A world view refers to how a person interprets all circumstances he or she encounters in life. It’s defined as a particular philosophy or conception of the world. For example, when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and covered the city of Pompei destroying many lives, people of the day (who were majorly pantheistic) interpreted the event as an act of anger by the gods. Whereas, a person who doesn’t believe in the existence of God or the spiritual, would likely attribute it to being a chance occurrence happening within the natural order of our universe. We see the same event, but we interpret in accord with how we see the world.
We have internal and external factors that shape our world views. The external factors are things like family, religion, education, community, politics, media, peers, etc. The internal factors are things like personality, likes and dislikes, motivation, ego, etc. A Christian is someone who has placed their faith and trust in the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only payment for mankind’s sin. Belief in Jesus should bring us to this reality – 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” Verse 17 goes on to state that any person in Christ is a new creation. But as new creations, we face a challenge with our former world views. I heard a great illustration of this from the testimony of a graduate at a Bible training institute here in Uganda. One of the graduates of the course was an overseer of several churches in Mbarara. He testified that he knew the Bible well, had been trained thoroughly as a minister, and was recognized by all his colleagues as a leader in the Christian faith. But the man grew up in a polygamist house where his father had many wives. He said when his father was displeased with any of his wives, he would physically abuse them. He said when he got married, even though he was a Christian, because he had witnessed that behavior growing up, he believed when his wife displeased him it would be right for him to physically abuse her. He was testifying about the importance of reshaping our thinking according to the man Jesus Christ. Romans 12:1-2 says, “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.” To see things accurately, you have to see through the mind of God. He defines what is good and acceptable and perfect. We have things we would like to be true, but do they agree with what God says? The prosperity gospel is incredibly popular here in Africa. Several of the richest men in the country are “pastors” who preach this idea. The prosperity gospel essentially claims God wants all people to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous, and you unlock these blessings in your life when you give to the church. These preachers here claim that if you sow just one seed God will multiply it 1,000 times. This idea plays on poor people who are eager for a chance at quick and easy returns on giving. A Christian man in North America once commented to me that it’s a bad testimony for Christian’s to live in bad houses and drive around in sad used cars. He said it reflects poorly on how the world sees us. But let’s consider some things that God says:
James 2:5 “Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?”
Paul spoke about his ministry experience in 2 Corinthians 11:27 “in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” Does it sound like Paul was materially prosperous? Even Jesus testified that foxes have holes and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head. The only way our world view can actually hold up to severe scrutiny is when it is total agreement with God’s Word. If you agree with it on some things, and then disagree on others, your reasoning won’t stand up to critical thinking.
Consider this example: A few years ago, my wife and I listened to a sermon on YouTube entitled “Twisted Scripture.” It was on the topic of women being pastors of churches. The pastor was teaching that the Bible taught women could be pastors the same as men. He acknowledged the passages against it, such as 1 Timothy 2:11-13 “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” The pastor’s explanation of these passages was that they were written for a certain period of time, where culture wouldn’t have accepted the idea of a woman being in authority over men. That was the main case for his position, that God’s rule for the churches of Paul’s day were not meant for the churches of today who’s culture approves of different things than Paul’s. What was so interesting to me was that in the beginning of the sermon, the pastor spoke about being criticized for his stance against the legalization of same-sex marriage. The sermon was given around the time where the law was first enacted in the US, and he had apparently spoken out against it and received criticism for his position, but he said that’s what God’s Word says so that’s what we abide by. The scripture he used to support the position of female pastors was Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The pastor’s point from this passage was that at some point there would be crossover in gender roles and that Christ had actually eliminated gender in the church. Do you see the irony in his reasoning? On one hand, he says that he disagrees with homosexuality, because that’s what the Bible says. On the other, he says that certain parts of scripture were given to fit in with the customs of that time period, and when culture changed the rules would change as well. Well, the government had declared that culture approved of same-sex marriage. Why did his reasoning apply to women being pastors, but not to men marrying men and women marrying women? Why could culture be the guideline for one area, but not the guideline for the other? You see we have things which we would like to be true, so instead of adjusting our views to agree with scripture, we try to adjust what God says to agree with us. The issue is that we only accomplish kingdom work through God’s power, not our own. The phrase “fruits of the Spirit” mean that those fruits are produced by the Spirit, not by us. Jesus said in Matthew 5:19 “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Do you think Jesus cares about how flexible you make his instructions?
I can have more sympathy for a person who commits evil for a lie they have wholeheartedly believed to be right, than for a person who, knowing what is true, follows it with only half of their heart.
Isaiah 7:9 “…..if you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”
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