A Biblical Worldview: Don’t Leave Home Without It (Part One)

L. Dwight Turner

* This article is an expanded and update version of a similar post I put up on the LifeBrook site last year.

I have come to the conclusion that few endeavors in the life of a Christian are as important as the process of “worldview development.” The fact is, many Christians have never given thought to the significance of one’s worldview and, of the few that have taken up the subject, most quickly put it aside in favor of more tangible and practical pursuits.

 

The reality is, however, there a few items in the life of a Christian that are more tangible and practical than the development and implementation of a biblical worldview. Granted, putting together a workable worldview involves dealing with intellectual abstractions, but even these cognitive pursuits have their base in every day living. For it is our worldview that gives our lives meaning, purpose, and direction. Further, it is our worldview that forms the basis for our decision making process. Few things are more “down to earth” than these issues.

 

The fact is, we all have a worldview whether we realize it or not. And it is therein the problem arises. Chances are, if we are unaware of the dominant worldview we operate from, then it is a good bet that we are also unaware of how our worldview was formed. Once you realize how vitally important a worldview is, hopefully you will come to see that you can no longer leave this process to chance or random development.

 

Christian researcher George Barna makes the following observations regarding worldviews:

 

*Everyone has a worldview. Relatively few have a coherent worldview or are able to articulate it clearly.

 

*Most people don’t consider their worldview to be a central, defining element of their life, although it is.

 

*People spend surprisingly little time intentionally considering and developing their worldview. More often than not, their worldview development process is one of unconscious evolution and acceptance. They allow it to evolve and sum it up this way: “Whatever.”

 

The fact that Christians often give such little time and effort to developing, clarifying, and internalizing a biblical worldview is a serious shortcoming. This is especially true in America at the present time, considering the cultural context in which we live. Our nation is for all practical purposes post-modern and, despite claiming the opposite, also post-Christian. Let’s face facts – the church no longer holds the central, morally-defining position that it once held in American society. Increasingly, our culture views Christianity in general and Christians in particular in a less than favorable way.

 

I firmly believe that having a clear, concise, and internalized biblical worldview is essential to experiencing an effective walk of faith in this day and time. Further, having such a scriptural perspective on life is an essential part of our calling as disciples of Christ. Although scripture does not directly tell us to possess such a perspective on life, the fact that we need this vital type of worldview is implied throughout both the Old and New Testaments. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,” says the Psalmist and Paul tells us that we possess the “mind of Christ.” Having a biblical worldview provides us with a baseline that we can reference our behavior against. A biblical worldview acts as a moral compass which can, if we allow it, guide our actions in all of life’s varied arenas. Using the metaphor of gravity, Elisabeth Elliot speaks to the importance of our calling to discipleship:

 

In space, astronauts experience the misery of having no reference point, no force that draws them to the center. The effort of performing ordinary activities without the help of that pull is often vastly greater than it would be under normal conditions (try pouring a glass of water, eating a sunny-side-up egg, or turning a screwdriver – water will not fall, the egg will not stay on your fork, the screwdriver will not revolve; you will). Where there is no “moral gravity” – that is, no force that draws us to the center – there is spiritual weightlessness. We float on feelings that will carry us where we never meant to go; we bubble with emotional experiences that we often take for spiritual ones; and we are puffed up with pride. Instead of seriousness, there is foolishness. Instead of gravity, flippancy. Sentimentality takes the place of theology. Our reference point will never serve to keep our feet on solid rock, for our reference point, until we answer God’s call, is merely ourselves. We cannot possibly tell which end is up. Paul calls them fools who “…measure themselves by themselves, to find in themselves their own standard of comparison.”

On several occasions I have received either comments or emails from readers of this site, stating in one way or another that they cannot “figure me out.” Most of these readers are cordial and genuine in writing to me, but for some reason or another, I don’t seem to fit well into whatever box they might be trying to squeeze my thought into. My advice to these friends is this: “Better get a shoe horn.”

The fact is, I guess, I am just a bit of a theological maverick. I have found over the years that labels are, at least for the most part, meaningless. Some folks consider themselves to be conservative believers, while others take pride in being called liberal. Others are fundamentalists and yet others are emergent. I suspect that some of my readers’ confusion stems from the fact that I have beliefs that bridge these many Christian camps and, as I said, I can’t be pigeon holed. And guess what? I think that’s a positive thing.

Let me explain.

Emerson once said that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” One of the things I think he meant by this statement was that, if you allow an external source to define your beliefs, you are often forced compromise the integrity of your mind in order to remain consistent with whatever the school of thought you might be identified with. For example, if you consider yourself to be a fundamentalist you readily understand that fundamentalists believe in the Virgin Birth. As a self-identified fundamentalist, you realize that you, too, should believe in the Virgin Birth. This state of affairs is no real problem unless you find that you don’t really believe in the Virgin Birth. Now you have a dilemma on you hands. The way many folks solve this conundrum is to either say that they do, in fact, believe in the Virgin Birth when they really don’t or they convince themselves they believe in it, even if they don’t. The result is the person in question has compromised the integrity of his or her mind. In order to be consistent with a pre-defined worldview, the person claims to or pretends to believe in something he or she does not believe in.

The other end of the theological perspective has equal problems. Let’s say you are a very liberal Christian. You have read Spong, Borg, Crossan, Tillich, and all the right authors. Of course, liberals don’t believe in the deity of Jesus, at least most of them don’t. But what happens if you discover that you do believe in the deity of Jesus. Well, now you have the same problem as the fundamentalist discussed in the previous paragraph. In order to be consistent with what a liberal is supposed to believe, you compromise and even convince yourself that Jesus was just another “great moral teacher” and your problem is solved. Unfortunately, now you have a bigger problem. Your integrity is gone.

I can speak of these issues with a certain amount of certainty and at least a modicum of clarity because I have, as they say, been there – done that. By the grace of God, there came a time when I got fed up with having others determine the content of my worldview and went on a quest to figure out just what it was that I really did believe. I won’t bore you with the details of my search except to say that as things progressed, I felt more at ease because I understood what I actually thought was true, rather than trying to force myself into a pair of theological shoes that were designed for someone else.

Before traveling any farther down this road, let me say a few words on why I believe the development of a biblical worldview is essential. Further, once we have formulated such a worldview, it is even more effective to apply it to our daily living. A biblical worldview is vital for the effective Christian life. As believers, our worldview is to serve the foundational purpose of providing a matrix through which we can filter our life experiences and, perhaps even more important, provide a framework for our decision making. Just from these few facts it is obvious that a biblical worldview is to be much more than a pile of theological clutter that we stuff into the corner of the mind and forget about. On the contrary, a biblical worldview gives meaning and purpose to the events of our lives.

I have come to look at the simplest yet most complete definition of a worldview as follows: A biblical worldview is one in which we think like Jesus. Having a biblical worldview, in a sense, makes life easier and harder at the same time. Easier because we have sound scriptural guidelines that help us make everyday decisions; harder in that we often resist putting what we know to be correct into action. Further, I firmly believe that in order to implement a biblical worldview we have to not only think like Jesus, but act like Jesus as well. In order to do this, we have to engage in the types of practices that he engaged in. Namely, we have to make a consecrated effort to practice spiritual disciplines, especially prayer, on a regular basis. If Jesus needed to do this, we certainly do. George Barna describes his decision to discern and formulate his worldview:

 

For years I was scared off by the term “biblical worldview.” It had connotations of breadth and depth that were overwhelming. But the more I realized that my own Christian life was a haphazard series of disjointed choices only marginally and inconsistently influenced by my faith, the more determined I became to get serious about worldview development.

I concur with what Barna is saying here. In my own case, I came to realize that my daily thoughts, actions, and decisions were only marginally influenced by my faith. I also sensed that this is true for the vast majority of professing Christians and this may be one of the main reasons the modern church is so weak in the demonstration of its faith. Ultimately, this lack of worldview development and a concurrent walk of faith that is consistent with that worldview take us into the realm of personal integrity and evangelism. If we do not walk in a manner consistent with our faith, then we are not being true to who we really are. We lack personal integrity. Second, when others see us walking in ways contrary to what we profess to believe, it gives Christianity a bad name. It is even easier for non-Christians to use the time worn excuse of “not wanting to associate with hypocrites.”

Most non-Christian expect a lot more from us than God does. It is quite easy for those outside the faith to point to our failures, our scandals, and our myriad shortcomings. What many of these folks fail to understand is that Christians are still all too human.

As stated at the beginning of this essay, many readers find themselves asking, “Where is this guy coming from?” “Is he a liberal or is he a conservative?” The fact is, I am neither and both. I am just who I am and, like Popeye, that’s who I am.

I would also say that it is important to know that I full well understand that I am really quite limited in the scope of my knowledge. William Barclay, the great biblical scholar, once said he had, at best, a “second-rate mind.” I have read extensively in Barclay’s works and can say without reservation that if his mind is second-rate, then mine is surely way on down the scale in double-digits. I have come to understand that I can, in fact, be wrong. That is one reason why I don’t involve myself in theological arguments or nitpick over the finer points of doctrine. What do I know? Further, for me to strongly insist that someone else has a view that is erroneous smells of arrogance when you get right down to it.

Some Christians feel they have been called to be “Watchmen on the Walls,” beating the bushes in search of heretics and other misfits and nomads within the Body of Christ. Perhaps this is, indeed, a genuine calling and, if it is, I pray they live according to that lofty purpose. I am not one of them, however. I don’t think I have ever labeled anyone a heretic and doubt that I ever will. Why not, you ask? The fact is, when you get down to the honest truth of the matter, I don’t have enough knowledge to make that judgment. I am not giving you a false humility here. I am speaking from my heart. I, like many others, see through a glass darkly and have far too many doctrinal logs in my eye to start picking at the theological specks in someone else’s.

One other thing needs to be mentioned as well. Doctrinal and religious debates, as I mentioned in another article posted a few months back, tend to get a bit testy. Rarely have I seen one of these discussions go on for long before folks start launching verbal grenades that have little to do with the point they were originally trying to make.

 I avoid these discussions and debates like poison ivy for the following reasons. First, as already mentioned, my knowledge is too small for me to be the final arbiter of any doctrinal dispute. Secondly, these kinds of conflicts promote discord rather than unity, and it is unity we are called to, not discord. Finally, I stay away from doctrinal fights because these sorts of disputes often put people in the position of having a choice to be “right” or to be “kind.” I’ll opt for kindness every time.

End of Part One – to be continued.

(c) L. Dwight Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

 

Transformative Discipleship: Fostering Personal Change

Mick Turner

One of the primary reason today’s church is becoming less of a force in society and even in the lives of those professing to be Christian is the fact that for many years the Body of Christ as a whole had lost the real meaning of the word “disciple.” A disciple of Christ is nothing less than a “Christ-follower.”

 

When Jesus encountered Peter and Andrew, as well as the son’s of Zebedee busy at their nets, he said to them, “Follow me.” And they did. I think one of the reasons the modern Church has downplayed the role of discipleship is fairly obvious. True discipleship requires sacrifice and beneath our sacrifice, no matter what form it takes, is another issue: change.

 

Following Christ requires change.

 

This lack of emphasis on discipleship in the contemporary church has led to many unfortunate circumstances, not the least of which is that so many Christians are walking around feeling as wounded, depressed, and hopeless as those outside the faith. That this is so, however, should not be surprising. Christ did not call us to a “country club” religion. In fact, he didn’t call us to religion at all. He called us to relationship and mission. To participate in this life-giving relationship and to fulfill our mission as Christ-followers, we must indeed become just that – Christ-followers. Tragically, few realize that this involves far more than belief in a few arcane doctrines, tossing off an occasional prayer, and being a tithing member of a local congregation. And perhaps nothing is more essential in this challenging age than having an army of true Christ-followers.

 

In Paul’s remarkable prayer to the Ephesians (3:19) he petitions the Lord that “you may be filled with the fullness of God.” Have you ever really reflected on the magnitude of what the Apostle is saying in these few words? Basically, what Paul is asking God is that the believers in Ephesus, and us as well, become like Jesus. Any close examination of scripture reveals that the goal of our development as disciples of Christ is to become Christ-like.

 

Later on in Ephesians (4:15) Paul goes on to say, “Speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” This statement by Paul should not surprise us. Two verses earlier he flatly that in achieving maturity, we are to attain “the measure of the full stature of Christ.” I don’t know about you, but when I read this statement two things immediately occur within me. First, I am strongly convicted about how far I am from manifesting this kind of maturity in my daily life but, secondly, I am filled with hope that it is at least remotely possible. Paul would have never put it this way, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, unless it was indeed true.

 

“Very well,” you may say. “Where do I begin?” There are no clear cut answers to this question, but there are a few general guidelines. Whenever you want to transform any part of yourself and create a new, healthier, and more balanced lifestyle, you must realize that old patterns and habits of behavior must die. Jesus once said that you cannot “put new wine in old wineskins.” What he meant by this was simple. If you put new wine in an old wineskin, when the new wine begins to ferment and expand, it will burst the old skin. The same is true for each of us. If we want to establish new patterns of behavior, we have to get rid of the old. In the Bible, this process is called taking off the old and putting on the new.

 

This process can be difficult and at times discouraging. Usually there is a time lag between the manifestation of your new behaviors and the dissolution of your old patterns. At times, this transitional period can seem chaotic. You may feel at times like you are losing control over your life and events may seem to become increasingly unpredictable. You may feel, for example, that you no longer have anything to hold on to. The fact is, you may be holding on to an old pattern of behavior, even if it is unproductive, simply because it is familiar. This is a very common experience for most of us. I know with certainty it has been true in my life.

 

I have often felt that I was open-minded and prided myself on my lack of rigidity. But careful examination of my life revealed a pattern that was at times startling to my false sense of openness and flexibility. This hanging on to the comfort zone, that which was familiar, showed up in many areas of my life. Take my softball glove for example.

 

From the time I was five years old I have been an avid baseball fan. I played the sport throughout my school years and, once I became an adult, played competitive softball for many years.

 

I normally played middle infield, either second base or shortstop. For many years I used the same softball glove. In fact, I used it so long that the strings kept breaking, all the padding was gone out of the pocket and the leather was cracked in several strategic places. Nevertheless I refused to buy a new glove, in spite of the frequent protestations of my teammates.

The reason was simple. I was comfortable with this old glove. It molded to my hand perfectly over the years and it felt reassuring to put in on before I took the field. All too often, however, I would catch a hard line drive right in the pocket and my hand would sting, then remain numb for several minutes. Still, I wanted no part of a new glove.

 

A new glove, as anyone who has played the sport knows, is a real pain for awhile. It feels funny, awkward and stiff. It is easy to make errors with a new glove, at least until it is broken in properly. No, my old glove was find thank you very much.

One day our third baseman wasn’t able to make the game and I played the so-called “hot corner.” Things went okay for the first two innings. Then, in the third inning the batter hit a hard liner right at me. I responded quickly and raised my glove, only to have the ball break right through the ancient webbing an hit me square in the forehead, knocking me out cold.

 

Two days later I bought a new glove.

 

My experience with my old softball glove is not unlike my experience with the behaviors that flow from my old self. No matter how much I try to take off the old and put on the new, the old keeps rearing its head and biting me. I suspect that I am not alone in this predicament.

 

Many of my old behaviors, like my old softball glove, may hurt me time and time again. But, they are comfortable in the sense that they are familiar and predictable. My old self resists change and it is here that we are vulnerable to our habitual responses to life, however unhealthy and painful they may be.

 

Yes, change can be difficult. We resist looking deeply and honestly at ourselves and seeing what real issues are festering below the surface – real issues that may be standing between us and true intimacy with Christ. Yet we must look squarely at our sin and weakness if we want to change. We need courage but the great news of the gospel is that the Lord has provided us assistance. He has not left us alone to face our demons. We have inside of us the power that raised Christ from the dead. Further, walking along side of us we have the Comforter, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. He, indeed, is the divine Helper and our source of courage.

 

I don’t know about you, but I want to be all that I can be in Christ. To do this, I have to make changes, no matter how uncomfortable. I have to let go of my old infielder’s glove and put on a new one. It may be awkward at first, but guess what?

In the end, I will be a better player.

 

Think about it.

 

© L.D. Turner 2008/All Rights Reserved