The goal of worldly people is to move forward rather than upward, to live horizontally rather than vertically. They seek after outward prosperity rather than holiness. They burst with selfish desires rather than heartfelt supplications. If they do not deny God, they ignore and forget Him, or else they use Him only for their selfish ends. Worldliness…is human nature without God.

Joel Beeke, Overcoming the World: Grace to Win the Daily Battle (P&R, 2005), 16; cited in Worldliness, ed. C.J.Mahaney (Crossway, 2008), 27.