Worldview

What We Know To Be Real - A Network Of Ultimate Beliefs

Once Jesus made Himself known to me, my spirit came alive by His Spirit. Jesus is now the centre of my worldview, and therefore the centre of who I truly am and how I try to live out my life, how I try to think and act and behave. I say "try" because I am still me and am still being sanctified with much help from Holy Spirit, (even though, all those years ago, I was saved and made righteous in an instant; even my righteousness comes from Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:30)). 

It is good to know, now that I am an old man, that God is Lord and loves me and plans to keep working on me right up until the time I die and go to be with Jesus and Abba Father: "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

All this has shaped my worldview to be Theist. I know that the spiritual world is real and is ruled by God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is central to everything and to who I am. It is inside-out. God is on my inside, in my spirit. My body and soul are just the outward, earthly part of me, the part you can see and hug, the part which I can make available to Jesus to participate in His work on the earth.

James Anderson says that a worldview is an overall view of the world .. specifically, “a philosophical view of all of reality”. Everybody has a worldview and it is something uniquely personal like our fingerprints. “A worldview is a network of ultimate beliefs, assumptions, values, and ideas about the universe, and our place in it, that shapes how each of us understands our life and experiences, (and the lives and experiences of others), and how we act in response”. It reflects how you would answer all the “big questions” of human existence, the fundamental questions we ask about life, the universe, and everything".(James Anderson, "What in the World Is a Worldview?" Parts 1 to 5, 2014)

Worldviews can be seen as similar to air .. we don't see the air but know it's there, we look through it and breath it and it keeps us alive. Likewise, we don't look at our worldview, indeed many people are unaware that they have one, but it is always with us, we look at the world through it and it shapes our responses and our behaviours.

Our worldview is informed by what we know to be real and what we know to be unreal. From this we work out what is true and establish our beliefs. This gives a foundation to see what is good and what is bad, and this leads us to finding and holding to our own value system.

And all of these: What is real? What is true? What is good? shapes and determines what we do, our actions and inclinations, what our passions are and how we are uniquely in the world.

Four Worldviews

It can be said the there are four main worldviews: Theism (one god), Pantheism (creation as god), Polytheism (many gods), and Humanism (each person and all humankind as god).

Theism (one god) - Theism is the belief in the existence of one god who is personal and the creative source and sustainer of the universe and of the human race, who transcends yet is immanent in the world. All things are dependent on the one supreme ultimate reality. In Judaism and Christianity this ultimate reality is called God. The Islamic god is called Allah, which means "god" in some languages, but the Islamic god is very, very different from the Jewish/Christian God, and cannot possibly be the same spiritual being.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines of our theistic Christian God as a listing of His attributes: "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth". We Christians also see Him as love, as sovereign, triune (three persons in one God - Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit), as omniscient, faithful, omnipotent, self-existing, self-sufficient, immutable, merciful, eternal, gracious, and omnipresent, and more ..

Pantheism (creation as god) - the view that the world is either identical to God, or an expression of God’s nature: “god is everything and everything is god”. Everything shares the same spiritual essence, rather than having its own distinct spirit. A pantheistic god does not have a will and cannot act in or upon the universe, so is not a person and is not transcendent as Christians know God to be.

Polytheism (many gods) - It's hard to find a clear definition of a polytheistic religion. The term characterizes virtually all "isms", religions, faith relationships or positions, other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Humanism (each person and all humankind as god) - non-religious (but often faith filled) people who believe that this life is the only life we have, that the universe is entirely natural with no spiritual or supernatural aspect, and that we can live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason, the scientific method, humanity, autonomy and moral equality. Humanists tend to have strong faith positions on unproven things such as the age of the universe, the theory of evolution and even what gravity is, and on what moral equality is. (I find it interesting that "the scientific method" will not consider anything supernatural or spiritual, that is, anything not physical; "scientists" seem to be seeking answers to the biggest questions while looking at only half of all reality, (more than 4 out of 5 people believe the spiritual to be real)).

How Are We ?

As I've thought about these things I have come to see that humanism is now the dominant worldview in the Western democracies. We seem to be happy that we ourselves, and our governments, focus almost entirely on material and physical things. Because so many of us want more and more stuff, our governments borrow more and more money, millions and billions, at the eventual cost to our children and grandchildren. This satisfies our desire for more so is accepted as being "good".

"If it feels good, do it" was a mantra of the hippy movement (my generation), now it seems to be true of almost all Westerners. "I just want one" is the very catchy advertising line for one of Australia's more exotic car brands. The humanist desire for more and newer applies to everything in life, more material things, more travel, more entertainment, more sex, and on and on .. This is also where Ancient Rome was, the richest, most powerful regime in history, which eventually imploded. It seems to me that in many ways this is where our culture now is.

We can see humanist trends within the Christian church. In many of the local congregations I visit I see an ever an increasing level of physical comfort, corporate culture, and celebrity, and at the same time, a decrease in humility, prayer, sacrifice and love. The musicians sing about our urgent, even desperate, need for Jesus' presence, while seeming to not know that Jesus is so close that He is within every Christian, and that every Christian is within Him, our spirit is joined to His Spirit; truths often spoken in the New Testament:

"In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" (John 14:20).

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch can't bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me" (John 15:4).

"My prayer is .. that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17:20-21).

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19).

"To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).

.. and there are more similar verses .. this is a great stream of Scripture ..

Also in the New Testament we are told that, although our life will be more satisfying and fulfilling with Jesus as our Head, it will not be all beer and skittles, we will see tough times. Jesus assures us that we will have troubles (John 16:33). I'm so reassured when reading Paul's testimony of mistreatment and hardship (2 Corinthians 11:23-30), our loving and so very articulate hero from the earliest Church years just kept pushing forward (Hebrews 12:1)!

God promises to meet our needs (Luke 12:22-32). My testimony, (and many more that I've heard), is that this is true. However, God works out what our needs are, He meets those needs rather than what we may desire. Once we get used to His working, it is great, we can stop striving and relax, focusing instead on our blessings, (most of which cannot be measured in money terms), and enjoy what we do have. Our energies can be directed to our life and relationships and the work Jesus has uniquely for each one of us (Luke 16:17-18,John 14:12; 15:16).

Strongholds

We live according to our beliefs; wrong beliefs build lies which are called strongholds in the Bible (2 Corinthians 10:4), then we put our trust in these strongholds. This is deception. We are free to take on wrong beliefs (being made free in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26)). But we are equally free to take on truth (John 1:1-4) and make it a part of our very self, our worldview! I actively seek truth.

Only we ourselves can change what we believe. God our Father gives us Jesus, God's Word. Jesus is truth, God's plumb-line. Jesus will always abundantly equip us: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).

Jesus brought us to freedom as Children of Father God "Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1).

Praise Jesus .. bless us all!

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Amen.