Revisiting Biblical Thinking

This month’s article is a continuation of thought from the last sermon I preached back in January about building a biblical worldview.
 
Here is the link to that sermon in case you either didn't hear it or would like a refresher:
https://www.graceforus.org/mediaPlayer/#/sermonvideo/1327
 
Remember, that the Bible warns us in many places that there will be many who will try and lead Christians away from truth. Sometimes what they say might even seem to make sense, but apart from Christ, their views are of no value in dealing with the real problem... sin (Col 2:23).
 
In this article, what I want to do is get YOU to think about some specific things and see by what or how it is that your views are being shaped. As I mentioned in the sermon, there are many ways that others try and shape our worldview. Television, music, movies, social media and even the news, among other things, all try and influence how we view things.

So what I'm going to do is list for you a number of "hot topics" in our culture today and I want to encourage you to consider what you actually think about these things. Then ask yourself HOW you came to the conclusions you did. Was it from a friend? From the news or a television show? Was it from your own sense of "common sense"? Was it from Scripture? Was it Scripture that was properly used? These are all good questions that we can all challenge ourselves with when it comes to how we are understanding things going on in the world.
 
Remember...right theology is important and having right theology will always help to correct wrong thinking!

Something I have noticed often when Christians talk about political and/or "hot button" issues, is that they don't have a well thought out theology about the subject they are talking about. Meaning they haven't developed their views based on the teachings of Scripture, but on other things.

Maybe they have a "proof text" verse to be able to say "Gotcha!" to others who don't hold their view. Or maybe they are just responding from their own feelings, regardless of whether those feelings are responding correctly to truth or not. Maybe they are reacting to something they heard or read from someone else, without studying to see if what they are being told is truthful or a full picture. A question I often think about is...who are they fearing more? ...God or man?

Sadly there seems to be a lot of fear of man or man pleasing among some Christians today. And not just individuals, sometimes by whole churches and even whole denominations. Proverbs 1:7 tells us clearly that, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction." So as we seek to understand issues around us, we must always strive to see those things accurately from God's word and from His perspective.

In the highly charged political environment that we have today (with all of its "political correctness"), I see more and more Christians caving to either the fear of man or man pleasing, in order to find acceptance and maybe justification for how they feel about one topic or another. Much of that approval they are getting, though, is from people who are NOT Christians, and who are NOT seeking to see things from a biblical perspective.

Sadly, I sometimes see Christians much more eager to find joy in their agreement with non-Christians than being eager to follow Christ's commands to them to love their fellow believers and strive to maintain the unity that we have in Christ. Some are much more content to spout off an opinion or two, maybe with a Bible verse tossed in, in order to be able to condemn or put down other Christians who have a different view. To be sure...if you choose to develop biblical worldviews about all of these types of things, you WILL be opposed. You must be prepared for that and not fear man because of it. Stand firm in the scriptures and in the wisdom of God!
 
I encourage you to grab your Bible now and think about how you view these cultural issues, phrases or terms: (This is not an exhaustive list and it's just in alphabetical order)

• Abortion
• All/Black/Blue Lives Matter
• Climate Change / Global Warming
• Cultural Appropriation
• Death Penalty
• Diversity
• Equality (many aspects of this are talked about)
• Feminism
• Free Speech
• Gay Marriage
• Gender Fluidity or Identity
• Gun Control
• Immigration (this has numerous facets to it)
• Intersectionality
• LGBTQ...etc... Rights
• Racism
• Reparations
• Safe Spaces
• Socialism
• White Privilege (or any other type)
• Woke

That's a pretty good list to start with. So how did you do? Do you have a biblical perspective on them? Are your views on these things rooted in Scripture? Would you be able to have a conversation about these issues and be able to state your position from direct biblical teaching or principle? Are you pretty sure that you are using Scripture correctly to support your views? Are you sure about that?
 
As you consider these issues (and any others you may encounter), here are just a few biblical teachings and principals to keep in mind that you may find helpful:

• God owns and rules over everything and everyone.
• God is the Author of life, including when we are born.
• God determines the day of our death.
• God names all the families of the earth.
• God decides whose family you are in.
• God created all skin colors and languages.
• God is the source of all good things/blessings/privileges.
• God makes people rich or poor.
• God owns the earth and everything in it.
• God rules over nature and controls the seasons.
• God brings earthquakes.
• God causes storms (and stops them).
• God brings famines.
• God sends rain.
• God brings floods.
• God causes food (and all things) to grow.
• God sustains all life.
• God determines borders.
• God raises and ruins nations.
• God raises up and lowers kings.
• God puts all authorities into their place.
• God made 2 genders.
• God invented marriage and set its parameters (1 man/1 woman).
• God acknowledges life starting at conception.
• God determines your steps.
• God has a plan and purpose for everything that happens.
• God calls all to worship Him.
• God will judge all those who don't.

What other biblical teachings or principles can you think of that would be helpful when dealing with subjects like these? The Devil is opposed to all of these truths and doesn't want anyone to believe them. Rather, he'd like people to think that they can solve all of their own problems without God.

What we see happening in the world today is just that...people do not fear the Lord and do not believe those things about Him, but rather they believe that they have the ability to fix all the problems of the world. They are in essence making themselves out to be God.
 
Now...the next thing I want to encourage you to think about is this...How does the Gospel address all of the problems of the world? You see, one of the best things about being equipped to be able to talk about these things from a biblical perspective is that it then offers you a very easy road to transition into a Gospel conversation as the point of greatest need that anyone in the world has.
 
If you have the time, I highly recommend this video series of 5 messages plus a Q&A panel discussion that deals with a number of these topics:
https://sovereignnations.com/2019/01/30/social-justice-gospel-conference-all-sessions/
 
Please feel free to contact me anytime with any questions about this subject. I believe it is very important and I love diving into it with people!
 
Blessings as you study and think about your worldview!

Chris Kiiskinen is an Elder at Grace Bible Church