Showing Contempt For The World

Showing Contempt For The World

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.

“Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

Ecclesiastes 1:2

The book of Ecclesiastes condemns, not what God has created, but rather people’s evil tendencies and desires. We aren’t satisfied with what God created and gave us to use. So we concern ourselves with accumulating more possessions and achieving more fame as if we were going to live on this earth forever. We become bored with what we currently have, then we strive for more things, and then strive for even more. Depriving ourselves of what we presently have because we’re desperately concerned about acquiring more for the future is shameful and pointless.

These twisted tendencies and human striving are what the author is condemning in this book, not the things themselves. Later, in Ecclesiastes 5:18, the author says that nothing is better for people than being happy and making their lives pleasant by eating, drinking, and finding joy in their work. The author would be contradicting himself if he condemned these same things in this passage. Instead, he’s only condemning the misuse of these things, which comes from having a wrong attitude.

Some foolish people haven’t understood this very well and have taught nonsensical ideas about hating the world and avoiding anything to do with it. But living alone or isolating ourselves from others doesn’t show the proper contempt for the world. Neither does throwing money away or refusing to touch it show the proper contempt for money. Those who live surrounded by what the world has to offer and yet don’t become attached to these things are the ones who display the proper attitude.