Pursue School of Ministry: Teaching - Biblical Worldview
Putty last week did a teaching on worldviews and today I want to follow up on that teaching focusing more on forming and having a Biblical worldview.
Worldviews – we all have one whether we know it or not – but we need to evaluate and discern what our worldview is.
Look around at society today – all the tension and propaganda, fights, arguments etc: This is what happens when worldviews collide – so the questions come charging at us - What do we do compromise? Be tolerant? Be silent? What happens to a society or a culture when conflicting worldviews fight for power and influence? What happens to a society where the Biblical worldview is dismissed as ancient or out of date and irrelevant? Just look around at our own society today – this is what happens. But we do have the Spirit of the Lord to even change the culture and worldviews around us with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit!
Introduction:
Charles Colson stated, “How do we redeem a culture? ...The answer is simple: from the inside out. From the Individual to the family to the community, and then outward in ever widening ripples. We must begin by understanding what it means to live by (Biblical) Christian worldview principles in our own behavior and choices. Unless we do, we will interpret the biblical commands according to the spirit of the age and will therefore be conformed to the world rather than to God’s Word (Colson, How Shall We Live page 307)
Charles Colson also goes on to add insight into what is wrong with our culture today – “…Polls consistently show that Americans worry most about social and moral decay-crime, family breakdown, drug abuse, sex and violence in the entertainment media -all results of moral choices made ultimately by individuals. Given these facts, one might expect the nation’s bully pulpits would be devoted to encouraging people to take responsibility for their lives, to exert the self-discipline needed to change behavior. Instead, for the past few decades, the dominant (non-biblical) cultural voices have argued that individuals have a right to live in any way they choose and that society has a responsibility to pick up the tab for any negative consequences that result…The attitude is not confined to the government. It’s amazing how many ordinary Americans have fallen into the trap of expecting someone else to pick up the costs of their own irresponsibility…Where did this idea of value-free lifestyles come from? What are its worldview roots? How do the categories of creation, fall and redemption help us to diagnose what’s wrong with the predominant secular view – and see how a (Biblical) Christian worldview leads to better, healthier, and more rational way of living? (Colson, page 308-309)
These questions Charles proposes I will seek to answer today in our class.
But first I want to challenge you to “Renew your minds!” In other word’s open your minds to doing your life differently: We do this by being willing to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit, by praying differently, by learning to hear the voice of the Lord, by studying His Word – all for the purpose to minister to people in need and crisis in a fallen culture. Why do this? So, we can impact a fallen culture with the Kingdom of God and see lives changed! So, we can see society changed from the inside out one life at a time! One divine encounter at a time!
Romans 12: 1-2 (CEV) “Dear friends, God is good. So, I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God. Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.”
So, I want to dig deeper into your mindset and help you see other mindsets that are around you each day – so let’s discover what a worldview is.
Question: What is a Worldview? Summary of Putty’s teaching!
The truth is every one of us whether we know it or not have a worldview. There are no exceptions here everyone has one whether they admit it or not.
The authors of biblicalworldview.com state, “Our worldview is the set of presuppositions and beliefs that we use to interpret and form opinions and values concerning life, humanity, family, authority, justice, truth, duty, etc. Our worldview is the “big picture” and culmination of all our beliefs. It is the way we understand reality. It is the basis from which we make daily decisions.”
So, our worldview makes a huge difference in the way we approach and live our life! We see through politics and elections how different people’s worldviews are – and many of us say “They are so blind – how can they think that way!” The truth is that person has a different starting point than you do as a Christian. We always start with the foundation of the Bible but others do not and this is why they think differently than we do about serious societal and political issues.
But we need to understand that worldviews do matter in the entire scope of any society – it determines culture – it determines right and wrong - it determines policy – it determines belief systems – family systems – political systems and many more systems in society. It will also determine the health of a society. Opposing worldviews will always collide bringing turmoil, arguments, war, fights, tensions, political dissension and disunity.
Do you recall the holiday gatherings when family members with different worldviews clashed over mashed potatoes and Turkey dinner? Do you recall the tension and heated arguments – the family members who left early that night or day! They were most likely clashing over opposing worldviews.
There are 5 key areas which determine our worldview according biblicalworldview.com:
1. God - Is there a personal, transcendent Supreme Being to whom we are all accountable? If so, what is this God like? If not, then what? etc.
2. Creation - Where did the world come from? What sustains it all? Is there a spiritual part of reality or is it all material? etc.
3. Humanity - Who are we? What gives us any unique value? etc.
4. Moral Order - Who makes the rules? Do some rules apply to everyone? etc.
5. Purpose - Why do we exist? Who determines this?
So, let’s now look at what really is a Biblical Worldview!
Question to explore: What is a Biblical Worldview?
So, what is a Biblical Worldview? A Biblical Worldview is a comprehensive understanding of the world that is formulated by the authority of the Bible (The Word of God) and the person of Jesus Christ (The Word of God).
According to Ken Ham creator of the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter and from his book: Divided Nation - cultures in conflict and a conflicted church – He states emphatically that there are two main worldviews in conflict in our society today – He says the battle is between – “God’s Word and Man’s Word!” He believes that you either believe the whole Word of God or you buy into one of Man’s fallen worldviews which are influenced by Satan himself.
Focus on the Family defines it this way, “A biblical worldview is based on the infallible Word of God. When you believe the Bible is entirely true, then you allow it to be the foundation of everything you say and do.”
Question: Do you have a Biblical Worldview? Do you – to find out answer the following questions, based on claims found in the Bible and which George Barna used in a survey to discover how many Born Again Christians had a Biblical Worldview:
• Do absolute moral truths exist?
• Is absolute truth defined by the Bible?
• Did Jesus Christ live a sinless life?
• Is God the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe, and does He still rule it today?
• Is salvation a gift from God that cannot be earned?
• Is Satan real?
• Does a Christian have a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people?
• Is the Bible accurate in all of its teachings?
Did you answer “Yes” to all these questions? By the way back in 1984 when George Barna did this survey only 9 percent of “Born- again” believers answered “yes” to all the questions.
So, as you see we have a problem even in the Christian circles of today – many people who claim to be Christian do not have a Biblical Worldview – let’s be clear they don’t have a worldview rooted in the Authority of the Bible and truth of the Bible.
So, what happened – why do so many Christians lack a true Biblical Worldview?
Question: How does a biblical worldview get diluted?
Ken Ham believes the breakdown of the Biblical Worldview in America started with Christians buying into Evolution, Darwinism and a Million year old earth theory. When they changed their view of the Bible, they undermined the authority and truth of Genesis 1-11 and people started thinking the Bible was filled with errors or myths. He notes one of the arguments he gets the most today is “Does not science disprove the Bible?” Truth is no it does not - by the way! But many mistakenly think the Bible is filled with errors and myths! This is a lie promoted by the evil one.
For more reading on this read Ken Ham’s book Divided Nation - cultures in conflict and a conflicted church.
Nonbiblical worldview ideas don’t just sit in a book somewhere waiting for people to examine them. They bombard us constantly from television, film, music, newspapers, magazines, books and academia. Many people today have dismissed the Bible as relevant and created their own worldview – or bought into someone else’s distorted worldview.
Today we live in a selfish, fallen world, these nonbiblical ideas seductively appeal to the desires of our flesh, and we often end up incorporating them into our personal worldview. Sadly, we often do this without even knowing it. Some would say they are Christian but do not have a Biblical Worldview. Sadly, I know many people just like this!
For example, most Christians would agree with 1 Thessalonians 4:3 and other Scriptures that command us to avoid sexual immorality, but how often do Christians fall into lust or premarital and extramarital sexual sin? Is it simply because they are weak when tempted, or did it begin much earlier, with the seductive lies from our sexualized society?
When we allow the world and, it’s view, to change our views on clear Biblical teachings we distort and lose a Genuine Biblical Worldview!
Question: Why does a Biblical Worldview matter?
If we don’t really believe the truth of God’s Word and Jesus Words – then we compromise our witness to the people of the world observing us. Most of us go through life not recognizing that our personal worldviews have been deeply affected by this fallen world. The deceiver uses the suttle, deceptive media and other influences bombarding us each day, with things like the secularized - fallen American view of history, law, politics, science, and God. These beliefs affect our thinking more than we realize. The Bible says if we then are taken “captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8). We are deceived and not alive in Christ!
But if we diligently learn, apply and trust God’s Word in every area of our lives — whether it’s watching a movie, communicating with our spouses, raising our children or working at the office — we can begin to develop a deep comprehensive faith that will stand against the unrelenting tide of our culture’s nonbiblical ideas.
Focus on the Family states, “If we capture and embrace more of God’s worldview and trust it with unwavering faith, then we begin to make the right decisions and form the appropriate responses to questions on abortion, same-sex marriage, cloning, stem-cell research and even media choices. Because, in the end, it is our decisions and actions that reveal what we really believe.”
The Bible is clear “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
We know that worldview conflicts are not new to our society they have been around for 1,000 of years! We see this conflict arising in the book of Acts between Paul and others around 2,000 years ago! The truth is when people have different worldviews conflict will rise up.
In Paul’s defense before the local Roman officials, the Roman official Festus and King Agrippa, we see worldviews in collision. I believe that the Lord has something for us to learn in this passage which speaks to the worldview tensions of today. The truth is whenever we share our faith – especially a Biblical Worldview their will be tension and even anger by some who disagree with our view of the world.
Scripture Text Acts 26:1-32
Paul’s Defense before Agrippa
1Agrippa told Paul, “You may now speak for yourself.” Paul stretched out his hand and said:
2King Agrippa, I am glad for this chance to defend myself before you today on all these charges that my own people have brought against me.
3You know a lot about our religious customs and the beliefs that divide us. So, I ask you to listen patiently to me.
4-5 All the Jews have known me since I was a child. They know what kind of life I have lived in my own country and in Jerusalem. And if they were willing, they could tell you that I was a Pharisee, a member of a group that is stricter than any other.
6 Now I am on trial because I believe the promise God made to our people long ago.
7 Day and night our twelve tribes have earnestly served God, waiting for his promised blessings. King Agrippa, because of this hope, the Jewish leaders have brought charges against me.
8 Why should any of you doubt that God raises the dead to life?
9 I once thought that I should do everything I could to oppose Jesus from Nazareth.
10 I did this first in Jerusalem, and with the authority of the chief priests I put many of God’s people in jail. I even voted for them to be killed.
11 I often had them punished in our meeting places, and I tried to make them give up their faith. In fact, I was so angry with them, that I went looking for them in foreign cities.
12 King Agrippa, one day I was on my way to Damascus with the authority and permission of the chief priests.
13 About noon I saw a light brighter than the sun. It flashed from heaven on me and on everyone traveling with me.
14 We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice say to me in Aramaic, “Saul, Saul, why are you so cruel to me? It’s foolish to fight against me!”
15 “Who are you?” I asked. Then the Lord answered, “I am Jesus! I am the one you are so cruel to.
16 Now stand up. I have appeared to you, because I have chosen you to be my servant. You are to tell others what you have learned about me and what I will show you later.”
17 The Lord also said, “I will protect you from the Jews and from the Gentiles that I am sending you to.
18 I want you to open their eyes, so that they will turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then their sins will be forgiven, and by faith in me they will become part of God’s holy people.”
19 King Agrippa, I obeyed this vision from heaven.
20 First I preached to the people in Damascus, and then I went to Jerusalem and all over Judea. Finally, I went to the Gentiles and said, “Stop sinning and turn to God! Then prove what you have done by the way you live.”
21 That is why some men grabbed me in the temple and tried to kill me.
22 But all this time God has helped me, and I have preached both to the rich and to the poor. I have told them only what the prophets and Moses said would happen.
23 I told them how the Messiah would suffer and be the first to be raised from death, so that he could bring light to his own people and to the Gentiles.
24 Before Paul finished defending himself, Festus shouted, “Paul, you’re crazy! Too much learning has driven you out of your mind.”
25 But Paul replied, “Honorable Festus, I am not crazy. What I am saying is true, and it makes sense.
26 None of these things happened off in a corner somewhere. I am sure that King Agrippa knows what I am talking about. That’s why I can speak so plainly to him.”
27 Then Paul said to Agrippa, “Do you believe what the prophets said? I know you do.”
28 Agrippa asked Paul, “In such a short time do you think you can talk me into being a Christian?”
29 Paul answered, “Whether it takes a short time or a long time, I wish you and everyone else who hears me today would become just like me! Except, of course, for these chains.”
30 Then King Agrippa, Governor Festus, Bernice, and everyone who was with them got up.
31 But before they left, they said, “This man isn’t guilty of anything. He doesn’t deserve to die or to be put in jail.”
32 Agrippa told Festus, “Paul could have been set free, if he had not asked to be tried by the Roman Emperor.”
The worldview of Paul, the Roman governor and King Agrippa all collide in these passages. Like oceans surging back and forth under the power and turmoil of a major storm, Luke reveals through the portal of this narrative the shifting back and forward of the dialogue on different worldviews. In our scripture text – We see Paul presenting the Gospel, then Festus answering him, then Paul responds, then Agrippa weighs in, and finally the Apostle Paul reveals his heart in a final exhortation to the King.
This section in Scripture reveals to us that not all worldviews are true! As Christian’s we need to have a Biblical Worldview in which we look at the world every day. We also need to share our worldview with others. The reality check is when we have a Biblical Worldview others will at times argue with us, even hate it, maybe persecute us or even arrest us for it – just like they did Paul and Jesus – but we still need to share it with others in a Christlike way. In a way that people discover that Jesus was and is who He says He was!
Jesus said in John 15:18-25:
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
Opposing worldviews bring conflict, even hatred and this is why Jesus himself faced persecution! But this must not deter us from being light in the darkness. Bringing the presence and the power of God into a divine encounter with someone on the street, in a café, in school or even at work.
When we learn what a Biblical worldview is - we soon discover all the other worldviews being forced on us every day through TV, movies, magazines, signs, radio, media, news, politicians, schools, teachers and the like. Paul is making a case for a Biblical Worldview to two people who have different worldviews than Paul does! Both people with power in their society. One thinks Paul is crazy to have the world view He has! But Paul is bold, honest and direct on what His worldview is and how it changed with an encounter with Jesus Christ.
The truth is when we meet Jesus and become Born Again and then serve Him with our gifts in Kingdom Ministry – people should see a difference in us spiritually and the way we live our lives! When we listen to God’s voice and engage people - we will see lives impacted by the Holy Spirit.
Kerby states, “Each day Christians are confronted with a bewildering array of choices in ethics, actions, and lifestyles. The only way to make sense of this data is to have a consistent worldview. And Christians should be operating from a biblical worldview. As we will see, that is often not the case. Everyone has a worldview, but relatively few people (even religious people) have a biblical worldview. This explains a great deal about behavior. One reason so few people act like Christians is because they don’t think like Christians. Behavior results from our values and beliefs. Thinking biblically about the issues of life should ultimately result in living biblically in society. Conversely, not thinking biblically should result in not living biblically within society.” Kerby Anderson, Worldview and Truth, Probe Ministries
Chuck Colson stated: ““Christianity is not just a relationship with Jesus. Christianity is a worldview. It’s the way we see life. A relationship with Christ is an understanding of all reality.”
We are saved from sin so we can live right, do right and do the work of Kingdom ministry! We should be changed like Paul was changed upon meeting Jesus! Do you want to be used by the Lord? Then change your worldview and open yourself up to be used by the Holy Spirit.
Chuck adds: “Too often, you see, we treat our faith as just one more item on our to-do list. But if Christianity is true, it’s the central framework for everything, the grid that overlays all of life. Why is it so important to have a Christian worldview? Because Christianity gives us a map to reality, an outline of the world the way it really is: God's moral and physical order. And if we want to make our way effectively through life, to live in accord with reality, we have to follow the map. A Christian worldview also helps us defend our faith, giving us the language to explain why Christian ethics is good for society, or why a biblical view of human nature is essential to sound public policy. Finally, a Christian worldview helps us to evangelize, giving us the tools to analyze what is shaping the values of the culture so that we can get the secularists attention, and they can hear the gospel.”
Worldviews are being promoted all around us every day – Summit Ministries presents them very well and here are some of them to recognize and look for each day:
What do we need to know from this teaching?
Answer: We as Christians need to have a true Biblical Worldview so as to impact a fallen culture with the truth, presence and power of God’s Word. We also need to know that all of us have a worldview which is influenced and formed by all the voices and ideas around us. Understanding different worldviews helps us empathize with why people believe the way they do – most have a faulty foundation and our mission is to introduce them to the right foundation Jesus Christ (God’s Word).
Why do we need to know this from this teaching?
Answer: We need to search our hearts and minds and make sure we have a genuine Biblical Worldview. If we don’t then we need to renew our minds so we can go out and do the work of the Kingdom of God effectively. If we want to impact our culture and society it starts with us being rooted in God’s Word and truth. It starts with us being connected to God and the Holy Spirit in an intimate and life changing way.
What do we need to do from this teaching?
Answer: Be committed to a Biblical Worldview and continue to develop it as you search and study God’s Word. Share your Biblical Worldview through the ministry of the Kingdom of God to people. But make sure you share it in a Christlike way! Use your gifts – be in tune to the voice of the Lord when you share with others and pray with others!
Why do we need to do this?
Answer: Because this is what will bring change to our culture and our society. This is what will change one person at a time and unleash the power and the presence of the Lord into a fallen society. This foundation will impact individuals, families, communities, culture and nations! This is what will change our nation!
