In our last devotional we sought to do some basic defining of what a Christian world view is. Our world view is formed by what we believe to be true about life. We gain these beliefs from the Bible's teaching. From this foundation, we build a cohesive, integrated system of thinking about all things. Our World View as Christians is one that is logically consistent. That is to say, we don't live with contradictions.
Only 9% of professing Christians have a Christian world view. They indeed do live with contradictions between what they profess to be true about life and how they actually live. For example, to take a heated issue at the outset, a Christian confesses that all human life is created in the image of God. Because of this human beings have infinite value. Yet, a significant percentage of these same people may not see abortion as fundamentally immoral. There is a disconnect between what they say believe (Life is infinitely valuable because it's created in the image of God) to how they actually live (life is no more valuable than a decayed tooth). Obviously, there will be much more on this subject in future devotionals.
Why? There could be many reasons listed for the disconnect, but below I'll mention three:
1. COMPARTMENT RELIGION- That is, we attend Church on Sunday, hear from the Bible for a half an hour or so, and then the rest of the week, never open it up again. Meanwhile, we watch TV, listen to the radio, surf the internet etc. and all of these media are sharing a world view with us, whether we're conscious of it or not. Without knowing it, we find ourselves being more influenced by our culture's view of things than God's view of things. What's the solution? READ YOUR BIBLE! It doesn't mean no TV, no radio, no internet, but as you participate in these things, be always thinking about what you are being told through them and how they measure up to the Bible's teaching on the subject.
2. NON-THOUGHT- It sounds sort of simplistic, but it's true. Most of the time our lives are so busy (with things worthy and unworthy) that we just don't take the time to make the connections in our mind. But what does Jesus command us to do? "Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and ALL YOUR MIND." Think, think, think...
3. SIN- Both of the previous points are obviously related, but the ultimate reason we have faulty thinking in our world view is because we're sinners. The Bible often declares the life of the sinner as "blindness." Even after we become Christians, we still suffer from blind spots that must be exposed. However, sometimes these blind spots are extremely uncomfortable to deal with, and so for our own comfort, we just "don't go there." Thinking Christianly may force us to examine our friendships, the things we watch, our politics, etc. It will force us to change behavior, that frankly we really like participating in.
The goal of a Christian world view once again is stated in Romans 12:1-2 and ought to be how all of us think of our lives in Christ:
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Tomorrow, we'll discuss how the Christian ought to think about politics addressing the question, "Does God have politics?"
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Erick
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