Bible Study Presented April 19, 2023
What is a world view?
Watermark Community Church-A biblical WorldView in under 4 Minutes
A quote from George Barna who has done extensive research on the actual world views of Americans since 1995 said in his latest research report March 14, 2023: “A worldview is a set of beliefs that produce specific behaviors, people do what they believe; behavior is the tangible outcome of belief. If you believe what the Bible teaches, you will behave in harmony with those beliefs, but if you do not have biblical beliefs as a foundation, it is highly unlikely that you will behave biblically. If you have a set of fundamentally sound beliefs from which your behaviors will emerge, the chances are much greater that you will demonstrate biblically resonant actions.”
7 Major World Views:
- Biblical theism-what we are working towards, a truly biblical worldview.
- Eastern mysticism-New Age Yoga, I don’t believe in religion but I’m very spiritual and I take care of my shakras
- Marxism-Critical Theory (Think Black Lives Matter, Orange T-shirt day) permanent revolution-overthrow the man-More prevailing than you think, public education has become completely corrupted by this nonsense. The main premise of this is that all of life is a power struggle. Everything comes down to oppressors and the oppressed. Started with economic oppression but now this has morphed into everything. Patriarchy oppressing everything, but especially God oppressing us. Whenever you hear of ‘lived experience’, that’s the ‘oppressed’ being given a voice to speak out against their oppressors.
- Moralistic therapeutic deism-“It offers comfort, bolsters self-esteem, helps solve problems, and lubricates interpersonal relationships by encouraging people to do good, feel good, and keep God at arm’s length.” Kenda Creasy Dean, in Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church Published July 17, 2022. All dogs go to heaven, be good, be kind. Me and God, we are good.
- Nihilism-live fast, love hard, die young, and leave a beautiful memory. Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy. Friedrich Nietzsche when describing the nihilistic bent to society around him, said God is Dead. We killed him. He wasn’t excited about this. He was terrified of what God would be replaced with. He first wrote this in 1882.
- Postmodernism-you have your truth, and I have my truth, you do you. No absolutes. I am my own god. Sound familiar. The serpent’s lie in the garden of eden.
- Secular humanism-Official religion of Canada. Supreme Court Case City of Saguenay and Jean Tremblay April 15, 2015 Canada is no longer a Christian Nation. The case of reciting the Lord’s Prayer before municipal council meetings. Religion is a private affair, can NOT come into the public square.
Timmins City Council pass motion first few days of May to stop saying the Lord’s prayer before council meetings.
(I told the story of how Timmins City Council under the leadership of Mayor Black unanimously voted to stop the prayer and then how within a day or two the guy shot his parents and drove into Pearl Lake committing suicide and then how two weeks later Parker tried to kill his girlfriend and then committed suicide by cop. Nobody seems to want to make the connection between the supreme court decision, the city council decision and then the violent deaths…)
Most Canadians have a world view that is a combination of all 7. Buffet. A little bit of this and little bit of that. Syncretism is the word used to describe a belief system like this.
What impacts your world view?
Family and cultural upbringing
Your understanding of the bible
Your personality and your understanding of your identity
Popular culture
Your curiosity or lack of it
Your education (or lack of it!)
Dr. George Barna, Director of Research
Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University
Release Date: March 14, 2023
(American Worldview Inventory 2023 Release #2: Research Identifies the Best Starting Point
for Developing a Biblical Worldview)
7 beliefs that form the key cornerstones of a truly biblical world view
Cornerstone #1: An orthodox, biblical understanding of God
Cornerstone #2: All human beings are sinful by nature; every choice we make has moral considerations and consequences.
Cornerstone #3: The consequences of our sin can only be forgiven and eliminated through Jesus Christ. That forgiveness is available only by our personal, sincere acknowledgment and confession of our sins and complete reliance on His grace for the forgiveness of those sins.
Cornerstone #4: The entire Bible is true, reliable and relevant, making it the best moral guide for every person, in all situations.
Cornerstone #5: Absolute moral truth exists—and those truths are defined by God, described in the Bible, and are unchanging across time and cultures.
Cornerstone #6: The ultimate purpose of human life is to know, love, and serve God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul.
Cornerstone #7: Success on Earth is best understood as consistent obedience to God—in thoughts, words, and actions.
Cornerstone #1: An orthodox, biblical understanding of God
- John 1:1: ““In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
- Exodus 3:14-15: “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”
- 1John 1:5: “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
- Psalm 31:19: “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!”
- Romans 11:22: “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.”
- Isaiah 6:1-5: “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
- Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
- Omniscient
- Omnipotent
- Omnipresent
Cornerstone #2: All human beings are sinful by nature; every choice we make has moral considerations and consequences.
- Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God”.
- Romans 5:12: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”.
- James 1:14&15: “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
- Genesis 3 the fall of man sinful nature (expand on that-children need to be taught to be good, bad comes naturally)
- The biggest lie in the Garden of Eden-Ye shall be as gods (since Lucifer, everyone wants to rule the world) Pinky and the brain
Cornerstone #3: The consequences of our sin can only be forgiven and eliminated through Jesus Christ. That forgiveness is available only by our personal, sincere acknowledgment and confession of our sins and complete reliance on His grace for the forgiveness of those sins.
Ephesians 2:8&9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
John 14:6&7: “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.””
Romans 5:8: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Cornerstone #4: The entire Bible is true, reliable and relevant, making it the best moral guide for every person, in all situations.
- 2 Timothy 3:16 & 17: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[b] may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
- 2 Peter 1:19-21: “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
- I Corinthians 4:6: “I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.”
- The big lie of the world: neutrality-secularism
- Does our religious belief only apply in our personal and private lives?
- Discuss the spheres of sovereignty. The verses in proverbs about Godly rulers blessing the nation
- The great commission, TEACH all nations.
Cornerstone #5: Absolute moral truth exists—and those truths are defined by God, described in the Bible, and are unchanging across time and cultures.
- Hebrews 13:8&9: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.”
- Luke 16:27-31 Rich man and Lazarus: “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
- The pervasiveness of modern culture (old fish asking young fish, how’s the water)
- White socks/black socks reactionary Paul all things are permissible 1 Corinthians 10:23: ““All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.”
- What is your understanding of truth? Continuum from Absolute to Relative
- How does our understanding of truth impact our view of morality?
- What informs your view of corporate worship: Only what God has commanded in scripture or, if not expressly forbidden, then that is ok. Here again, there is a continuum, extremely legalistic to so seeker friendly that one’s eternal soul is forgotten in the quest to be real and accepted by popular culture. Our worship must be informed and directed by scripture.
- How often do we rely on our culture to define what right and wrong is?
- We need to rely on God’s revealed word in Scripture to determine what is right and what is wrong.
- Can Man arrive naturally at a true definition of right and wrong? This is a main tenet of the new atheists:
- Romans 1:18-23: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
- Hebrews 1:1-3: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”
- Does God expect all people, not just Christians, to follow His Law? Psalm 2:10-12: “Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”
Cornerstone #6: The ultimate purpose of human life is to know, love, and serve God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul.
- Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
- Mark 12:28-31: “And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””
- The big lie of the church: gnostic dualism/pietism
- Gnostic dualism, only the spiritual matters, material is evil.
- Pietism-“Just preach the gospel”. Don’t get involved in the day to day affairs of your community including running for public office, engaging with politicians and leaders, speaking out for just and Godly laws, speaking out against tyranny and oppression. 1Timothy 1:8-11: “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.”
- Governments love pietistic Christians because they are very easy to control. If you believe Christianity is only a private matter and that the Kingdom of God is purely a spiritual kingdom that has no impact on earthly kingdoms (governments), you won’t be too bothered when laws are passed that promote sin, that reduce freedom, that go against what God has commanded.
- Does the rule of Christ extend to all nations of the earth?
- What importance do we place on spiritual matters as compared to physical earthy or earthly matters? Paul’s teaching on carnality speaks to motive, why we do what we do, what drives us.
- The Rapture. Beautiful hope! Hallelujah. But fixation on this makes you not much better than the cult members waiting on the roof top for Hailey’s comet to pass by.
- How does God see His Creation. It was Good. Physical creation was good.
- There is purpose in creation/we are created for purpose.
- 2 Timothy 1:9: “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,”.
- 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
- Our purpose is, our High and Holy Calling. There is no hierarchy in the Kingdom of God. Different roles absolutely, but all equal in value.
Cornerstone #7: Success on Earth is best understood as consistent obedience to God—in thoughts, words, and actions.
- 1 John 3:23: “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”
- John 13:34-35: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
- John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
- God measured Job’s success by Job’s lifestyle: Job 1:8: “And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?””
- The 10 commandments, I’ve heard them described by an orthodox Jewish scholar as “The Ten Observations.” If you want to have a good life, a truly happy and successful life, follow these.
Dr. George Barna, Director of Research
Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University
Release Date: March 14, 2023
(American Worldview Inventory 2023 Release #2: Research Identifies the Best Starting Point
for Developing a Biblical Worldview)
If the purpose of a person’s life is to love God in every conceivable way, focusing on His truths, applying those principles every moment and in every situation, effectively worshiping and serving Him at all times, then obedience to His principles makes us “successful” here on Earth.
This is a difficult truth for millions of Americans to adopt because it renders the pursuits and outcomes that the world promotes—wealth, fame, achievement, power, sexual fulfillment, knowledge, prestige, happiness, comfort—to be unrelated to real success. The Creator alone determines the criteria for the success of those whom He creates. Jesus plainly stated that we will be His disciples when we obey His teachings. (John 13:34) That succinctly defines the parameters of human success.
Still, most people resist that simple but profound reality. Fewer than one out of four adults (23%) accept consistent obedience to God to be the determinant of success on Earth.
Romans, He has given us everything we need for life
BONUS SECTION, IF TIME ALLOWS:
Let’s take a biblical world view and apply it to modern day issues:
What is the Christian’s biblical response to climate change and protecting the earth?
Is the world overpopulated? God’s command to Adam and Eve and again to Noah.
Does God give a commandment that He then makes it impossible for us to fulfill?
Has God provided everything we need to have life and life more abundantly?
Is Christianity “anti-science”?
What did God promise regarding the natural earth?
Seed time and harvest
No flood
By the sweat of your brow
If you honour me I will bless you
Obeying natural laws will result in harvest/food/sustenance
What is the Christian’s response to diversity, inclusion, equity?
Establish meanings of those words first, understand what is being meant.
What is the Christian’s response to Pride events?
How does God define “love”?
How does God define biblical sexuality?
How do we separate the person from the sin/sinful lifestyle?
What is the Christian’s response to Trans-activism?
How does God describe humanity (Genesis 1-male/female)
How should we respond to mental illness?
Bonus thinking question: What was the right response, using a proper biblical world view, what was the right response to the covid19 pandemic and the measures instituted by various levels of government?
What difficult issue are you facing today? Looking at that issue through the lens of a truly biblical world view, what should your response be?