The Battle for a Biblical Worldview
Every person has a worldview. A worldview is the foundation of one’s life that drives his or her opinions, beliefs, and views on the world around them. The follower of Jesus Christ receives the call to live with a worldview that extends from the truth of God’s Word and not reliant on the ideas of this world and of the flesh. The believer uses this worldview to engage the culture around them as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God. The reality is that followers of Christ need to be in the world and not of the world.
The previous statement is not a quotation of Scripture, but is a biblical truth that exists throughout the writings of the New Testament. There is a tension that exists between being in the world and of the world because of a constant threat that preys upon believers. For Christians to achieve a biblical worldview it begins with the understanding of how to obtain such a worldview and then moves to comprehending how to battle against the threats that attack a biblical worldview.
A biblical worldview is formed through the intentional engagement with the Word of God and with the Lord. The biblical worldview does not miraculously appear in the life of an individual when he or she enters into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Instead, the development of a proper worldview comes over time as the individual grows in their relationship with the Lord. The more mature a believer becomes the more his or her worldview becomes defined by the ways and will of the Lord. How does this occur?
The believer’s journey to a biblical worldview demands the Christian spend ample time intentionally engaging the Word of God. The intentional engagement of God’s Word consists of daily reading of the Bible for the intent of continual transformation. This means that the believer expects that the daily reading provides the atmosphere for the Lord to reveal truth through His Word and to challenge the believer to adjust any wayward opinions, beliefs, or thoughts that counter the truth of the Lord.
Continual engagement includes the need to be under proper biblical teaching. The proclamation of truth must center on the Word of God and not the opinions of man. Such teaching prompts the believer to be more in tune to the work of the Holy Spirit in their life and to allow for continual transformation to take place. The critical component to this engagement centers on the individual’s focus on making sure that the teacher is known for the declaration of truth grounded on the Word of God.
The journey continues through the intentional time spent in prayer. The time of prayer opens the opportunity for the Christian to seek the Lord for the purpose of sacrificing the ideas and opinions of the flesh and to seek the things of the Lord and to set the mind on those things. Prayer provides not only the opportunity to seek the Lord for help in identifying and dealing with worldly issues, but to listen to the Lord’s engagement into the life of the believer. Thus, prayer provides the time to speak and listen to the Lord.
The threat to a biblical worldview appears in complacency as one battles the temptation of conformity and the subtlety of being coddled. The world has a way to influence the mind of the believer in a manner that often remains undetectable. The first threat is the temptation of conformity. Conformity is the slow movement away from the ways of God due to the small incremental influence of the world. It is the changing of the mind by the world that often goes undetected until one accepts a worldview, opinion, or thought that is wayward from the Lord. Conformity appears when one begins to approve or ignore the issues against the desires of God due to the constant bombarding of the world.
The second threat is the coddling of the mind. The world has a way of numbing us to sleep so that the believer is unable to navigate truth from error. The coddling of the mind mixes truth and error so that the follower of Christ does not see the error as bad as it truly is. The coddling of the mind truly is the culture slowly putting the Christian to sleep so that the transitions in the culture around them go undetected and ultimately accepted. These threats pose a problem to living in a biblical Christian worldview.
What is controlling your actions, feelings, opinions and beliefs? Are you shaped more by the world or by the Word? Living out a biblical worldview is not an option that believers select to add to his or her life but is an obedient approach to life. As you investigate your worldview are you living out a biblical worldview in faithfulness?
