We Need a More Biblical Worldview

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” – 1 John 2:15-17
 
The message of the Bible is often quite cut and dry.  Jesus plainly said, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Luke 16:13).  It’s impossible to balance the desires of the flesh while keeping “in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).  The desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit “are opposed to each other” (Galatians 5:17).  The flesh is constantly striving to keep you from serving God fervently. 
 
In the passage before us, John couldn’t be clearer.  If you are fully attached to this world, then you are not attached to God.  In fact, he says if this world holds all your desire, “the love of the Father is not in” you.  Certainly, this ought to give us pause.  If we are to be diligent to confirm we have been called by His grace (2 Peter 1:10), one of the things we need to examine closely is the desire of our heart.  Are we focused primarily on worldly things?  Or, are we focused primarily on furthering the kingdom of God?  There is no middle ground here.  You cannot do both. 
 
What is the standard for the people of God?  Without a doubt, the Bible is the answer to that question.  “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  When you hold a Bible in your hand, it’s as though God Himself is speaking directly to you.  The Bible has been “breathed out by God” Himself.  It is the actual Word of the Creator.  Everything that we do must be rooted in Scripture.  We may do this well in the assembly.  But how well do we do this outside of church?  I mean, certainly God’s Word directs what we preach and practice when we congregate – we get that.  But, God’s Word is given to direct the steps of His children outside of church just as much as it is inside.  When you go to work, you are to serve God there.  When you go to the market, you are to serve God there.  When you gather with friends and family, you are to serve God there.  Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).  Daily – not just on Sunday.  Too often, we find our faith is only active inside the four walls of our church buildings.  That is not at all a reflection of our calling. 
 
The Bible must be our standard in every detail of life.  Our decision-making must be rooted in God’s Word and the standards prescribed therein.  When somebody wrongs us, how do we respond?  When those in charge of us wrong us, how do we respond?  When we live in an evil society, how do we interact?  The answer to all of these questions and many more are repeated again and again in God’s Word.  A child of God must understand that the Word of God is not merely a book for knowledge…that is, a book to learn theology.  The Bible is a book that calls us to action.  There is no final exam at the Judgment Seat of Christ to see who had all their doctrine correct.  It is our works that will be judged (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).  Now, our doctrine must be accurate if we are to properly serve, for sure.  However, God has called us to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).  In a theologically driven church, there is a temptation to only know the truth and not to worry so much about living it.  If this is the case with us, it must be corrected. 
 
What are you spending the most time on?  An occupation?  A hobby?  A sports team?  Politics?  Or, are you spending time in the things of God?  If you examine what is on your mind the majority of the time, you will have the answer to this question.  If you look at what the most energy in your life is spent doing, you will have the answer to this question.  Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).  What do you treasure most in life?  That will tell you a lot about your heart. 
 
Perhaps the biggest hindrance to God’s people in serving Him is that we often don’t have a proper Biblical worldview.  That is, our conception of the world including the events happening around us should be influenced completely by what we read in God’s Word.  Yet, often it isn’t.  This is election time.  Like it or not, we are faced with the worst choices in the top two political parties that we have ever seen…hands down.  What are we to do?  Our first thought should be, “what would God have me to do?”  In fact, that’s the only thought we should have!  What does the Bible say about leaders?  What are the characteristics of a good leader according to the Word of God?  Can I vote for this candidate or that candidate while glorifying God?  Our instructed to “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31) does not stop at the voting booth.  We do not have the option of checking our faith at the ballot box.  Even more, we shouldn’t want to!  If somehow we can separate our political leanings from our faith, we are trying to balance service between God and this world…a thing that Jesus said you couldn’t do. 
 
Perhaps one of the most detrimental things to having a Biblical worldview is to have ones eyes fastened on a news channel 24/7.  Conservatives watch Fox News and liberals watch CNN, right?  It does appear that way.  But neither of those channels is presenting the news with a Biblical worldview.  Whether one of them portrays information more accurately than the other is irrelevant if there is no Biblical foundation for what they say.  The more a Bible believing Christian watches Fox News or CNN, the more he will be convinced that a wicked, evil, arrogant candidate is the answer to our nations problems.  This is unbiblical.  In no sense is this a Biblical worldview.  Publicly supporting wicked candidates is confusing to the lost and rightly so.  When the world looks at us, it must see a segment of society that is led by something altogether different than the rest.  Our communities must realize that we see the events of the world through the eyes of Scripture, not a newscast.  We simply cannot influence a society to repent and turn from their sins if we are standing beside them arm in arm fighting the same battles as they are. 
 
God is sovereign.  He is guiding the events of this world.  Nothing is happening outside His sovereign will and purpose.  The affairs of men are not outside His control.  We are not off track, in the big scheme of things.  Things are not out of control, whether they seem like it or not.  Knowing that, we should be the most confident people in the world.  Christians should not be causing mass hysteria continually with posts on social media (plug on how Christians should be cautious in actually posting facts when they post…but I digress).  We shouldn’t be taking every opportunity we have been given to share the Gospel through a certain medium and use it to serve the world’s political system.  We are certainly in the world, but we are not of the world.  We are citizens somewhere, but our citizenship in Heaven must be primary (Philippians 3:20).  We can certainly take part in whatever political freedoms we have been given.  However, it absolutely should NOT be the primary goal for any one day…any 5 minutes…of our lives.  We are children of the One True King.  In answering Pilate, our One True King said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36).  A quick perusal of the social media accounts of believers may give you a different idea.  Christians that never post anything spiritual to a wide audience of lost friends are constantly posting political junk.  I say “junk” because much of it is full of hate, arrogance and bitterness.  Much of it is skewed, at best.  Sadly, many of these posts are on the pages of pastors and church leaders.  Look folks, the Bible says, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).  Our enemy is not our neighbor who lives a different life than us…who has different political leanings than us.  No…our neighbor is our mission field!  I fear in many cases, this has been forgotten.  Why?  Simply, we do not have a good Biblical worldview. 
 
For years, I have stayed on a strict Bible reading schedule.  I make a point to read the Bible at least once a year – cover to cover.  I do not say that to brag in any way.  It’s just a commitment that I made…a commitment that every child of God should make.  The more I read the Word of God, the more I realize we simply do not have time to get so involved in the affairs of this life.  Our instruction is to evangelize the world – to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20).  We aren’t given vacation time.  We don’t get to take off during football or basketball season.  We aren’t allotted paid leave during political seasons.  Our first calling as Jesus followers is to make other Jesus followers.  We don’t find Jesus and the early church involved in current societal affairs of the day.  Why is that?  Simple – they had a Biblical worldview.  They knew the things of God far outweighed anything this world had to offer. 
 
Let us strive to be Biblical in our approach to life.  As we see events unfold around us, let give diligence to be approved by God (2 Timothy 2:15).  If this is right, nothing else matters.  Let us make sure we have a Biblical worldview.  Only by having such a perspective can we serve God properly and influence our fellow man accurately.  May God help us all to commit to Him daily as we see His plan unfold in this world.