We become those who no longer imitate the desires of the world, the kosmos structured on a dysfunctional logos (1 John 2:15ff), but instead, like Jesus, become those who seek God and God’s rule with a singular focus. This transformation does not removes us from the world but enables us to be active agents of the transforming character of the love of God in all our relationships. We find a profound congruence here between Girard, Barth, and Bonhoeffer as they discuss anthropology as the collectivity of our human condition.
-Michael E. Hardin, Mimetic Theory and Christian Theology (From the For Rene Girard collection)
His use of the word “kosmos” here and the reference to 1 John 2:15:
(Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.)
…reminds me immediately of Watchman Nee’s work. I need to go and reread it to see if some of the best ideas can be connected up.