1 John 2:14-17. John says he writes to the fathers because they know "him who is from the beginning," and he writes to the young men because they are strong and have overcome the evil one. He warns all not to love the world or the things in it. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. The world is full of lust of the flesh, and lust of the eyes, and pride of life. These things are not of the Father, but are of this world. "And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

When John specifies to whom he is writing (and it is more than just fathers and young men - it is all of us), he gives each the reason why he is writing to them and he gives them the benefit of the doubt. The fathers, he says, "knew him who was from the beginning," the young men have overcome the evil one. I imagine not every father or young man who read or heard John's letter fits in these categories, yet John places them there. He is lifting them up through his loving expectations of them. They all should be this way, so he writes to them as if they are. This attitude accomplishes a lot, I have found. When you assume people are living in the truth and treat them accordingly, they often strive to rise to that standard. It's the opposite of the "soft bigotry of low expectations."

Even though John assumes that everyone is living in the truth, though, he goes on to warn against attachments to the things of this world. The strongest believer can be lost to the wiles of the world. We all need this reminder, almost every day! Why is the world so lovable if we are not to love it? Because it was created for us in our perfect state, and in that state we are to love it and cherish it as a wondrous creation of and gift from God. But in our fallen state the world has become something more akin to an idol - we end up loving the creation with everything we have and forgetting about the Creator. This is extremely dangerous. With disordered love for the world, we could end up choosing it over everlasting life, and many do. That is how people choose hell,  separation from God.

The ability to choose to live in eternity in a computer simulation of this world, which is currently being worked on and sought after and which was much lauded in the Black Mirror episode San Junipero, is a dangerous portent of this. If faced with that choice, how many who "love the world" would choose it instead of natural death and eternal life? And that world is not even the real world, it is a man-made world that could never reach the beauty and perfection of God's creation. It's the perfect way for the devil to trap us, and I hope more people come to see that.