Biblical Worldview – Talking Points – Introduction and Overview
You are about to begin one of the most exciting journeys of your life. And, unlike other adventures, this journey will have a profound effect upon the daily choices you make in life. Why you ask? It is because Biblical worldview is about Total Reality; not just about religious truth. Christian worldview lays out God’s design for every aspect of life—whether for economics, history, politics, law, ethics, family, sexuality, relationships, or church. God’s commandments in these areas are not arbitrary rules about life. For, Biblical worldview is about how life works in God’s world. Biblical worldview sets forth God’s loving ‘blueprint’ for us, and it is governed by His character and truth. We are to follow this design in order to discern what is good and wise and right and holy.
The class will equip you to critique erroneous worldviews for the purpose of Christian discernment and for the purpose of becoming effective in evangelism. You will learn how to reach this generation in a ‘cross-cultural’ manner. And, like any missionary who is training to reach a people group, you will gain a general understanding of the humanistic and pantheistic philosophies that have shaped Western thought. Close attention will be given to the darkening effect of sin upon the human heart and mind. And, as our class unfolds, you will understand, and become aware that all communication is guided and conditioned by a person’s worldview commitment.
It is clear that America is no longer guided by Christian principles. Secular humanism now directs the public affairs of our nation. This worldview of secular humanism denies God, Christ, and the Bible. Secularism removes God’s standards and allows man to substitute his own standards instead. Without God’s Word and the Gospel, man has no reliable moral compass. People make decisions based upon they felt needs and desires. Each individual becomes a law unto himself— choosing what is ‘right’ in his own eyes without respect to God’s standards. God’s Word says in Judges 21:25, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” There could hardly be a more accurate assessment of our country today than the description found at the end of the book of Judges.
‘Christian’ college students who leave the faith are, for the most part, those who were never taught a unified worldview which has Genesis and biblical creation as its foundation. Students who are never taught what is at stake if the foundations of Scripture are destroyed are astonishingly vulnerable to erroneous worldviews. High school and college campuses are indoctrinating our youth in the satanic philosophies of humanism and naturalism at an alarming rate. Rampant moral decay is the result—accompanied by a gross loss of confidence in the reliability of the Scriptures.
We are standing at a crossroads in human history. Now is the time for believers to become proactive in becoming equipped in Biblical worldview. Biblical worldview is the very foundation of ethics, life decisions, values, and behavior. Believers trained in Biblical worldview develop the resolve and discernment to live life without compromise; to live in light of God’s total truth; for His honor and glory. Training in worldview enables Christians not only to stand firm in the face of our culture’s non-biblical ideas, but also to tear down the atheistic ultimates of false worldviews.
How serious is the Problem we are facing today?
- 75-85% of students from “Christian” homes deny their faith before graduation from college (barna.org)
- Less than 9% of Evangelicals have a biblical worldview (barna.org)
- Instead of preparing their children for life, the vast majority of parents are waiting for social institutions to train their kids (barna.org)
- 62 % of Americans consider themselves to be deeply spiritual, and 88% feel accepted by God (“Most Adults feel accepted by God, but Lack a Biblical Worldview (barna.org)
- Only 9% of young people under the age 24 base their moral choices on the Bible.
- Only 1 in 20 Evangelical dads have ever led their families in devotions (barna.org)
- 91% of Evangelical kids said, “There is no truth apart from myself” (barna.org).
- Only 25% of churched youth say the church will play a part in their lives when they leave home
- In our media-saturated culture promiscuity is cast as freedom—our ‘highly sexualized culture is at war with God’s blueprint for mankind.
What is the Philosophical Climate of our Culture? Relativism has believing college students ‘backpedaling’—but training in Biblical worldview can help them set forth a compelling defense of the Christian faith. Postmodernism has given college students a view of reality steeped in relativism —in that view God is inconsequential; outside of reality if you will. In addition, Darwinism has drastically eroded confidence in the reliability of the Bible. The pressure exerted by philosophical pluralism (one belief is as good as another) is so great, that to press for an exclusive truth claim is to be regarded as a bigot. The postmodern world is relativized so totally that one is no longer allowed to say somebody else is wrong without sounding like a hypocrite.
The study of Biblical worldview is ideal training for defending the faith (Christian apologetics). One of the reasons why is because it produces a pervasive confidence that there are Biblical answers to every important life question. If churches are to wake out of a slumber-mode of retreat—they will have to be proactive in training their members in what they believe and why they believe—there is no shortcut if we are to successfully confront the lies of our culture.
Most Christians have settled into a ‘survivalist’ mode in which they hope to avoid a ‘truth encounter’ with the unsaved. Training in Biblical worldview gives believers a firm grasp of reality. By setting forth God’s truth as the only foundation for all thought, believers learn that Christian truth alone matches reality. Believers need this foundation if they are to confront the fortresses of error raised up against the knowledge of God. By means of a worldview framework, believers are better able to embrace the foundations of their faith—and consequently are better able to process the numerous principles, truths, and narratives provided in the Bible. A Biblical worldview gives believers a grid or filter to know how to categorize and implement the spiritual facts they receive.
Biblical worldview sets up a contrast between God’s Word and the deadly lies of our culture. Biblical worldview provides the spiritual ‘weapons’ necessary to stand against the unrelenting tide of our culture. The false worldviews of our culture can send shockwaves through the faith of those not established in the Word of God. Biblical worldview helps strengthen and stabilize believers. The truths of biblical worldview fit together like the interlocking pieces of a puzzle: Reality is God and His plan for His creation. Christian truth fits human experience like a key fits a lock. One cannot know God, the world, or himself apart from Christian truth. Christianity is defensible in the marketplace of ideas. The fact of evil in our world is a powerful validation of God’s revelation in Scripture.
Biblical worldview helps preserve the integrity of Christian life. When God’s unified truth is applied to all of life, it is transforming in its power. Many professing believers live a ‘disconnected life’—in other words, what they say they believe is disconnected from how they live. Biblical worldview deals with this ‘disconnect’ through the power of unified truth. Believers committed to Biblical worldview learn to bring every area of life under the lordship of Christ. But, instead of a unified worldview; many believers have a ‘patch-work’ of ideas that make up their life view or worldview. Thus, one of the greatest advantages of systematically studying Christian worldview is that believers become aware that God’s unified truth is total truth. There is both joy and confidence that arises from discovering God’s Word speaks to every area of life. A dedication to study Biblical worldview brings with it the confidence that God has answers to all of life’s important questions. There is an answer from God’s Word for everything you experience from day to day. Thus, Biblical worldview is a vision of life and a vision for life. Therefore there are no compartments ‘exempt’ from the lordship of Christ. Biblical worldview is the basis for all of life’s choices, decisions, values, beliefs, and behavior.
Christians make the most God-honoring decisions when those decisions are based upon an integrated Biblical worldview. Biblical worldview is the basis for all of life’s choices, decisions, values, beliefs, and behavior. This knowledge is intensely practical; it helps believers form the appropriate response to the moral issues we face in our culture. To hold to a unified Biblical worldview that incorporates every part of God’s blueprint is never an accident; it is always the result of systematic training. In order to be fully grasped; Biblical worldview must be diligently taught. The benefits far outweigh the cost—Christians trained in Biblical worldview develop the resolve to view all of life through the Biblical grid and bring all of life under the lordship of Christ. God has called us not only to personal faith; but also to a biblical worldview that has the power to transform our world. Biblical worldview is dynamic in all its purity and strength; it has the power to bring unified truth to all of life; and to transform the world today.