Christian Worldview

Last month we touched on the importance of a Christian worldview. A worldview is a perceptual framework upon which we build our understanding of the world and thus is the vehicle through which we analyze the world around us then decide upon our action in response.  Citing a study by Dr. George Barna, we noted that sadly the dominant worldview among Christians is Syncretism. Syncretism is a worldview that “combines core beliefs and behaviors from a variety of well-defined worldviews, such as Marxism, Secular Humanism, Eastern Mysticism, and Postmodernism, into an individualized, customized blend.” However, the apostle Paul makes it clear in Colossians 2:1-10 that it is only a Christian worldview that prepares people to live godly in this present age. 

Ultimately, only the Christian worldview and the explanations provided by the Bible can enable a person to make sense of world around us. In developing a Christian worldview, I condense it down to four components: Creation, Corruption, Christ, and Consummation. A proper biblical understanding of these four items will lead one to a Christian worldview.  

Creation — Foundational to a Christian worldview is the fact that the God of the Bible is the Creator of all things. This reality leads to: 

Answer. God as the Creator answers the basic philosophical question, “where did the universe and everything in it originate?” The Bible is crystal clear on this topic. 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NKJV used throughout) 

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. (Hebrews 11:3) 

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. (Psalm 33:6) 

Despite the plain Bible teaching on this point, there is tremendous cultural pressure to deny God as Creator. During my life, I have watched the steady progression of Darwinian evolution move from theory to established fact. Peter warns that scoffers will come in the Christian age denying God’s creative power. In 2 Peter 3:5, he states, “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old.” It is not a careful examination of the evidence that leads one to adopt Darwinian evolution as an answer to the origins question, rather it is a willful forgetting of what the Bible teaches. 

Authority. God as Creator has all authority. David in Psalm 29:10 proclaims, “The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, and the Lord sits as King forever.” 

Appreciation. God as our Creator leads naturally to us having a proper appreciation for man and life. As Moses writes in Genesis 1, man is made in the image of God. This foundational truth is a powerful antidote for many of the societal and cultural ills we observe today. 

Although there is much that can be said related to man being made in God’s image, I will mention just a couple of things. The first is mental. Man is a rational, thinking, reasoning creature. The second is moral. Man is aware of self as individual consciousness. One of the teachings of Paul in Romans 2:14-15 is that there is a Basic Moral Law, and man has an inborn knowledge of God’s law. There are certain things we instinctively recognize as right and wrong. The last is motivation. Man is a self-determined, free-will creature. Man has the capacity to evaluate facts or circumstances and then decide to follow a particular course of action. 

Anchor. Ultimately, the fact that God is the Creator is the anchor for our existence. This explains where we came from, that God has authority over us, and the responsibility we have to think and live subject to His law. 

Corruption — The Bible teaches we live in a fallen world, corrupted by sin and cursed by God. 

When it comes to using our worldview to analyze the world around us, this component is critical. Many people struggle to answer questions such as why did this natural disaster occur? Why was this evil event perpetrated? In general, why is there suffering? 

One of the fallouts from Adam’s sin was that God cursed the ground. In Romans 8:21 Paul refers to this as the “bondage of corruption.” In other words, because of the Fall, creation is in bondage to decay, undergoing a steady process of cosmic deterioration. Without question, part of this decay is the presence of natural disasters. Does the curse resulting from the Fall explain all disasters? I don’t know, but it certainly explains some. 

Also, as mentioned above, man is a free-will creature. Although we are under God’s authority and have a responsibility to obey Him, far too many simply choose not to. The free-will choice to disobey God results in many of the evils present in the world not only today but throughout the course of history. 

In the end, as we ponder the events that surround our daily lives, only the Bible provides a cohesive, sensible, satisfying explanation.