(Part II of a series)
By Tim Ewing
See Previous Article: <Part I: What on Earth is a Worldview?>
Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life, rocketed to top of the bestseller lists soon after its release. More than 10 million copies have sold, and it's still going strong. This fact indicates there is a huge hunger in our world, and especially in the Christian community, to discover one's purpose in life. Identify your worldview and you will bring focus to your life's purpose. Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson concludes that, "our major task in life is to discover what is true and to live in step with that truth." [1] As Christians, we accept that the Judeo-Christian God embodies absolute truth and that Biblical principles become the standard for our worldview. "The basis for the Christian worldview, of course, is God's revelation in Scripture. Yet sadly, many believers fail to understand that Scripture is intended to be the basis for all of life." [2]
Ponder these scriptures (unless otherwise indicated, scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version):
- "The fear [reverent awe] of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7).
- "The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge" (Proverbs 18:15).
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"For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding" (Proverbs 2:6).
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"My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6).
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"And the words of the Lord are flawless" (Psalm 12:6).
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"Every word of God is flawless" (Proverbs 30:5)
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"All your commands are trustworthy" (Psalm 119:86).
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"Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times" (Isaiah 33:6, KJV).
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"By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures" (Proverbs 24:3-4).
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"Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain" (Psalm 127:1).
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"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
God is telling us that if we want to have a proper foundation for our view of life and the world we live in (a worldview based on truth), then we had better seek Him and His knowledge and wisdom and understanding, and put our trust in His Word. Just as we'd seek the advice of an inventor of a machine to learn how to operate it, we likewise look to our Creator, the author of life, to form our worldview. "For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible,...everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him" (Colossians 1:16, The Message). In Paul's letter to the Romans he urges, "Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God" (Romans 12:2, TEV). To find the true worldview, seek God.
Be careful, for there is much misinformation to derail you. Paul warns us about "men who suppress the truth...although they claimed to be wise, they became fools...they exchanged the truth of God for a lie" (Romans1:18-25). Similarly, we read in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." Clearly we need to be very discerning about what inputs we allow in our life that may influence our worldview.
"If Christians are going to carry this life-giving message to the world, we must first understand it and live it ourselves. We must understand that God's revelation is the source of all truth, a comprehensive framework for all of reality." [3]
Coming Soon: Part III: A Christian Worldview Approach to Living
[Tim Ewing is the founder and publisher of Rare Jewel Magazine, a publication inspired by Proverbs 20:15, "Lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel." Tim lives in Power, MT with his wife and four children and is a direct descendant of Governor William Bradford and five other Mayflower pilgrims. Tim can be reached at tim@rarejewelmag.com.]
[
1]Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey,
How Now Shall We Live? (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 1999), 14.
[
2]Ibid.
[
3]Ibid., xi.
