"No nation has survived the loss of its gods" (George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and Nobel Prize winner for literature).
A worldview is a way of interpreting your world, such as purpose in living, where you came from, and where you are going--our role in the world-system--questions such as: Is there right and wrong? Is there a God? What is the meaning of life? How do you interpret reality? There is a current war of ideas in the world: Marxism (basically an economic understanding, but also totalitarian, aiming to establish a domination of the proletariat or working class and abolishing the bourgeoisie in class warfare), Secular-Humanism (basically that man is the measure of all things, making a name for himself, up with man, down with God, or deifying man and dethroning God, and reality starts from him), New Age (the idea of cosmic consciousness, or force, or supra-consciousness, [God is the force of life and an influence] being in touch with the inner god--they think Jesus was just this sort), Postmodernism (founded by Nietzsche as the patron saint, saying that "God is dead" or irrelevant and we can live without Him), Islam with its geopolitical concerns (believing that "tomorrow belongs to Islam" and being bent on (world) hegemony), and Christianity (Christ's kingdom is in the hearts of man and not of this world) itself--the first five have one thing is common in that they oppose Christianity. Any viewpoint that doesn't start with God is evil (man is not the measure of all things like humanists have taught)!
We are exhorted to "hate that which is evil and cling to that which is good" in Rom. 12:9 and in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 it says, "...hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." [which means that when evil appears, resist it.] Only those who have their senses trained to "discern good and evil" can digest the meat of the word and the infants in Christ can only live on the milk of the Word according to Hebrews 5:14. We need to love God with our whole minds and not be indolent, slothful, or anti-intellectual--we are to use the minds God has given us to the glory of God (cf. Mark 12:30, Col. 3:23).
We are in the world, but not of it, according to Scripture (John 15:19 says, "You are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world"). If we love the world-system or cosmos of Satan, the love of the Father is not in us--indeed he entices us with many delicacies of the world to compete with our spiritual appetites. Beware of the pseudo-philosophies of this age as the admonishment in Col. 2:8 says, "Let no man spoil you through philosophy or vain deceit..." We need to "contend for the faith" like Jude said in v. 3 and that means taking stands for Jesus and sticking up for what is right in an evil world. We are the salt and light as the children of God.
Paul's swan song was: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). We all have a conscience and can tell right from wrong (Rom. 2:15), and we are all responsible and don't have any excuses for knowing God (Rom. 1:18-20). In 1 Chron. 12:32 it says that only a few people were able to interpret the times and knew what to do. Daniel 11:32 says that the "people who knew their God "shall be strong and do exploits." At the time of the end, the wise will understand and the wicked will not" (Dan. 12:10). When Nebuchadnezzar realized that God was sovereign he came to his senses (Dan. 4:35).
Today we seem to be doing what's right in our own eyes (similar to the Israelites in Judges 21:25--"They did what was right in their own eyes"). The culture says that there is no standard of right and wrong--it is all relative and you can't force your morality on another person. It isn't that we can't legislate morality, it's whose morality we legislate.
In Allan Bloom's book The Closing of the American Mind, he says that people now believe "all truth is relative"--if that is true, then that statement has no value; it is also relative. They say nothing is always wrong and nothing is always right; what matters is sincerity. This goes back to Satan's taunt: "Hath God said?" They seem to believe that the only truths that are relative are those that defend the Christian worldview! One prof was reported as saying, "You can know nothing for certain." One astute student asked, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm certain!" Jesus was the Truth itself, the incarnation of Truth with a capital T and came to bear witness of the truth--the Romans, including Pilate, doubted the existence of absolute truth (true no matter who believes it and whether anyone believes it or not). They thought that "might made right." This was the epitome of cynicism and an insult to Christ's veracity.
God's providence works all things according to His divine decrees and He has no Plan B; He has no other plan, but to use us as His vessels of honor and to bring glory to him (cf. Isa. 43:7). Everything is going according to plan as Isaiah says in Isa 37:26 and He is in control according to Isa. 14:24, 27 and 46:8-11. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of the bucket..." (Isa. 40:15). "He's got the whole world in His hands." Psalm 22:28 says that God is sovereign over the nations and we can be sure even over every molecule in the universe. Eph. 1:11 says that God works out everything according to His will. John Wesley used to read the paper to "see what God is doing in His world." God is even in control of the toss of the die (Prov. 16:33) and in control of the whims of the king (Prov. 21:1). He leaves nothing to chance: Einstein said, "God doesn't play dice with the universe." The secret is to stay away from extremes: "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot form evil" (Prov. 4:27).
As Christians we are to "submit [ourselves] to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors..." (1 Pet. 2:12-13) Paul says something similar: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Rom. 13:1). We are to "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's" according to Matthew 22:21 and even be light and salt in the world, trying to make people see the light to get saved according to our gift. With privilege there is the flip side of responsibility; they go hand in hand. There is such a thing as "social justice" but no "social gospel." One only need refer to the prophets Amos and Micah. We assert that God is the only legitimate legislator according to Isaiah 33:22 (positive law says that man can make any law he desires) and His character is the law of the universe. Isaiah said, "Woe unto them who decree unjust laws..." (Isa. 10:1-2). It has been said, "If we have contempt for government, we get contemptible government."
"What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the face of the poor...?" (Is. 3:15). "Rescue the weak and the needy..." (Ps. 82:4). The believer who knows the Lord is concerned about the plight of the poor (Psa. 41:1) and the evil in the world: he doesn't just see evil and say, "Why?" He also sees good and says, "Why not?" This is what it means to know the Lord according to Jeremiah 22:16--to be concerned about those less fortunate and defending those who can't defend themselves, the weak ("He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?" declares the LORD [in Jer. 22:16]). Amos and Micah are champions of the underdog and the underprivileged and deplore how "they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals--those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted (cf. Amos 2:6-7). "...Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy..." (Amos 4:1). Malachi is appalled at those "who oppress the hired worker in his wages..." (Mal. 3:5). We are not to be partial to the poor nor to the rich, but show justice to all (Deut. 19:15). Charity and welfare were mandated in Israel according to Lev. 19:9-10 Deut. 15:4, and other passages--they were allowed to "glean the fields" of the landowners. There was to be "no poor in Israel."
Now, what kind of values are Christians supposed to espouse? They should subscribe to the sanctity of the family unit as having preference over the government's authority, because it was established before it; it should believe in the inherent worth of the individual (you have rights, but they end where mine begin--you can swing your fist but not hit my nose!) as being in the image and likeness of God (the imago Dei), and that means having a mind to know and communicate with God, a heart to love Him, and a will to obey Him. These are called inalienable rights and our culture is based on it in the constitutional Bill of Rights. We are merely stewards of God's riches ("The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof" says Ps. 24:10) and are responsible to Him to give account at the judgment. (There is a Protestant work ethic mentioned in 2 Thess. 3:10 that declares that those who are not willing to work shall not eat.)
All authority ultimately comes from God and we get our rights and dignity form Him; "unless you assume a God, the question of man's purpose is meaningless," and without God man is a "useless passion." (Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre). We believe the government has limited power derived from God--it is not a necessary evil, as Augustine said, but necessary because of evil. We have a duty to this government since we owe them our security and protection of our property and our person from crime--justice and law and order are the primary functions. Marriage is to be held in honor and a "man shall leave his mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh" and "God made them male and female and said that it was good." No rights are absolute, such as you saying it's your religion to be a cannibal or that you can yell fire in an auditorium! Sometimes it may be our duty to disobey, which is termed civil disobedience--God's laws trump the government; shall we obey God or man? ("We must obey God rather than man" [Acts 5:29]).
Christians are not "utopians" but are waiting for Christ to usher in His Millennial Kingdom at His second coming. A word to the wise is sufficient: Christians have no geopolitical aspirations like the Muslim world bent on dominating the world with their hegemony, and they should not sound the alarm, but "occupy till He comes" (business as usual). As Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." In conclusion, we have read the last page of the Bible and know how it all will turn out and are assured that we are on the winning side and victory is inevitable in the end. NB: Keep the faith! "The LORD frustrates the counsel of the nations; He thwarts the plans of the peoples...Happy is the nation whose God is Yahweh!" (Psalm 33:10-12). A word of encouragement--all is not lost: God is able to heal our land if we confess our corporate sins and humble ourselves in repentance as His people (2 Chronicles 7:14)
In the final analysis, it is vital to know Scripture to combat the prevalent Secular Humanistic viewpoint (deifying man and denying and dethroning God) in the world and not to fall into the devil's trap. Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power." And the Bible backs this up in Proverbs 10:14 saying, "The wise lay up knowledge..." And Proverbs 24:5 says, "And a man of knowledge enhances his might." We must not remain silent and concede everything away. They are trying to eradicate Christianity from the marketplace of ideas, the classroom, and the public square.
A worldview is a way of interpreting your world, such as purpose in living, where you came from, and where you are going--our role in the world-system--questions such as: Is there right and wrong? Is there a God? What is the meaning of life? How do you interpret reality? There is a current war of ideas in the world: Marxism (basically an economic understanding, but also totalitarian, aiming to establish a domination of the proletariat or working class and abolishing the bourgeoisie in class warfare), Secular-Humanism (basically that man is the measure of all things, making a name for himself, up with man, down with God, or deifying man and dethroning God, and reality starts from him), New Age (the idea of cosmic consciousness, or force, or supra-consciousness, [God is the force of life and an influence] being in touch with the inner god--they think Jesus was just this sort), Postmodernism (founded by Nietzsche as the patron saint, saying that "God is dead" or irrelevant and we can live without Him), Islam with its geopolitical concerns (believing that "tomorrow belongs to Islam" and being bent on (world) hegemony), and Christianity (Christ's kingdom is in the hearts of man and not of this world) itself--the first five have one thing is common in that they oppose Christianity. Any viewpoint that doesn't start with God is evil (man is not the measure of all things like humanists have taught)!
We are exhorted to "hate that which is evil and cling to that which is good" in Rom. 12:9 and in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 it says, "...hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." [which means that when evil appears, resist it.] Only those who have their senses trained to "discern good and evil" can digest the meat of the word and the infants in Christ can only live on the milk of the Word according to Hebrews 5:14. We need to love God with our whole minds and not be indolent, slothful, or anti-intellectual--we are to use the minds God has given us to the glory of God (cf. Mark 12:30, Col. 3:23).
We are in the world, but not of it, according to Scripture (John 15:19 says, "You are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world"). If we love the world-system or cosmos of Satan, the love of the Father is not in us--indeed he entices us with many delicacies of the world to compete with our spiritual appetites. Beware of the pseudo-philosophies of this age as the admonishment in Col. 2:8 says, "Let no man spoil you through philosophy or vain deceit..." We need to "contend for the faith" like Jude said in v. 3 and that means taking stands for Jesus and sticking up for what is right in an evil world. We are the salt and light as the children of God.
Paul's swan song was: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). We all have a conscience and can tell right from wrong (Rom. 2:15), and we are all responsible and don't have any excuses for knowing God (Rom. 1:18-20). In 1 Chron. 12:32 it says that only a few people were able to interpret the times and knew what to do. Daniel 11:32 says that the "people who knew their God "shall be strong and do exploits." At the time of the end, the wise will understand and the wicked will not" (Dan. 12:10). When Nebuchadnezzar realized that God was sovereign he came to his senses (Dan. 4:35).
Today we seem to be doing what's right in our own eyes (similar to the Israelites in Judges 21:25--"They did what was right in their own eyes"). The culture says that there is no standard of right and wrong--it is all relative and you can't force your morality on another person. It isn't that we can't legislate morality, it's whose morality we legislate.
In Allan Bloom's book The Closing of the American Mind, he says that people now believe "all truth is relative"--if that is true, then that statement has no value; it is also relative. They say nothing is always wrong and nothing is always right; what matters is sincerity. This goes back to Satan's taunt: "Hath God said?" They seem to believe that the only truths that are relative are those that defend the Christian worldview! One prof was reported as saying, "You can know nothing for certain." One astute student asked, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm certain!" Jesus was the Truth itself, the incarnation of Truth with a capital T and came to bear witness of the truth--the Romans, including Pilate, doubted the existence of absolute truth (true no matter who believes it and whether anyone believes it or not). They thought that "might made right." This was the epitome of cynicism and an insult to Christ's veracity.
God's providence works all things according to His divine decrees and He has no Plan B; He has no other plan, but to use us as His vessels of honor and to bring glory to him (cf. Isa. 43:7). Everything is going according to plan as Isaiah says in Isa 37:26 and He is in control according to Isa. 14:24, 27 and 46:8-11. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of the bucket..." (Isa. 40:15). "He's got the whole world in His hands." Psalm 22:28 says that God is sovereign over the nations and we can be sure even over every molecule in the universe. Eph. 1:11 says that God works out everything according to His will. John Wesley used to read the paper to "see what God is doing in His world." God is even in control of the toss of the die (Prov. 16:33) and in control of the whims of the king (Prov. 21:1). He leaves nothing to chance: Einstein said, "God doesn't play dice with the universe." The secret is to stay away from extremes: "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot form evil" (Prov. 4:27).
As Christians we are to "submit [ourselves] to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors..." (1 Pet. 2:12-13) Paul says something similar: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Rom. 13:1). We are to "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's" according to Matthew 22:21 and even be light and salt in the world, trying to make people see the light to get saved according to our gift. With privilege there is the flip side of responsibility; they go hand in hand. There is such a thing as "social justice" but no "social gospel." One only need refer to the prophets Amos and Micah. We assert that God is the only legitimate legislator according to Isaiah 33:22 (positive law says that man can make any law he desires) and His character is the law of the universe. Isaiah said, "Woe unto them who decree unjust laws..." (Isa. 10:1-2). It has been said, "If we have contempt for government, we get contemptible government."
Now, what kind of values are Christians supposed to espouse? They should subscribe to the sanctity of the family unit as having preference over the government's authority, because it was established before it; it should believe in the inherent worth of the individual (you have rights, but they end where mine begin--you can swing your fist but not hit my nose!) as being in the image and likeness of God (the imago Dei), and that means having a mind to know and communicate with God, a heart to love Him, and a will to obey Him. These are called inalienable rights and our culture is based on it in the constitutional Bill of Rights. We are merely stewards of God's riches ("The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof" says Ps. 24:10) and are responsible to Him to give account at the judgment. (There is a Protestant work ethic mentioned in 2 Thess. 3:10 that declares that those who are not willing to work shall not eat.)
All authority ultimately comes from God and we get our rights and dignity form Him; "unless you assume a God, the question of man's purpose is meaningless," and without God man is a "useless passion." (Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre). We believe the government has limited power derived from God--it is not a necessary evil, as Augustine said, but necessary because of evil. We have a duty to this government since we owe them our security and protection of our property and our person from crime--justice and law and order are the primary functions. Marriage is to be held in honor and a "man shall leave his mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh" and "God made them male and female and said that it was good." No rights are absolute, such as you saying it's your religion to be a cannibal or that you can yell fire in an auditorium! Sometimes it may be our duty to disobey, which is termed civil disobedience--God's laws trump the government; shall we obey God or man? ("We must obey God rather than man" [Acts 5:29]).
I believe firmly that the Bible sanctions no certain type of government, as long as human rights are respected. The government was first documented to be divided into three parts in Isaiah 33:22 into the legislative, judicial, and executive branches (king, judge, lawgiver). I refer to Lord Acton's adage that is a cliche now: "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." We do not believe that our rights (note that the obverse of rights is responsibilities necessitated) are derived from the government, but directly from God, who gives us dignity and worth as man in His image or the icons of God, as it were.
If God doesn't exist, everything is permissible. But we believe in transcendent or natural law that everyone is able to know by nature apart from the government. Law is designed for wrong-doers and should confer rights on us. People are in a state of rebellion against our so-called bourgeois values (which really is the Judaeo-Christian heritage or Western civilization). As the psalmist says, "What can the righteous do when the foundations are destroyed?" (Ps. 11:3). For one thing, we should pray for our leaders, not condemn them [It is our God who put them there, as Paul said, "Is unlawful to speak evil of a ruler of your people", Acts 23:5].
If God doesn't exist, everything is permissible. But we believe in transcendent or natural law that everyone is able to know by nature apart from the government. Law is designed for wrong-doers and should confer rights on us. People are in a state of rebellion against our so-called bourgeois values (which really is the Judaeo-Christian heritage or Western civilization). As the psalmist says, "What can the righteous do when the foundations are destroyed?" (Ps. 11:3). For one thing, we should pray for our leaders, not condemn them [It is our God who put them there, as Paul said, "Is unlawful to speak evil of a ruler of your people", Acts 23:5].
In the final analysis, it is vital to know Scripture to combat the prevalent Secular Humanistic viewpoint (deifying man and denying and dethroning God) in the world and not to fall into the devil's trap. Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power." And the Bible backs this up in Proverbs 10:14 saying, "The wise lay up knowledge..." And Proverbs 24:5 says, "And a man of knowledge enhances his might." We must not remain silent and concede everything away. They are trying to eradicate Christianity from the marketplace of ideas, the classroom, and the public square.
In summation: Common fallacies are that if an idea works it should be implemented (John Dewey said that the test of an idea is not whether it is true, but whether it works). Today we see pragmatism or doing what is practical, prevalent and politicians act expediently or doing whatever serves their purpose. The danger with these erroneous worldviews is that they contain an element of truth, just enough to inoculate one from the real thing--like a being vaccinated from the truth and immune to reality. A most dangerous philosophy is that the end justifies the means (in pragmatism and utilitarianism), or that if one has sincere motives it is sanctioned. Communism is replete with this doctrine. Modern times have necessitated a war of ideas and ideologies. Today with pragmatic politics they believe that, if it works, it's moral (Hitler was successful at what he did!). The "isms" of the world are on a collision course. It does matter what you believe and what your worldview is: What you believe affects what you do and how you act. The main battle is not against capitalism and socialism, but between the free world and totalitarianism. Soli Deo Gloria!
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