From Rod Parsley, author of “Culturally Incorrect: How Clashing Worldviews Affect Your Future” tells us:
“One of the main reasons the evangelical church is faring so poorly in the current clash of cultures is that so few followers of Christ actually have a fully biblical worldview. The majority of believers today carry around a hodgepodge of biblical and non-biblical assumptions. We’ve retained a core of biblical presuppositions while uncritically picking up others from the dominant anti-biblical culture." [1]
In this technological modern culture we live in today, we find we are being bombarded by information and political ideologies, and assorted worldviews from all over, all the time.
We can compare our minds to a computer. The output of a computer is only as good as the data that is loaded in. In computer jargon, they have the term, “GIGO” meaning “Garbage in, Garbage out.” The same is pretty much true for the human mind. What do we put into our minds?
Sheriff’s deputies investigating the theft of an SUV in central Florida were surprised to discover the suspect had a lot more experience than they thought. Deputies found the stolen 1998 Dodge Durango parked in the driveway of a home, and inside they found the suspected thief playing the popular video game “Grand Theft Auto.” Arguably one of the more violent first person shooter video games out there played by many teens-Talk about “GIGO! Authorities arrested 30-year-old Michael Ray Ekes and charged him with grand theft auto, burglary, and drug possession. When they arrested Ekes, a check of his records indicated that he had just gotten out of jail on bond on another charge of auto theft. We do the things we think about.[2]
What is in your mind? We only respond and do what has been programed inside of us. It is easy to say we have a Biblical worldview but do we really. How do we get a Biblical worldview? We must not forget that out worldview affects us in the way we view and the we react to the world around us. For most of us [including me] we need a basic reprogramming of our minds. Paul tells us:
2 Corinthians 10:5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ ...
Taking every thought captive? I don’t know about you, but that is much easier said than done. Just how do we do that? Well the Bible tells us how we are to develop a Biblical Worldview.
Romans 12:1–2 Philippians 3:12–14
If we are to develop a biblical mindset, a biblical worldview, we must begin to do things differently. A biblical worldview does not come by accident. It requires intentionality.[3]
For most of us, living the Christian life, practicing Christian values , is not all that difficult considering the company we keep. Think about it, we live in in a pretty conservative area and most of our friends are Christian or at least espouse Christian values.
According to Fred Smith, author of the book “Developing a Biblical Worldview: Seeing Things God’s Way,”, He says; "It is easy to be pro-life and to condemn the pro-abortion crowd—if all that means is voting a certain way on Election Day every two years or so. It is easy to avoid drinking when our friends do not drink, and the only options we have at a party are soda or iced tea. There is nothing wrong with this, as far as it goes. Be aware, however, that when one’s friends are all nondrinkers, and antiabortion, and pro-traditional marriage, it is no great struggle to live the same way. We easily slip into being content with mere respectability rather than living radically for Christ. [4]
Jesus tells us:
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
As we read through the sermon on the mount, we see Jesus teaching about what is in our hearts, what is our motivation, what is our thinking? It does gets down to heart. What is in our heart? Paul tell us:
Romans 12:2a And do not be conformed to this world …
So also in our day, we can be respectable, good citizens, even better than most, and yet still be “conformed to this age.” Jesus calls us to a righteousness that “exceeds the righteousness” of the respectable crowd in our time.[5]
So how is that done?
Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Because of God’s mercies (that we read about from the end of Romans 11), Paul says “Therefore.” He is drawing a conclusion and is now making application. We are to offer ourselves as a sacrifice, a living sacrifice. In other places, we are referred as priests, we believe in the priesthood of the believer. Peter tells us:
1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…
1 Peter 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
As a priest, we offer sacrifices to the Lord and that sacrifice is us, not just the parts and pieces but all of us. We are to “to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice.” “Bodies” here represent the whole totality of one’s life, the intellectual, the emotion, the spiritual, of which the body is the vehicle of expression. As a priest, we are not just to make a sacrifice, we are the sacrifice. And as priest to Almighty God, we are to be different from the world. [Next week I will talk about how we are in the world but not of the world].
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Herein is the problem, getting rid of our secular, non-spiritual worldviews. As far as the world is concern, we are to be non-conformist. We are to leave the sinful patterns of the world. Paul says “do not be conformed to this world.” We need to love the things that God loves and hate the things that God hates. We need to begin calling sin sin. For example: Christians in America are squeamish about calling moral failures what they are. We prefer to say that someone “made a mistake” or “got into trouble” rather than saying that they sinned or rebelled against God. Americans (including American Christians) often fail to include God in their way of describing and understanding the troubles people face in the world.[6] More important, we need to apply this to ourselves.
If Satan is the god of this world (and he is), and if the whole world lies in his power (and it does), then the believer must resist the pressure to conform morally, intellectually, and emotionally—and ultimately behaviorally—to Satan’s schemes for life. [7]
When we do speak out, the world will calls us homophobic, transexual-phobic, etc. If you speak out against those things the world call right and normal you be labeled a something-phobic. I may be a lot of things but I would like to think that I am “sin-phobic.” My desire is to please God and steer clear of sin.
And what is sin? God has given us His word, and in His word He has told us what offends Him and how to please Him. We are to be non-conformist in this world. How do we do so? Paul calls for us to “be transformed.” The word here in the Greek is “metamorphoo” where we get our English word metamorphous. It means to change from the inside out. Jesus taught us that it begins in the heart. We need a heart change. God tells that the human heart is sinful:
Jeremiah 17:9–10 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? 10 “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.
Only God can change the heart. But we are called to reprogram our minds. And to do so we must be intentional.
Ephesians 4:22–23 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
And in doing so, we must be active in reprogramming our minds. Do we control what goes into our mind? One the greatest mind altering devices sits in most of our living rooms, the television. Do we control what goes into our minds from the world? we can say the same things about what crosses on the screens of our smart phone, tablets, and computers.
When we “By the renewing of your mind,” we begin to see things as God see them. Renewing our minds by immersing ourselves in the word of God and communing with Him continually in prayer. This nothing new. God called for Joshua to immerse himself in the word after the death of Moses and as he took the reins of leading the nation of Israel. God tells Joshua:
Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
We need to renew our mind, we need to be transformed from a worldly mindset, “so that you may prove what the will of God is.” I have had a number of folks ask me what the will of God is for their lives and the first thing I ask them is whether or not they are currently doing the will of God that they know.
From this passage it is clear that God wills for us to be first transformed by the renewing of our minds. God desires that we know His son Jesus. It is by knowing Him that we can learn “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6). Then as we learn the will of God, we will know what “is good and acceptable and perfect.”
There are those who may say to me, Brother Doug, I’ve been doing that all my life. I have intently studies the word and have being doing my best to live rightly and righteously before the Lord. My answer to them is, “Have you arrived yet?” We need to be active in continually striving, purifying our Biblical worldview. Arguably Paul was one of the most righteous Christians that have ever lived and look at what he had to say:
Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Paul said he has not yet arrived. He was still striving for the purposes that Jesus had called him. He was not there yet. Paul was a spiritual giant compared to me, and if he not yet arrived when he wrote this little letter to the Philippians, neither have I.
Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
Paul had not gotten where he need to be yet, but he was not resting on his track record. He was not looking back at where he had been, both good and bad. Paul had long left behind all he was before his conversion, but at the time of this writing, it had been over 30 years since his dramatic conversion on the Damascus road.
Paul was not resting on what he had accomplished in what he had done over the previous thirty years. He never said “It is your turn, you do the work because it is time for me to retire and take it easy.” Rather Paul was continuing to do what he was called to do. Think about it. His view of the world saw a lostness that demanded he continue to work for the Lord.
We would say, well Paul deserved a rest. He had been beaten, thrown into prison, ran out town, traveling continually. Who could blame him if he said enough is enough, but his worldview would not permit him to do so.
Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
But Paul pressed on. Like a runner in the in the Greek games. A runner did not win by listening to lectures on how to run, reading books on the subject, or watching videos of other people running, they win by getting in the game and running. Our worldview should be like Paul’s, not looking back to see where we have been but looking forward to see where we need to go.
Have you actively cultivated you Biblical worldview? Had you actively put off the views of the world and put off worldliness from entering your mind? Have considered God’s views on all you say and do and in the things you think about?
Perhaps this morning, you may not a clue what we are talking about and see no problem with the way world operates. Perhaps you lack the very Spirit of God guiding you into the things of righteousness and righteous living. It all boils down to knowing Jesus. When you truly know Jesus, you will see that your view of the world will change.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
Has God open your eyes? You will see that it is all about Jesus.
[1] Rod Parsley, Culturally Incorrect: How Clashing Worldviews Affect Your Future (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009).
[2] Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell, “‘Grand Theft Auto’ Leads to Grand Theft Auto,” in 300 Illustrations for Preachers, ed. Elliot Ritzema (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015).
[3] C. Fred Smith, Developing a Biblical Worldview: Seeing Things God’s Way (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2015).
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid..
[6] C. Fred Smith, Developing a Biblical Worldview: Seeing Things God’s Way (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2015).
[7] Kenneth Boa and William Kruidenier, Romans, vol. 6, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 365.
