Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 746 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

6 Conflicts with a Biblical Worldview – Wisdom Wednesday

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 746 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. We continue this Wednesday to explore the trails through a Biblical worldview.

We have invested the past five Wednesdays plotting out what a Biblical worldview is, and why it is so important as a Christ follower to interpret life through the lenses of a Biblical worldview. We are now exploring current issues that impact our world and society and comparing them through the lens of a Biblical worldview, instead of the lens of our society, culture, modern media, or social media.

I do not desire to tell you what to think, but teach you how to think, so that you may be able to filter current issues and events through your Biblical Worldview. You may not always agree with my view, and that is okay. I am open to any comments that you may have on the subjects that we explore.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. With the Thanksgiving holiday behind us and Christmas just before us, many people during this season will at least acknowledge Christ’s birth and participate in many Christmas events and traditions. It is a good thing to take time to pause and reflect during this time, but if it is not driven by a true Biblical Worldview, it will be short lived once the season is over.

In order to live as a Christ-follower all year long, your life must be based on a core set of beliefs that are in line with the precepts of the Bible, which is God’s Word. I realize that there have been a lot of misinterpretations, false teachings, perversions of passages, and abuse of the Bible over the centuries, but that is why it is so important to study God’s Word for yourself and learn from a wide spectrum of viewpoints. This is not an easy habit to establish, but its value is far greater than the world’s riches.

Before we drill down on particular issues that influence our lives in our modern cultures and society, we will explore…

6 Conflicts with a Biblical Worldview

Christ followers don’t have problems with the Biblical worldview, right? After all, it is the belief system that they should claim as their own.

The truth is, a very large percentage of self-identified Christ followers, many who are even active in church, have mixed other beliefs in with their Christian faith. Some of these other beliefs are overtly non-Biblical, such as a belief that the Bible is not the authoritative revelation of God, or that naturalistic evolution reflects the truth about human origins.

Other of these mixed in beliefs are of a different nature. Many who self-identify as Christ followers are, in fact, what could be referred to as cultural Christians. That is, they identify as Christians not because they believe and live out the teachings of the Bible, but because they were born in a “Christian family,” a “Christian country” such as America, or were baptized or confirmed when they were young.

A worldview is more than just an intellectual belief. Belief at a worldview level originates at a gut or unconscious level. Worldview beliefs are such that it is almost impossible to live in a way that is contrary to the tenets of those beliefs.

So, even though people may call themselves Christ followers, many of these same people don’t see any problem living a lifestyle or believing things which go against biblical teachings. Many will rationalize their lifestyle based on feelings or prevalent societal thought instead of understanding God’s Word. In other words, their actual worldview beliefs are not consistent with the Biblical beliefs that they claim to hold. These people may be Christ-followers in name but obviously do not base their beliefs on the Bible but rather worldly views.

Worldview beliefs are so foundational that people cannot imagine going against them. If someone declares that they are Christ follower but are able to give themselves permission to believe or act in ways that are contrary to biblical teachings, then it is a sure thing that there are beliefs mixed in at the worldview level which come from some other worldview. With that understanding in place, let’s look at six areas where many people who call themselves Christ followers have other beliefs mixed in with their Biblical worldview.

Conflict #1 – Theological Distortions

As we live life, particularly when we are young, we pick up our beliefs just by living. We are taught our basic beliefs and morality by our parents and other relatives, school teachers, pastors, and friends. Unfortunately, many times there are beliefs that we pick up which are simply not right – even as it regards teachings from the Bible.

Many times these beliefs stem from observing role models who also have a mixed worldview and do not live completely Biblically. It is not unusual at all to find people who have non-biblical beliefs about the importance of church interaction, who is saved and how to be saved, evolution, abortion, homosexuality, sexual morality, and many other things. It is not sufficient to believe something just because “that is the way I was raised,” or “that is what my pastor taught.”

We must be diligent to compare what we believe with what the Bible teaches and adjust our beliefs to align completely with biblical teachings. This is a lifelong process which requires that we be willing to evaluate our lives based on the teachings of the Bible on a continual basis regardless of age. When Jesus was resurrected and ascended into Heaven, he did not leave us helpless as He told his disciples, and which also applies to us. John 14:26 – But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

Conflict #2 – Lack of Understanding of God

This second problem is rather sneaky. Every person interacts with God based on his or her beliefs about Him. If one’s understanding of God is wrong or incomplete, the personal interaction with him will be distorted. God has revealed himself in the Bible to be King of kings and Lord of lords. But he has also revealed himself to be our loving Heavenly Father. We must recognize God in both of these capacities.

As our great King, we must have a profound respect for him and acknowledge both the priority of his will and the status of his position. As our Father, we need to recognize that he loves us and is both personal and near. If both of these are not incorporated into our understanding, we will not worship God properly. Once again, our understanding of God must come from the Bible. It is critical to have humility and be willing to adjust our beliefs about him as we study the Bible and learn more about the fullness of this personhood.

Conflict #3 – Lifestyle Conflicts

Another issue that causes problems with many Christians has its roots in pure selfishness. It is a matter of putting one’s own will above the known will of God. Because of our sin nature, we all have a tendency and a desire to be self-governing over every part of our life. In other words, we want to do what we want to do, no matter what. In many people’s lives, this plays out in addictions and illicit or immoral behavior.

Many self-identify as Christ followers but are engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage both of the heterosexual and homosexual variety. They are using mind-altering substances simply for personal pleasure, they are living life as if their material resources were their own rather than God’s, and they are participating in activities which don’t further God’s purposes. Most of us can see these flaws in others, but choose to ignore them in our own lives.

God has called us to holiness. We cannot be in fellowship with Him when we are deliberately living a lifestyle that puts us outside of His precepts and therefore His presence. If we are making lifestyle choices based on non-biblical beliefs, we have somehow allowed beliefs from another place to seep into our lives. The only remedy for this is to know what the Bible teaches about God’s will and to have a personal commitment to follow his will no matter what.

Conflict #4 – Belief Intellectualization

Conflict four is something every Christian must be on the lookout for. That is, allowing our beliefs to become impersonal. Since God does not manifest himself to us as a physical being (except through other flawed individuals), we don’t have a frame of reference for interacting with Him that corresponds with our usual way of dealing with other persons. As such, many don’t really think of God as a person and act toward Him as if he is some kind of impersonal spirit being.

Although God is a Spirit, He is also a person and has revealed himself to us as personal and was manifested in Jesus Christ when he dwelt on the earth. As such, we must learn how to personalize our belief about God rather than intellectualize it. This is not an admonition to be anti-intellectual. Obviously, we can’t act on what we do not know. Along with an intellectual understanding of God, we must have an experiential knowledge of Him. In doing that, we are able to relate to Him as the person he is – that is, in the same way, we relate to others with whom we have a personal relationship.

Conflict #5 – Purpose Confusion

Many people, even Christians, have their life purpose focused on themselves, rather than on God. The truth is, God created us for relationship with himself, and we can only find true meaning for our lives as we understand and tap into that purpose. When we live a life based on self-purpose, God’s purpose for our existence gets set aside, and we are unable to live in and to accomplish his will for our lives.

But when we live in God’s purpose, we are able to walk a path that leads to the ultimate in meaning and joy. Once again, we clarify God’s will for our lives by growing in our knowledge of his revelation and making the personal commitment that we are going to live in His will above our own. We are created to be bearers of God’s image. Those who are not Christ followers should be able to see God through our lives as representatives of Him.

Conflict #6 – Unwillingness to Acknowledge God’s Calling

The sixth problem many Christians have with living out a Biblical worldview is that they are not willing to acknowledge God’s calling on their lives. Many people have the belief that the only people God calls into full-time Biblical ministry are those who go into Christian vocational professions. That belief does not come from a Biblical worldview.

God does call some people into vocational Biblical ministry, but that is a small subset of a larger group of God called people. God has called every believer into full-time Biblical ministry. It is just that the ministry most are called to is to be done from the platform of a secular rather than a church-related vocation.

People who don’t acknowledge God’s calling on their lives don’t see a need to personally do the work of God in the world. Rather, they tend to look to others to do that work – usually the professional vocational minister. No Christian can truly live out a Biblical worldview who does not recognize God’s calling on his or her life and actively work to accomplish God’s purpose through the vocation they work in.

Any Christ follower who struggles with living out a Biblical worldview need not look very far to find the problem. The problem is that non-Biblical worldview beliefs have crept in. To solve this problem, there is only one cure. That cure is to recognize where the problem beliefs are and remove them from our lives. Most likely, the culprit relates to one or more of the six conflicts above. Solve those conflicts, and you will find yourself in a position to live out a Biblical worldview in ways that you never imagined possible.

Next week for Wisdom Wednesday we will select another topic and explore it through a Biblical Worldview. Each week we will choose hot topics that are prevalent today and explore them through a Biblical lens. If you have any topics that you would like us to cover, please email them to me at guthrie@wisdom-trek.com.

Tomorrow we will continue with our 3-minute wisdom nugget that will provide you with a bit of wisdom that if followed will allow you to grow healthier, wealthier, and wiser each day. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along with us tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our trek for today. If you would like to listen to any of our past 745 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe to iTunes or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!