Did you know that each of us has a worldview?
Our worldview is our pattern of ideas, beliefs, convictions, and habits that help us make sense of God, the world and our relationship with God and the world. Our worldview does not merely reflect what we think the world is like, it directs what we think the world should be.
Most people, however, have no idea what they believe or why. They are not aware of their deeply held beliefs. They do not think about them, because life is busy, and they are just trying to get through today, pay the bills, buy the groceries, raise the kids, or the grandkids.
However, it is critical to ask ourselves the questions of life and death, of God and eternity. It has been said that no man can avoid death or taxes. This is certainly true. Last week, I lost a good friend of mine, Danny. Danny was 64 years old, and a man who loved God, but sadly, he passed away in the prime of life.
We never know what day we will be called. We only know the day is coming.
The Apostle Paul was someone whose worldview changed. His name was originally Saul, and encountered Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. As a religious leader, a Pharisee, he attacked the Christians, even participating while Stephen was stoned to death.
He persecuted them rigorously, but when he came to Christ, his life changed. His worldview changed. He even changed his name to Paul, because his life was totally changed.
His worldview changed because he now saw things through the eyes of Jesus – and through His love – and not through the eyes of the systems or religions of the world.
The systems of the world operate like this, every man for himself. Take care of myself. First, get what you can and get all the gusto out of life that you can get. Make as much money as you can and its ok to step on others to get it.
The worldview of the church is different. The churches worldview is much like the worldview of a good football team. There are no individuals on a team, everyone works together for the common good. We serve a coach who leads us to victory together. When we don’t win, we congratulate the other side and practice harder for the next game.
The worldview of the Church says we should love God first, because in essence, God is our ultimate coach. We then love and support our team – our family, our neighbor, our friends. We love our neighbor as ourself.
Once again, our worldview influences our beliefs and actions, and in order to have a Biblical worldview, we have to study the Bible and the learn the teachings of the Bible.
In Matthew 7:24, through 7:28 it talks about the two foundations of life.
The Two Foundation Matthew 7
24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.
The first teaching or doctrine that is important to realize is that we have been created by a great Creator.
Our starting point is the Bible. It is our manual of instruction. God gave us His Word, the Bible, as an owner’s manual. In the same way there’s an Owner’s Manual in your automobile or truck, which tells you how it operates and tells you how to perform maintenance – it tells you how to make it last as long as possible.
The Bible is an owner’s manual from God – that also teaches us how to live, how to take care of our bodies, how to help others, and how to live as long as possible on the earth while we serve God. God is our Creator, and has given us this Manual of Instruction, the Word of God, the Bible.
You may know the story of George Washington, Carver. He was born a slave in 1864, raised by a German couple, an immigrant couple, the Carvers, and then he goes off to college. He was a very smart young man. He went to Iowa State, got a degree, in fact, a master’s degree in agriculture. And he’s so impressed his professors. That he was recommended to head the Department of Agriculture.
Before he could do that, he got a letter from another man, Booker T Washington. Booker T is from Franklin County. Booker T wrote to George Washington Carver, “come down to the Tuskegee Institute where I am teaching and help us here.”
Now down deep in the south, they grew cotton. You know about cotton, and cotton was king for many years. And every year they grow cotton, it produces a little less and a little less and a little less, because it robs the nutrients out of the soil and it doesn’t put those nutrients back in.
Knowing of this, Carver came up with hundreds of uses for a different crop. The crop that he determined was most useful was the peanut. He came up with all kinds of uses, everything from peanut butter to the non-toxic pigments that crayons are made out of, food products, household products, cleaning products, industrial products, even some medicines that he developed from the peanut. We use peanuts all the time nowadays from the over 300 products developed by Carver.
This revolutionized the entire economy of the South and he even spoke before the US Congress. During his visit to Washington, the Congressmen actually left him outside, because they didn’t know who he was, and when they finally brought him in, they told him, “Well, you you’ve got 15 minutes. Carver began to pull out all the things he’s made from the peanuts.
Surprised, the Congressman said, How did you learn all of this?
Carver replied, “I learned it, sir, from an old book.” Then he holds up a Bible.
The Congressman asked Carver, “does the Bible tell you about the peanut?”
Carver says no, sir. It tells me about the God who made the peanut. I asked him to show me what to do and with the peanut, and he did.
God blessed this man and blessed his studies in order to invigorate the south and invigorate the country. The point is that the Bible is the source of all life. It is the source of all inspiration. It is the source that we go to first and we seek out our Lord first, because it is the starting place. George Washington Carver’s foundation was the Word of God.
Today, millions of Americans and others around the world are walking aimlessly through life with a worldview that is informed by cultural ideologies and worldly philosophies like atheism, Darwinism and others. Others get their purpose in life from Dr Phil and Oprah rather than the Word of God.
According to the scripture that we read a moment ago in Matthew chapter seven, there is no neutral position. One is either for Christ or against him. One either walks in light or in darkness.
When our Creator created us, He gave us a mind and a free will, but it’s up to us to build our own foundation. A firm foundation makes all the difference in a building project and also in our lives. A building or life without a firm foundation will eventually crumble and fall apart. A business agreement without a contract can fall apart. A marriage without the basis of having God at the center can fall apart.
My granddaughter, who is 19 years old, said to me she is afraid to marry one day because she’s seen divorce up close. I told her that if she looks at the couples who have never divorced in our family, she will see that what they have in common is a foundation of Christ. Jesus spoke in Matthew seven, during that sermon on the mount that there are two kinds of builders and two kinds of foundations. The wise builder, the wise person who builds a house on the rock, and the foolish builder who builds a house on sand.
We are living in a time of great upheaval in the world, but most people build their lives on the sand. If you’ve built your house on the rock of God’s Word, by that I mean your life, that firm foundation cannot be shaken apart. It may shake at times, but it will stand through the storms of life.
A firm biblical foundation begins in Genesis, chapter one, where it says, God created the heavens and the earth in six days, Satan came with the very first attack of the devil on mankind when he said to Eve in Genesis chapter three, Did God really say that? Did God really say you can’t eat from any tree in the garden?
Eve replied to the serpent (Satan), “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said you must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.”
Satan said to her, no, you will not certainly die. In fact, God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
And so today, we have both good and evil in our world, and it’s our choice to choose good and avoid evil.
What is your worldview? Where are you in your walk of life? What decisions have you made to follow God? Have you considered that the end of your life is one day closer than it was yesterday? May God grant you his wisdom as you ponder these things.
If we can be of any help to you, please contact Craig Valley Baptist Church, 540-864-5667, God bless you.
– Pastor Scott Gabrielson, Craig Valley Baptist Church