Real Life in a Relative World, Pt. 1

world·view (wûrld’vyū`)

1. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world.
2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group.

This past Sunday, we began the process of laying and maintaining the foundation for a biblical worldview. As the definition above states, your worldview is your perspective on life, how and why you see and interpret things the way you do. Your worldview is made up of certain assumptions, conscious and unconscious, about how and why life works the way it does. If you have never given thought to your worldview, then you have an essentially secular perspective on life. A biblical worldview must be developed intentionally. A foundation must be laid and an ethical structure must be built upon the basics.

We considered at 2 Corinthians 4.16-18 as a starting point for our study of a biblical worldview. One of things we saw was the literary contrasts Paul used in defining his two categories. The Apostle understood only two ways for approaching life: faith and sight. Thus, he showed how these two categories differ.

The secular mind-set focuses on what is seen, the physical world. For the secular minded person, the ultimate reality is what can be seen. But, as Paul showed, this is a temporary, impermanent reality. He used several words to illustrate that truth: outer person, decaying, struggle, momentary, light, seen, and temporary. The biblical perspective is rooted in faith or trust. Paul’s terms for this category were: inner person, renewing, glory, ageless, burden, unseen, eternal. The secular and the biblical share no common ground because the basic assumptions of both are in conflict, they collide.

The Apostle did not use the term worldview (as far as I know, a Greek word for worldview does not exist), but he did have such a concept in mind. Verse 18 speaks of not “looking” to what is “seen,” but to what is “unseen.” In other words, Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers to take a particular perspective on life. What we must not miss is the urgency found in these three verses. The truth of this passage is similar in thought and tone with Romans 12.2. To the believers in Rome, Paul said, “Do not be molded by the world around you, but instead, be transformed from the inside out by the renewing of your mind so you will be able to know clearly what is the good, acceptable and whole plan of God.” (My Translation)

Understanding God’s will is not a process rooted in what we can see, and thus control. God’s plan is first and foremost about “unseen things.” The question for which we must seek an answer, I think, is how do we go through “mind renewal,” and how do we determine what God’s will for our lives really is. If we work from the point of God’s plan, our worldview will and must be biblical. If we work from the point of what we ourselves can see and accomplish wholly on our own, we will be operating from a secular worldview.

Over the next few Sundays, we will spend time investigating Scripture in an attempt to come to terms with knowing God’s will for our lives. Until we are clear on what God wants us to do, we will not act decisively. Our investigation will begin with a look at who the Holy Spirit is and the role he plays in our lives. We will begin with passages in John 14-16 and 1 John 2.20-27. Our study of these texts will take at least two weeks and will allow us to develop a biblically sound understanding the Third Person of the Trinity.

God has not set us adrift in this world to flounder on the seas of doubt and confusion. His plan, his purpose for us is growth, maturity and wholeness. He wants us to come at life from the right perspective, with the right worldview. Otherwise, we will be fooled by the devious tricks of the Devil (Eph. 6.11)