Season: 3 Episode: 031
Summary:
Everyone has a worldview or perspective. Being a Christian doesn’t mean you automatically have a Biblical worldview. Today, Shanda talks about why the bible is a reliable source and why it’s imperative Christians have a biblical worldview.
Quotables:
“A worldview shapes what you believe and how you interpret experiences.”
“We would automatically assume that we have a biblical or Christian worldview if you are a Christian, but that is not true.”
“You are always doing one of two things: conforming or transforming.”
“There is no other way to fulfill the will of God in our lives apart from being transformed by His word.”
“A secular worldview will take you captive if you let it.”
“It has outlasted pandemics, world leaders, mighty nations, and has made some men despise it so much they’ve banned it, and some love it so much they’ve died for it.”
“It’s time to know the Word and allow God to transform your mind, so you have a biblical perspective.”
Recommended Resources:
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Script:
Welcome back, my friend. You are listening to episode 31, “What’s shaping your worldview.”
Before we get into today’s episode, I want to share a review I got on iTunes from Michelle Carr. She says, “Shanda tells it how it is with biblical truth as her anchor. I just came across this verse that made me think of her: ‘She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.’ (Prov 31:26). Thank you, Shanda, for living your calling and being a blessing for us to learn from.”
Thank you and thank the Lord that you hear biblical truth as you listen to this podcast. I pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit on my words, whether audible or written, because if God’s not in it, I don’t want to be in it either. So, thank you, Michelle. The ratings and reviews mean so much to me.
Today, we are going to get in pretty deep waters with the topic of worldview.
The purpose is to make sure you understand why it’s important that we are aware of what shapes our perspective and how we respond. I hope to provide you with scriptures on why our worldview must be founded on the Bible.
And that means in order for that to happen, we must know the Word of God. As you listen to me, I will always, always tell you to read God’s word for yourself. It is not enough that you get the teaching from me or anyone else. It must be something you cultivate in your life and know Truth for yourself.
And I’m just going to be honest and tell you that people do get annoyed with me because I ALWAYS bring everything back to the Word of God.
People say, “Yeah, but Shanda, there has to be practical steps we can take besides only quoting scripture.”
Or they say, “You have a Bible verse for everything.” And I don’t think they’re complimenting me. I get this from my mom. She always quoted scripture as I grew up and yes, I got annoyed, so if you are in my life, like you do life with me, I get it. But, the word of God is in my heart and soul. And I do believe the Bible gives us practical steps towards how to solve all the problems in life.
That’s why I will say again, it is imperative you know Truth for yourself.
I used to tell my youth that all the time. That is our responsibility as Christians.
Today, we are going to look at these things:
- What is a worldview and what are some examples?
- Why is it imperative that Christians have a biblical worldview?
- How do you ensure you have a biblical worldview after you finish listening to this podcast?
What is a worldview and what are some examples?
A worldview is how you view the world. It’s not a physical view, or how you see it with your eyes. It’s founded on your core values and beliefs. It determines how you answer the big questions of life: how did I get here? Why am I here? Where do I go when I’m gone?
It also determines how we respond to matters of life. It determines our opinions about things that happen in the world … for example, what we think about: abortion, same sex relationships, politics, education, etc, etc. It affects our response from philosophy to science, theology and anthropology to economics, law, politics, art and social order — everything.
A worldview shapes what you believe and how you interpret experiences. It’s the lens you use to filter all of your information.
The Christian worldview is also known as a biblical worldview, or biblical perspective. We would automatically assume that we have a biblical or Christian worldview if you are a Christian, but that is not true.
George Barna did a study and found that only 9% of born-again believers in America have a biblical worldview. I mentioned that during the week I posted my message titled “What’s Your Source of Truth” and the results are shocking to me.
What’s the reason for that? Christian minds are being shaped by culture more than they are the word of God. It’s as simple as that. I could go on and tell you stats about how many christians actually read their word, but again, that info is in the episode on your source of truth.
If you want to know if you have a biblical worldview, the answer lies in 8 questions I’m going to read here and post in the show notes.
As I read them, I want you to answer yes or no. I’ll explain how to interpret the results once I’ve finished reading them.
https://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/whats-a-christian-worldview/
- Do absolute moral truths exist?
- Is absolute truth defined by the Bible?
- Did Jesus Christ live a sinless life?
- Is God the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe, and does He still rule it today?
- Is salvation a gift from God that cannot be earned?
- What about Satan? Is Satan real?
- Does a Christian have a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people?
- Is the Bible accurate in all of its teachings?
Only 9% of born again Christians answered yes to all of these questions. Answering yes to all of them show you have a solid biblical worldview. If you struggled with any of them, we’re going to keep digging, so hang in there.
So, how many worldviews are there?
That depends on who you ask. Some say there are 7, some say there are 5. According to the Bible, there are really only two: a Biblical worldview and a secular worldview … secular meaning anything other than the Bible.
According to an article by Focus on the Family, they say non biblical worldview sources don’t just sit on a shelf somewhere waiting for people to read them. Nope. We are bombarded with them everyday through the news, entertainment, social media, books, magazines and academia.
And if you only expose yourself to a biblical worldview on a Sunday morning, that means if you sleep 8 hours each night and are awake the other 16, out of 112 hours throughout the week, you get the influence of a Biblical worldview for about and hour to an hour and a half while the world gets the rest of your attention for the other 111 waking hours.
There is no way to shape a biblical worldview with that amount of time to biblical exposure.
2) Why is it imperative that Christians have a biblical worldview?
First of all, you are always doing one of two things: conforming or transforming. That’s it. To conform means you are taking the shape of whatever is molding you.
Transforming means you are changing into something else entirely.
Romans 12:2 says this, “Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world.” God does not want us conforming. We are not to allow culture to mold us.
The next part of that verse says, “But be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Transformation is something the Holy Spirit does in your heart, mind and soul as you read the word of God. He transforms you into the image of Christ … meaning you start thinking the way God does and responding to situations in accordance with God’s word.
But why is that important?
Well, because of the next part of that verse that is not often quoted. It says, “so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
There is no other way to fulfill the will of God in our lives apart from being transformed by His word. There is no other worldview that aligns to the will of God but the Word of God; No other worldview that can prove his good, acceptable and perfect will.
Second, if you do not have a Biblical worldview, you’ve already allowed other philosophies and ideologies to infiltrate your thinking. Col 2:8 says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”
I love the wording of God’s word because it doesn’t mince words.
It uses very strong language to make the point and here it tells us that a secular worldview will take you captive if you let it.
How does it do that? It takes your mind and thoughts captive and you conform to its patterns.
Are there some things that God’s word says that are hard to understand? Yes. Are there some things in God’s word that offends? Yes. Are there some things in God’s word that goes against my will and what I want? Yes. But is it my authority? Yes. So it doesn’t matter what I want.
Jesus said some hard things. And one day He told His disciples something that sounded like heresy and cannibalism when He said, “You must eat My flesh and drink My blood or you have no part with Me” (John 6).
There were a lot of raised eyebrows. There were a lot of offended “followers”.
And those who were called His disciples (because remember, Jesus had many disciples. The 12 were chosen by Him, but others followed Him) and in verse 60 they said, “This is a hard saying. Who can listen to it?”
Jesus didn’t really mean they were to literally eat His body and drink His blood. He spoke in ways that took the Holy Spirit to bring the revelation to the hearts of men. And verse 66 says many of them walked away from Him and walked with Him no more.
His Words didn’t align with their desires and they were too hard to understand. Jesus never ran after them. He didn’t say to them, “Hey guys, wait up! I can explain.” He knew they had no desire to underhand and He let them go.
And then Jesus turned and asked His 12 disciples, “Do you want to go away too?”
And I love what Peter says to Jesus. Because don’t think for one second this wasn’t a hard saying for him too. And Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
That must be our response to the Lord when we don’t understand and when the Word is hard to swallow … “Lord, you have the words of truth and life. I may not always understand it, but where else can I go? There is no other source of truth for me.”
I’ll be honest with you, I don’t even like to use the word Christian today.
I feel like Christianity has lost its impact in our nation today because Christians do not hold fast to the word of God.
If we did, there would be more salt in the earth. That’s what Christians are supposed to be .. the salt of the earth. Salt is used for many things but a Christian who carries the Word of God is noticed, like seasoning is noticed in food.
Salt also preserves. We are to speak and live the Word of God so that we preserve morality, Truth, and goodness.
And remember, Jesus did not call us to make Christians of all the earth. The word “Christian” wasn’t used until Acts when people were called Christians in Antioch for the first time.
Jesus said go and make disciples of all nations. A disciple is a disciplined follower of the Lord. A student of the Word. A person of prayer and communication with the God they follow. I like that word much more because it not only implies who you are but what you do and to whom you belong.
A disciple is one who is in the Word and has a biblical worldview.
3) How do you ensure you have a biblical worldview after you walk away from this episode?
First, you can trust in the Word of God as a reliable source of Truth.
I’m going to offer you some resources today that I hope will help you understand the validity of the Bible. But understand this .. the Bible doesn’t need to be defended. Charles Spurgeon said, “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.”
The word of God is active and living. It is so precise that it cuts to the heart and divides truth from lies like marrow is separated from bone.
It has outlasted pandemics, world leaders, mighty nations, and has made some men despise it so much they’ve banned it, and some men love it so much they’ve died for it.
But, do you understand the power of the Bible you hold in your hands? The Bible you claim to believe?
Voddie Bacuham (and I’ve listed a resource of “Why I Believe The Bible is Real on episode 27, “What is your source of truth?” I also showed his video to my youth group).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKRz3lK3XrI&t=2355s
But Voddie says this, “I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophesies and they claim that they’re writings are divine rather than human in origin.”
He encourages believers to memorize that because saying you believe the Bible because you were raised to believe the Bible or you were told to believe the Bible by your pastor isn’t enough.
He tailored that response to why he believe the Bible after 2 Peter 1:16-21.
It says, “16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”[a] 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
We must understand why we hold onto the word of God … not part of it, ALL of it.
If we do not know why we believe it and why we claim that it is inspired by the God we serve, we will not have a biblical worldview.
The bible is written in three languages: Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic.
It was written on three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe.
The Bible was written by over 40 authors.
It was written over a period of 1500-1600 years.
That’s why the Bible is a reliable collection of historical documents.
The world would like for you to believe that the Bible has fault, contradictions, discrepancies and cannot be fully trusted. People will try and convince you that it’s irrelevant because it can’t keep up with culture.
The Bible will never “keep up” with culture. the Bible will outlast culture.
Many will take what they want from the Bible … usually the good stuff about heaven and the blessings of God, and toss anything to do with sin, hell and the hard stuff.
And God said we cannot add or take away anything from His word. We need the Holy Spirit to understand it.
Close:
I want to close today by reminding you that there are some who use the Word of God to deceive. There are people who have large followings and do not align themselves with the Truth of God’s word.
Oh, they sound good. They know how to quote it. But, they align themselves with culture and use the Word of God to explain why.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 Paul says, “3 For the time will come when people 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. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
It will take the discernment of the Holy Spirit to identify wolves in sheeps clothing. It will take you knowing the Word of God for yourself. So, how do you do that?
Read it! And rightly divide it.
2 Tim 2:15 said to rightly divide the Word of Truth, that means it can be interpreted falsely. Study it.
When I first started reading the word, I read the gospels over and over to get familiar with Jesus. Then I moved to Acts. Now, I study.
I don’t want to offend anyone, but just reading the Bible app is staying on the milk of the gospel .. and those are mostly devotionals that don’t go in depth, and are subject to the interpretations of others.
We are to desire the pure milk of the gospel so that we may grow thereby. But also, there will come a time when God wants us on solid food (again, a perfect analogy of how the Bible uses words to get us to understand).
I’m not saying don’t read devotionals or the Bible app, but I’m saying be careful. There’s a quote by a woman I read once that says, “Shallow seeking will lead to shallow believing.”
That is so true. It’s time to dig deep. It’s time to know the Word and allow God to transform your mind, so you have a biblical perspective.
If you have any questions about this topic or need me to explain anything, send me an email at hello@shandafulbright.com. Until then, get into the Word of God. Align all things up to the word and in the meantime, checkout Voddie Baucham on YouTube (I’ll link the info in the shownotes).
And I’ll catch you on the next one!
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