~4 min read
“World-proof Yourself for College,” Jay Wegter, www.gospelforlife.org
Idolatry in Education (“One-ist” or “Two-ist” Worldview)
I. At the heart of the message of the Bible is the Creator-creature distinction.
A. The absolute truth of God’s design for the cosmos is necessary to interpret the universe truthfully.
B. God as Creator is the foundation of the gospel—the gospel only makes sense in a world in which God is Omnipotent Creator, Owner, Upholder, Lawmaker, Ruler, Redeemer, and Judge.
II. Evolutionary worldview has left destruction in its wake. Like an immense wrecking ball, a man-centered, evolutionary worldview has been moving through society for the better part of a century.
A. Naturalism’s assault has torn down God’s creation structures and has left society craving a replacement. “One-ism” offers itself as that new ordering principle.
B. The “One-ist” worldview is growing and thriving in the ‘seedbed’ left by decades of Darwinism. “One-ism” is rushing into the spiritual void left by secularism.
C. This “One-ist” worldview ‘lens’ proposes a sweeping vision—stressing the oneness of all things; the divinity of man and nature; and the goal of global harmony.
III. In contrast to “one-ism,” biblical worldview is expressed in the distinctions which God has made in creation. We could say that God creates by ‘separating things’ (woman from man, etc.).
A. “Two-ness” is the very essence of biblical worldview. God has a design for us, His creatures.
B. There is a moral order built into the creation which we sometimes called ‘natural law’ (Ps 19; 96).
IV. Romans 1 is an analysis of “one-ist” thinking in a world that rejects God-ordained distinctions.
A. Paul tells us in Romans one that man’s rebellion is expressed in a three-fold way:
- CONCEPTUALLY (theology and the nature of God)
- SPIRITUALLY (spirituality and the human response of worship)
- BEHAVIOURLY (sexuality and the human response in corporeal behavior)
B. Each idolatrous expression leads to the next: SUPPRESS THE TRUTH>>> WORSHIP AND SERVE THE CREATION>>> COMMIT SEXUAL IMMORALITY
C. God’s wrath is very specific: His righteous response to man’s wicked three “exchanges” is expressed in three “givings over”—given over in mind (v. 28, 21), in spirit (v. 25), and in body (v. 24ff.).
D. Are there only two religious options? Paul’s focused language (with definite articles) narrows the religious options in the world to two possibilities: one either serves the Truth or the Lie.
E. What our postmodern world celebrates—namely its rejection of all absolutes, and its assumed right to define all reality privately—is actually a sign of God’s present wrath manifested now (1:18, 22).
V. The central pillar supporting the truth of the God of the Bible is Creator-creature distinction.
A. The ‘closed universe’ view rejects that distinction, stating all reality fits in the ‘box’ of the cosmos.
B. The “One-ist” stance on sexuality is an expose of its system of thought. If you don’t worship God as Creator, then you are giving the honor He deserves to His creation instead of Him (note the Lie).
C. The idolatrous Lie (v. 25) will work itself out in sexual immorality—and in particular homosexuality. Homosexuality is an overturning of God’s created order (unnatural worship = perverse behavior).
D. “One-ism” emphasizes that everything has the same substance—it brings all to sameness (creation worship). Everywhere “one-ism” is taught, there will be the eventual advocacy of homosexuality.
E. The truth of God includes His relationship to the creation as Ruler, Owner, Upholder, and Definer.
F. “One-ist” spirituality seeks to erase the distinctions between God and man; between man and animal; and between man and woman and between parent and child. Perversion is the inevitable result (Rom 1:24-27). To remove the distinctions between God and us is ultimately no distinctions.
G. The breaking down of clear gender roles, male and female, the gender binary (male-female) is central to the whole new “one-ist” vision for society (with a new moral order and with new laws and ethics).
VI. Christian college students are often ‘mute’ when it comes to engaging our culture.
A. Liberal educators have ‘framed the issues’ within the categories of their worldview of “one-ism.”
B. Biblical worldview lets us as believers ‘frame the issues’.
C. In Romans one Paul tells us how idolatrous worldview ‘puts itself together’ (or views reality).
D. We provide students with the categories necessary to stand against the prevailing errors of our day.
E. Central to our biblical strategy is to show the consequences of each worldview (from Romans 1).
F. Christo-centric biblical worldview is the weapon capable of piercing and dismantling the fortifications of “one-ism.” Use ‘Ultimate Questions’ to begin a dialogue and to test a person’s world and life view: 1.) Where did we come from? (Who made you and me?) 2.) Who are we? (What is the value and purpose of a human being? Why is life sacred?) 3.) What has gone wrong with the world? 4.) What can we do to fix it? Show how the gospel answers each of these questions with certainty.
VII. The Bible tells us why a utopia engineered by depraved men is sure to fail and bring misery.
A. Man’s attempts to remove these separations caused by sin will NOT usher in utopia.
- Spiritual/theological (separation of man from God)
- Sociological (separation of man from man)
- Psychological (separation of man from himself)
- Ecological (separation of man from nature)
A. Christ alone can heal these four separations—this is God’s plan of the ages (Rom 16:25-27).
B. The ideological platform of the new world order will increasingly be seen as an effort to remove the distinctions ‘which divide us’. We preach the glorious gospel against the backdrop of depravity.