Dr. Marc Drake, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church Sun Lakes
Every person has a worldview of some kind. What is a worldview? Simply put, it is how one views reality. And it proposes to answer the big questions of life such as: Where did everything come from? What is the meaning of life? Who or what determines right and wrong? What happens when we die? As you might imagine, there are many worldviews that attempt to answer those key questions, with the answers often varying quite dramatically. But every person has a worldview and seeks to answer—or at least think about—the above questions.
A purely secular worldview seeks to answer the big questions of life from a rationalistic, evolutionary, and humanistic perspective with much of this line of thinking coming from the 18th century Enlightenment and, in later years, the teaching of Charles Darwin. But if humans simply evolved from the primordial soup and are now nothing more than grown-up germs, then what does a worldview like that say about our origin, the meaning of life, the nature of morality, and our final destiny?
Conversely, a Christian worldview is one of unshakable hope and answers the big questions of life from a biblical perspective. Believers acknowledge and rejoice that they were created by God, made in His image, redeemed by His Son, and have great purpose in life (that of glorifying and enjoying God). Because we know His Word, we know where we came from, who we are, why we are here, and where we are going. So, the question is not whether we have a worldview; the question is which worldview has us!
Only the Christian worldview can adequately answer the big questions of life. In a day when so many people are anxious and fearful, it is good to know that solid and encouraging answers are available to these important questions. Of course, it should never be simply a matter of giving one’s opinion, but rather of clearly declaring God’s truth as revealed in Scripture.
Therefore, believers must fervently and consistently ask God to implant His Word deeply in them (Psalm 25:4-5). We must pray for a renewed passion to read His Word, study it, and meditate on it. As a result, we will begin to really know the truth, apply it to our lives, and in the process, discover that we are being changed by it through the power of the Holy Spirit. Out of this kind of renewal will come the spiritual authority to communicate God’s Word with accuracy, clarity, authority, and joy—all for His glory. For it is only the grace-filled, Christ-exalting, Spirit-led, supernatural work of God in and through the lives of His people as they speak the truth in love that will have a lasting impact on a culture gone awry.