteousness look strange.” It is this fallen world system that is at war with God, that espouses values, attitudes, philosophies, ideas and practices that are against God and His Word. The world, like carbon monoxide, is attempting to quietly kill our souls. Thomas Brooks, a Puritan from a bygone era, once described the world, the flesh, and the devil operating together. He said that Satan, or the devil, baits the hook of the world with the desires of the flesh, waiting for us to bite, thus capturing us to do his will and prove ineffective for Christ.

In our passage today, we learn from the apostle Paul about Demas, who was “in love with this present world.” Demas had been a traveling companion of Paul when he wrote his letters to the Colossians and Philemon (Colossians 4:14, Philemon 1:24). But somewhere along the line he was seduced by the world and left Paul in order to pursue the world’s passing delights. Our verse for today is a stinging indictment, a terrible epitaph, and an egregious reminder of how the world can seduce even the strongest of us. It’s not as though Demas were not knowledgeable; he was a close friend of Paul, the author of more books of the New Testament than any other person! Not only was he a close friend of Paul, but of Luke as well. But, the world held a place in his heart, and he failed to recognize the world for what it is—transient. As the apostle John said, “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever”—1 John 2:17.

The world is trying to seduce us. How? And how can we notice it when it comes to us? The world comes calling to us through “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions”—1 John 2:16. The world wants us to drown ourselves in delight and indulge all types of covetousness and desires that are contrary to the Word of God. The world wants us to consume as a means of comfort, lust for the idol of sex, and position ourselves with “possessions” so as to promulgate our own pride. But we must not. This is one of the most subtle tactics of the enemy! He desires to intoxicate our hearts and lure us into delighting more in the creation than the Creator! We must focus less on the gifts and more on the Giver! Do not let the world intoxicate your soul! If you have found more soul satisfaction in the sins of this world, then repent! Place yourself on the operating table of God’s grace and ask the Divine Surgeon to cut the cancer of worldliness from your soul! And remember, as He cuts, He does so not to hurt, but to heal and give hope! Let’s trust in Him together so as not to have the same tragic epitaph of Demas. May we not be in love with this world; rather, may we live such lives that the Scripture can say of us, “the world was not worthy”—Hebrews 11:38. Amen.