What’s a Worldview?

I’ve now served at Green Hills long enough for you to know that I take the Bible seriously. I don’t always get it right, of course, but I make it my aim to preach and teach it with accuracy and passion. You’re probably also figuring out that I want more for us as a church than to give the Bible our intellectual assent alone – I want the Bible to transform us! And part of that needed spiritual transformation involves the Bible becoming the primary lens through which we view the world. Simply stated, that’s a worldview.

If you will indulge me, what I’d like to do today is to express in writing why the subject of “worldview” matters. It really matters. But I need to let you in on a little secret. It’s something that I believe rather ferociously, and it’s simply this: everybody has a worldview, and nobody’s worldview is neutral. Let me say it another way: there is not a human being on Planet Earth who observes the world from a completely neutral point of view. And I’ll tell you why I believe that: because I believe the Scriptures.

So here’s my attempt to describe for you what it means for you and me – as followers of Christ – to live according to a Biblical worldview …

IT MEANS that we hold to the authority of Scripture. We may consider church tradition. We may consider our own experience, or the experience of others. We may consider our capacity for human reason. But, at the end of the day, the authority of the Bible trumps every other authority in all matters of faith and practice.

IT MEANS that we hold to the inerrancy of Scripture. When we speak of inerrancy, we’re talking about our commitment to an inerrant original autograph of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. We believe that God gave us the Bible, and that God has protected the Bible that He has given us.

IT MEANS that we believe that the Bible was authored, ultimately, by God. God our Father used human writers, but every word is divinely inspired. The Bible itself is direct revelation from God, and unlike any other revelation in that sense. All Scripture is breathed out by God (Second Timothy 3:16). The Bible is not a human book that rests on human origins or human wisdom. A beautiful sunset may inspire us to ask life’s ultimate questions, but the sunset cannot tell us the plan of salvation. For that we need the truth of the Bible.

IT MEANS that we regard the Scriptures with awe and wonder. They’re unlike anything else we’ll ever read. The Bible is perfect and pure and true. I would point you to those exact words in Psalm 19:7-11, a passage which not only addresses the authority of Scripture itself, but which also invokes our worship of a God who would love us enough to reveal to us such marvelous truth –His truth. Jesus prayed to the father: “Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

IT MEANS that we protect the integrity of all of the Bible. I urge you to pay particular attention to the authority of Genesis 1-11. It’s my opinion that these foundational chapters are under extreme assault today. That’s why I believe that we’re seeing so much fighting around the subjects of human life and gender, for example. And don’t fall for the pernicious lie that the Bible is at war with science. Creation was a miracle – just like the resurrection of Jesus. And, let’s face it, Creation must have a cause. To believe otherwise is intellectual lunacy, but sin is so powerful that it will drive even highly intelligent people to espouse nonsensical positions on any number of subjects – positions which in fact expose their own philosophical dishonesty. In fact, I’ve got another hot take on our present society which I’d like you to consider: science is at war with science!

IT MEANS that we remain on high alert for any weakness in Biblical authority. Especially in our own souls, where we may be least likely to suspect it. Any weakness in Biblical authority sets us up to be ransacked by any and every whim of culture! We need to be praying for ourselves, our children, and our church family in this regard.

IT MEANS that we praise God for the truth which we have received, namely, Jesus (John 14:6). Truth is a gift to be cherished and guarded. We must never forget that our biggest problem with the truth is not intellectual in nature, but moral in nature. God’s Word makes this point exceptionally clear (Romans 1:18): the natural inclination of humankind is by their unrighteousness to suppress the truth. We must remember that as we observe in the surrounding culture mounting hostility to Scriptural authority. We can expect it. That’s why the most important battle to be fought by the Church in this generation must be fought on our knees.

The other Charles in your life – Spurgeon – summarized it well: “The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.” You have a worldview. I have a worldview. So does everybody else. But the real question is: “Is my worldview a truthful one?” We probably have nothing more important to consider on this lovely summer day, a day which is yet another gift from the hand of the gracious God who has loved us in Christ.

Pastor Charles