The World Through God-Colored Glasses
TCF Sermon
October 1, 2006
I want to do a little experiment this morning. I’m going to volunteer a few of you to look through these various things to tell me what you see.
Wander congregation, ask them to describe what they see while looking at the same thing through different “lenses” such as a viewmaster, prism, funny-looking glasses, and rose-colored glasses)
Most of you have probably heard the phrase, “seeing the world through rose-colored glasses.” In general, it speaks of a positive outlook on life. But the idea here is that how we see the world matters in what we make of it.
So, as believers, if we recognize that looking at the world through rose-colored glasses makes the world seem rose-colored, then we want to learn to look at the world through God-colored glasses, don’t we?
That’s clearly an oversimplification, but the idea is that we want to learn to see the world, and everything in it, as God sees it. So, the title of this morning’s message is God-colored glasses.
It’s a matter of perspective, which means, to see through. What you see through, the perspective you have, makes a difference.
There’s the story of a shoe manufacturer who decided to open the Congo market. He sent two salesmen to the undeveloped territory. One salesman cabled back: "Prospects here nil. No one wears shoes." The other salesman reported enthusiastically, "Market potential terrific! Everyone is barefooted."
How we respond to life, how we think about issues, depends on the perspective we have. How we see the world is our worldview, and worldview and perspective are closely related. Our perspective on life is how we think. So a Christian worldview means we think like a Christian.
It’s important to note how scripture views the use of, the importance of, our minds - our thinking. The fact is that scripture is clear about using our minds. Yet, in our culture, which relies so heavily on subjective personal experiences, and also, in many charismatic and evangelical circles, we’ve sometimes considered mind a four letter word. Yet, consider what scripture has to say about our minds.
Mark 12:30, quotes Deuteronomy in part, but these are the words of Jesus in describing what he called the "most important" commandment.
"the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."
The Greek word here for the word mind is dee-ahn’-oy-ah -- which means "the mind as a faculty of understanding, feeling, desiring...” Other senses of the word include "a way of thinking and feeling" and literally, a “thinking through, or over, a meditation, reflecting..."
So, note that the Biblical idea of mind includes both thinking and feeling. We so often create this false separation between our hearts and our minds. Many Christians have lost the art of thinking, and how thinking and understanding is a vital part of our faith. We sometimes have an either/or mentality about heart versus mind – when in reality it should be both/and. It shouldn’t be heart versus mind, it should be heart and mind. We put heart and mind at odds with each other, and instead, need to recognize that they complement one another - in fact, in a biblical understanding, they are most often different aspects of one and the same thing.
I’ve been having an interesting email dialogue with Chris King over the past few weeks about postmodern ideas regarding experience, versus reason or rationality. As we’ve traded emails, he’s shown me some things. First of all, this quiet unassuming guy is a very deep thinker. Secondly, the dialogue has reminded me that this a false dichotomy. Pitting heart versus mind, separating reason and experience, can be a barrier for us as believers as we try to develop a fully Biblical worldview.
Finally, our dialogue has reminded me that, people have, at times, corrupted the idea of our minds that scripture speaks of. He sent me a quote by British theologian Colin Gunter, who suggested that:
“As created, reason is good; as fallen, it is extremely liable to prideful ascendency to the throne of man’s life.”
So, before we move forward this morning, let’s be absolutely clear. The thinking part of our minds, or our rational thought, cannot be, and is not, our sole means of access to God. Apart from Christ, our minds are prone to pride. It’s only as we are sanctified in Him that our reason is sanctified. Yet, as believers, we are commanded, as in the passage we read from Mark, to love God with our minds.
That leads me to focus this morning on Romans 12:2, which we could call a key worldview verse.
Romans 12:2 (NIV) 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Scripture teaches that we have a clear responsibility to not only use our minds, but to renew our minds...and there’s a clear purpose behind this. This morning we’re going to look at this and several other scriptures, with an eye toward why thinking like a Christian is important for believers, and how we can accomplish this scriptural mandate to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
As we’ve already noted, the word that describes how we look at the world is “worldview.” Our worldview impacts our attitudes, the way we live, the way we respond to the world around us, and the way we respond to God.
In a larger sense, the prevailing worldview in any given culture, affects much more than individual lives, it impacts history, it impacts nations.
Let’s look at just a few examples:
In Thailand, the peasant is labeled with a phrase that means "destined to poverty." This attitude enslaves the poor in poverty, with no hope of ever finding their way out of it.
Hinduism sees perfection as a state of resignation. This causes people to withdraw from the world and not attack its evils.
Secularism sees man as a "machine," or an animal at best. This reduces the motivation to protect the life of the marginalized such as the pre-born, the handicapped or the elderly.
So, how we perceive the world’s problems depends on our worldview. The best example is with life issues. As followers of Jesus, we believe that each of us is created in the image and likeness of God. That means every life has value, from the time of conception to the time of death…. from the womb to the tomb. There is no second-class life.
But where people believe a worldview does not include the idea that we are made in the image and likeness of God, we can begin to understand why they also do not believe in the value of the unborn, the handicapped, or the elderly.
We need to recognize how a Christian worldview impacts the way we should think about everything we encounter in our day to day existence - the culture we live in, history, people, disasters, good things, bad things, etc...
It’s helpful to take a closer look at the difference in worldviews - between believers in Jesus Christ and unbelievers.
Much of the world’s view is shaped by relativism - the idea that you should do whatever is right for you. What’s good for you is fine, and what’s good for me is fine - no one has the right to tell you what to do, because values and morals are subjective, not objective. Truth is determined by a majority vote, it’s a product of our culture, so different cultures have different truths, as do individuals within those cultures. Truth is not something revealed to us.
On the other hand, the Christian’s worldview is formed out of the objective, revealed truth of Scripture. We discover truth, we don’t make it. It rests on absolutes.
The world’s view is secular (of this world, of the present age). It emphasizes the here and now, and leads to a desire for instant gratification. It de-emphasizes anything related to the transcendent, that is, anything religious.
The Christian’s view is eternal. Because of that, what we do now is not passing and unimportant - it counts forever. What’s more, we recognize that this life is just the beginning.
The world’s view is antihistorical - denying the importance and value of history as something we can learn from, as well as rewriting history according to our own modern view of the events. Another way of saying this, is that it is deconstructionist. An example might be the study of literature, where the original intent of the author of any work doesn’t matter. What we think of it in our time and in our context is what matters.
The flip side of this is the Christian’s worldview, which acknowledges the historical account of God’s work from the beginning, and doesn’t seek to change history to match an agenda. Christians view history much as the Hebrew mindset before us: that is, events are conceived as part of a purposeful whole.
Hebrew and Christian history is dominated by the idea of purpose – that is, God’s redemptive purpose in history.
The world’s view is naturalistic - in this worldview, nature is supreme. Therefore all nature is equal, and there is no longer a reason for humanity to be considered as anything special in nature. This makes it impossible to say one creature has greater worth than another. It also glorifies science as the only means of explaining life.
The Christian’s view is based on the supernatural - there’s more going on than meets the eye. There’s a spiritual reality that may not be visible, but is just as real as what we can feel and touch. Ideally, a Christian worldview is not anti-science in any way. It just recognizes that science cannot explain everything, and embraces science as a revelation of God’s creation.
Also, the world’s view is pragmatic. That is, do whatever works. This leaves us without a moral compass to gauge direction. The question “does it work” replaces the question “is it right or wrong?”
The Christian’s view is just the opposite. It’s idealistic - we do what is right by objective standards, even if the consequences are difficult.
One survey of mainline denomination members found that only 32% believed that their faith had anything to do with their life outside of church. In other words, the things they think and believe don’t have an impact on most of their life, or how they choose to live.
Charles Colson calls this a deadly form of schizophrenia.
"Understanding the antithesis between the secular mind-set and the Christian world-view - in other words, seeing how they are complete opposites - people of faith need to look critically at every area of life and measure each area from this perspective - from a Christian worldview. Nothing should be too secular to escape sacred scrutiny."
Now, I recognize there are people who enjoy this kind of message, and people who may not. But it’s important whether or not you enjoy it, because, whether you recognize it or not, you do have a worldview. It’s not open to choice. The only choices you can make are what kind of worldview you want to have, what you will allow to shape and mold that worldview, and, whether or not you want to understand your worldview.
It’s my hope and prayer that we would endeavor, as faithful followers of Christ, to have a fully integrated Biblical worldview. Why? Because what many have called the culture wars in our day are really worldview wars.
One article I read in researching this message was by R. Wesley Hurd:
"Whether in the student’s classroom, the neighborhood school board meeting, or the office hallway, dialogues and debates over abortion, gay and lesbian issues, or how the federal budget should be balanced are ultimately grounded in a person’s worldview. And because we get our worldviews mostly by absorbing them from our parents, family, and larger surrounding culture, today’s generation, unfortunately, is being grounded in whatever worldview dominates the arts and media of popular culture. Television’s sitcoms and MTV are doing much of our worldview construction."
We need to think like Christians in every area of our lives, and not create separate lives, where we respond and behave one way with our church friends, and another in the rest of our relationships or activities. Our faith should have everything to do with every aspect of our lives.
Back to Romans 12:2 - we see how this passage and related verses address this issue of thinking like Christians - why it’s important.
The first part: “do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.” Note the assumption here that we do conform - the admonition here is to stop conforming – but the verse assumes we do conform, because it says don’t do it any longer.
This says to me that Paul recognizes there’s a power or force which molds character and conduct - in this case, it’s “the pattern of this world.”
It also indicates that we can resist it - Paul says essentially, “quit allowing yourselves to be conformed.” Another passage which speaks to the same issue is in Ephesians 4, beginning with verse 17:
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
This, again, refers to the mind - thinking, understanding, ignorance. It shows the relationship between their thinking and the way they live:
“you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.”
But note what it calls this “living as the Gentiles do,” which is a result of the way they think: futility - useless, meaningless, senseless, hollow, empty.
It says the way they live and the way they think is without purpose and completely useless – futile. Contrast that to what it says a few verses later, when the admonition there is the same as in Romans 12:2: verse 23 of Ephesians 4 says “be made new in the attitude of your minds.”
Similar thoughts are expressed in Romans 8:5-8 - again expressing how the mind figures into our attitudes and our behavior:
“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
Also in Colossians 2:8, which says:
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of the world rather than on Christ.”
Paul clearly recognizes the human tendency to conform to the world, to live according to the sinful nature, to depend on human tradition, to live in the futility of worldly thinking. He also points out where this will eventually take us if left unchecked. See Romans 1:21, 28:
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened
(here, again, we see the clear and close relationship between mind and heart)
...verse 28...Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.”
A depraved, or as the KJV says, a “reprobate” mind, is one that has not stood the test - one that has been rejected....Vines says it is “the effect of refusing to have God in their knowledge.” These are sobering consequences, aren’t they?
Matthew Henry said,
“Christians are to be non-conformists”
- not so much in outward appearance as in thought and attitude, which is reflected by behavior.
Next, Romans 12:2 says, “be transformed.” This is where we make the jump from the first part of Romans 12:2, the do not part, to the second part - the do part: “be transformed by the renewing of your mind...”
The word “transformed” in this passage is the same word that’s used in 2 Cor. 3:18 when it says we are being “transformed into His likeness.” It’s the word we use today as “metamorphosis.” It means a total change, changed into another form. It’s the same word you’d use to describe the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly, or tadpole to toad. In our case, it denotes a deep internal change in our character, that also produces outward change in our behavior, and in our attitudes.
We looked earlier at one Greek word for mind - deeahnoyah - as used in Mark 12:30. It is helpful to look at another Greek word for mind – nous. That’s the original language word for mind used in Romans 12:2, and it’s also the root of part of the word used for repentance in Acts 2:38, where Peter said, “Repent and be baptized.”
In the Acts passage, the word used is metanoia It means literally a changing of the mind, having a new mind. The interesting thing is that there is another word used in the NT for repentance, which implies change, but not the transformational change called for in Romans 12:2.
While the phrase “be transformed” is clearly a command, which implies we have something to do with it, the context, as well as a general understanding of God’s means of transformation, implies that this is something done to us, but something with which we must cooperate. It’s a process, not an event. The original language in the Romans passage has the sense of “keep on being transformed.” Again we can compare this to the same word used in 2 Cor 3:18, which says we are being transformed into His likeness with “ever increasing glory.”
So, though this is a command, it’s also just as clear that God doesn’t expect us to do it ourselves. He just wants us to cooperate with His work in us, His transforming influence. Here’s an illustration from Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges:
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It’s the story of Tommy, a young boy, who comes home from his baseball game “all grimy with sweat, and dirty from sliding into second base. His mother is preparing dinner, takes one look at Tommy and says to him, “Go take a shower.”
That’s a command. It is an imperative, and she uses an active verb. She wants Tommy to do something. But what is the end result Tommy’s mother wants? She wants Tommy to be clean, so she directs him to take a shower. She knows Tommy cannot cleanse himself. If he tried, all he would do is rearrange the dirt. So she wants Tommy to bring himself under the cleansing action of the soap and water. It is the soap and water that will wash away the sweat and the dirt, but Tommy must bring himself under their cleansing action.
Just as Tommy cannot cleanse himself, so we cannot transform ourselves. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. But just as Tommy must bring himself under the cleansing action of soap and water, so we must bring ourselves under the transforming action of the Holy Spirit. This means, of course, that we must continually submit our minds to the word of God, which is the chief instrument the Holy Spirit uses to transform us.
So when Paul urged us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” he was essentially saying, “Bring yourself under the transforming influence of the Word of God.” This is a continuous process, that should be taking place every day of our lives.
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Someone once said that a belief is what you hold, but a conviction is what holds you. You may live contrary to what you believe, but you cannot live contrary to your convictions. Romans 12:2 tells us, essentially, to develop deep, Bible-based, convictions. Our worldview, our convictions, will come from the society around us, our culture, the pattern of this world as it says in Rom 12:2, or it will come as our minds are renewed by the Word of God. There is no third option. It’s an either/or situation.
If we do not actively seek to come under the influence of God’s Word, we will come under the influence of the sinful society around us, the pattern of this world.
That brings us to the final part...we’ve looked at the who, what, when, and where - now the last part of verse 2 tells us why:
“Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is...”
In other words, we’ll be able to clearly see and know God’s will, and not only that, as our minds are renewed, nothing else will satisfy us short of doing it We’ll want to do what God wants – we’ll approve it – or prove it.
Just as gold or other metals are found to be genuine or not in the test of fire – we’ll know it is genuine and true and best for us. What’s more, the test of our renewal is our conduct.
Now, you may be able to fake it for a while. You can learn to talk the talk...but you cannot walk the walk for long, without a genuine renewal of your mind. That’s because your heart’s attitude will betray you somewhere, and of course, God always knows and sees your heart, your mind, the way you think, and even though you can fool some of the people some of the time, you can’t ever fool God anytime.
When Jesus prayed in John 17, that instead of taking His disciples out of the world, God would protect them from the evil one, He was recognizing a tension similar to what Paul also recognized in his letter to the Romans, when he said “do not be conformed to the pattern of this world.”
We’re here for a reason, but there’s a pull to the world, a pull which tries to take us away from God. So, both Jesus in his prayer, and Paul in his letter recognized the power of the Word of God to help us resist this pull. Jesus said, “Sanctify them by the truth - your Word is truth.” Paul said, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” - a clear command to by sanctified by the truth of the Word of God.
How else can we make a total transformation? He wants not just part of us, but all of us - that includes the way we think – because God recognizes that the way we think impacts every part of our lives.
In closing – I’d like to read one more passage of scripture which speaks clearly about our minds and our understanding, and the wonderful advantage God gives to us as believers in shaping our worldview, in shaping the way we think, in seeing the world through God-colored glasses.
As I read this, listen for the key things we’ve looked at this morning, key words like understand, wisdom, know, and mind, and ask God how these things apply to you today:
1 Cor 2:12-16: We have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ”
Pray
