Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV)
By asking you a few questions: Would you agree or disagree with the statements,
- Private property encourages greed and envy.
- Meaning and purpose come from working hard to earn as much as possible so you can make the most out of life.
- What is morally right or wrong depends on what an individual believes.
- If you do good, you will receive
good . If you do bad, you will receive bad. - All people pray to the same god or spirit, no matter what name they use for that spiritual being.
- God helps those that help themselves.
These statements are just a few of the statements that were used by the research team from Barna Group to track what they have concluded is an ongoing shift away from Christianity as the basis for a shared worldview. The research was conducted with practicing Christians (who go to church at least monthly and consider their faith very important in life) including 1,456 web-based surveys conducted in March 2017.
Well, if you’re like me, when I read about the population that was being surveyed, I was sure that the prevalent worldview that was going to be espoused was a Christian worldview. I mean, they were interviewing Christians...but what they concluded was that it appears that among people who identify themselves as people of faith there continues to be evidence that they hold beliefs that are contrary to Scripture and Christianity.
It appears that many Christians have fallen prey to the ideas and beliefs of worldviews that stand in opposition to the truths that are given to us in the Scripture. In other words, we believe and practice the wrong things.
Which statements above would you have agreed with or disagreed with? Are you confident that you know what the Bible says about each one of the ideas presented within the statements? Could you give some Biblical evidence that what you believe indeed lines up with what God says?
No wonder we have seen an increasing moral decline in our nation and among our brothers and sisters in Christ. Key worldviews like new spirituality, marxism, postmodernism, secularism, pluralism, relativism, go ahead...add a few “isms” of your own...these have influenced Christians’ beliefs about the way the world is and how it ought to be.
Would you be surprised to know that research indicates that 38% of practicing Christians are sympathetic to some Muslim teachings?
The research also indicated:
- 61% agree with ideas rooted in New Spirituality
- 54% resonate with postmodernist views.
- 36% accept ideas associated with Marxism
- 29% believe ideas based on secularism
The remedy; Christians like you and me, need to reaffirm our commitment to the Scripture, and the worldview presented, by learning and standing upon the Word of God. There are too many Christians that take a verse here or there...usually out of context...and formulate a belief or an idea that doesn’t match with what the Bible actually says.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV)
Who, in their right Christian mind, doesn’t want to find the approval of God.
That’s why with our commitment to the Word, must be a commitment to study the Word of God in its entirety. When we only know the Scripture in “parts”, we are easy prey for competing worldviews and religions that have fragments or similarities to some of the teachings we find in the Scripture...then we latch on to those ideas without recognizing them for what they are...distortions of Biblical truth.
One of the easiest ways to make studying the Scripture a part of your lifestyle, thus becoming a person who is informed with what the Scripture teaches and then finding yourself able to develop and maintain a healthy Biblical worldview, is by joining a Bible Study group on Sunday mornings.
Together, with other Christians, you will study the Bible and think...informed thinking is what is needed...as you learn how the Scripture applies to the world and life that God created and maintains. You will see how the world is from His point of view and how it ought to be from His point of view, ensuring that you will not be led astray from the purpose and plan of God for your life.
As we learn the Scripture and obey the Word we will then be ready to handle it, to stand for and spread the Word of God, the Christians’ worldview, in the marketplace of ideas. Only the truth of Scripture will indeed, set people free.
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 (ESV)
It’s not too late, but we are headed in the wrong direction, if Christians don’t know what the Bible says and how it applies to real life...and if we have fallen prey to competing worldviews and religions and actually have fallen for the “lie”.
Join a Bible Study class...read the Word...study all of it...and you will find the truth and the approval of God. And...do it as soon as you can!