Archive for the ‘Christian Worldview’ Category
Sex After Christianity
Here is an excellent article on what will come next following the American culture adopting same-sex “marriage” as normal. The Church is facing a time when we need to cry out to God for revival and to be faithful in preaching the gospel (Acts 1:8). This alone can transform our nation.
You can find the article here.
Culture Debates and the Clash of World Views
When it comes to cultural debates, we disciples of Christ must not forget that we are dealing with more than just a difference in opinion over an issue but with an entirely different world view. The disciple’s world view comes directly from the Bible. It is a biblical worldview. Our view of all of life flows from our relationship with the one true and living God. We obey Him because we acknowledge His absolute Lordship over all things (1 John 2:3-6). No matter what the issue may be, we view it from the perspective of the Bible. It doesn’t matter what the issue may be, we always begin with what does Scripture say about this issue or what guidelines do the Scriptures give us about this issue. Our primary focus is on the glory of God in all things (1 Corinthians 10:31). Our focus is on pleasing God and giving Him glory and honor in all things.
Paul the Apostle argued this way with the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians Paul dealt with many various sins. Divisions. Sexual immorality. Lawsuits among brethren. Division over spiritual gifts and improper uses. The role of women in the fellowship. The abuse of the Lord’s Supper. Yet he seemed to always point back to the glory of God. What God said was what mattered. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 6 Paul deals with the issues involving sexual immorality (we humans are still the same are we not?). In 1 Corinthians 6:12 he quotes the Corinthians and then turns the quotes of the Corinthians around to show that our focus is not on self-pleasure but upon the Lord Jesus Christ and how we can please Him. He ends 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 by telling the Corinthians that disciples are temples of the Holy Spirit and he ends by telling us to glorify God in our bodies which are temples of God. The focus of Paul was clear: glorify God who alone is worthy of worship.
Cultural debates are difficult for the true disciple because we begin where unbelievers don’t and that is with the glory of God. We begin with this and not with self-pleasure, license for sinning, or the focus on what we desire or want. We begin with pleasing God and we remain committed to that principle throughout a civil debate. In all things the disciple of Christ begins the question with, “Does this glorify God or not?” and move from there. What has God said in His Word about this? What does our position do for the glory of Christ?
It is almost a given then that the disciple of Jesus must first deal with the non-Christian worldview that the unbeliever is expressing but don’t allow them to borrow from our worldview to prove their point. For instance, the whole idea of fairness or equality must be based on a biblical worldview. The unbeliever borrows from a Christian worldview to prove or disprove their point. We should not allow them to borrow our foundations while denying the Word of God on a given issue. The disciple should consistently question their foundation. On what right do you have to borrow from the Christian worldview while denying the Lordship of Christ over all things in your life? This frames the debate in a much different fashion. It points to the lostness of the unbeliever, that they are dead in their sins apart from the life of Christ (Ephesians 2:1-3) and it shows their ignorance of what Christ has said in His Word about cultural issues or at least principles of holiness.
Never get caught up in a debate where you are put on the defensive while the unbeliever borrows from your worldview. You can presume two things about all unbelievers. First, they know that God exists and that He is real but they want to suppress that knowledge because of their sin (Romans 1:18). Secondly, the unbeliever begins with a worldview that pleases self above God (Titus 1:15-16). The disciple begins with an opposite view with the glory of God reigning supreme and a worldview that seeks to glorify God completely.
I urge you to listen to the following mp3 from Gary DeMar. You can find the teaching here.
The Disciple’s Reaction to Cultural Issues
I have no doubt that the United States Supreme Court will rule in favor of same-sex marriage this week. I would be utterly shocked if the high court ruled against the issue. At the heart of the debate is Proposition 8 in which the measure was passed twice by the residents of the state of California to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. The Supreme Court will hear the case of whether this is unconstitutional. If the Supreme Court rules against Proposition 8 they will in essence abolish state bans on same-sex marriage or will overturn the 31 states who have written into their state constitutions that marriage shall be between a man and a woman. It would be a landmark win for the homosexual agenda and would almost overnight turn the United States into a nation that must permit same-sex marriage.
I believe the court will rule in favor of same-sex marriage for several reasons. First, we are under the judgment of God and according to Romans 1, homosexuality is one of the evidences of this judgment. How can God not judge the US with the millions of unborn that we have murdered? We tolerate violence in popular culture and we give approval to all forms of ungodliness. If you read Romans 1:18-32, you’ll no doubt know that we are there. Our culture is full of sin.
Secondly, the rise of acceptance of homosexuality has been nothing more than staggering. We have gone from the early 1990′s when homosexuality was tolerated but to be kept behind closed doors to full-blown acceptance and even viewing homosexuality as a better life style than heterosexuality. Lots of things have contributed to this acceptance including Hollywood and secular media to postmodernism and the idea that there are no absolutes, no boundaries to cross. Anything goes and YOU decide what is best for you but you must not push what is best for you upon others unless what is best is also deemed best by the culture. In this case, homosexuality is deemed a good thing by culture and so culture wins. The Supreme Court will listen to the culture and will ignore the Bible and thousands of years of civilization to establish a new “class.”
Thirdly, the failure of the Church to preach the gospel. The seeker church led to the emergent church and in turn has produced nothing but liberalism all over again. The true Church of Christ must stand and preach the gospel but the seeker church, with her eye on power and money, has produced nothing. Therefore, we reap what we sow and thus we are now reaping 30 years of seeker church methods and teachings. The result: sin accepted by the culture and by the compromising church.
What should true disciples of Christ do? I believe the answer lies in being a true disciple of Jesus. Titus 3:1-7 should be our text. We read:
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
We must recognize that our world is under the power of Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4). Our battle is not with homosexuals or with liars or with thieves. Our battle is with spiritual forces at work in our world to corrupt people and keep them from Christ (Ephesians 6:12). Our enemy is not a certain group of sinners but is the father of lies himself (John 8:44). The world lies under the control of the enemy and people blindly follow his commands. By nature, all flesh is corrupt before God (Genesis 6:5) and we are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3) apart from the grace of God (Ephesians 2:6).
Paul says in Titus 3:3 that we ourselves were once just as sinful as the people around us. We are saved from sin only by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). We are not saved because we chose to stop sinning. We are saved from sin and its power only by the power of the gospel (Romans 1:16). In fact, Titus 3:4 reminds us that it was God our Savior who saved us by His own mercy. We are now regenerated by the Spirit (John 3:3) because of the work of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30) and not by our flesh. Sin is so powerful that it takes the supernatural power of God to break us and save us.
Is this not the sinful world around us? Our world is so sinful, so corrupt. Yet we too once were lost in this world. If you are a disciple of Jesus you can testify that you once were bound in your sins and without hope. You didn’t go seeking after Christ. He came seeking after you (1 John 4:10). It was the grace of God that intervened in our lives and this is why we are saved.
Our reaction then to this sinful culture should be to preach Christ. Christ is the hope. I don’t believe the answer lies in politics or in the Supreme Court or in the White House but in the gospel. The cure for the United States (and all nations) is the gospel. Our hope lies not in a leader or a group but in the gospel. The Church must preach the gospel to all sinners and we will see the glory of God as He saves sinners by His grace. Our battle is not with any one sin. Our battle is against Satan and thankfully he is a defeated foe (Hebrews 2:14-15). Let us preach this truth, that Jesus saves sinners and we will see a mighty revival in our world.
The Misuse of Matthew 7:1
I saw a picture of a brother in the Lord street preaching and someone next to him was holding up a sign that read, “Matthew 7:1 – Do not judge lest you be judged.” The obvious reference was to the brother preaching. He was said to be judging people for calling them sinners or telling them they needed to repent of their sins. Matthew 7:1, as often used like this, is used to justify sins, to justify the unrighteous lives of worldly people, and to shut the mouths of preachers preaching the gospel.
But is Matthew 7:1 telling us to never judge? Let’s look at the verse in its context from Matthew 7:1-5 (NASB).
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
If we just had verse 1 then yes it would seem that Jesus is telling us to never judge others. But notice the remaining verses. In verse 3 He tells us that we should not be quick to point out a speck in a brother’s eye but not notice the log in our own eyes. He then tells us in verse 5 the solution and notice that it is not to judge but instead to remove the log out of our own eye and then will can see and take the speck out of our brother’s eye. Clearly He is telling us that we are to judge both ourselves and others.
In 2 Corinthians 13:5 we are told to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. There is a needful place for making sure we are abiding in Christ and walking after Him (Galatians 5:16-17). We are to make sure that our faith is in Jesus constantly (Hebrews 12:1-2). Our salvation is dependent upon Him (John 15:1-11). He is our life (Colossians 3:4). We are to examine ourselves not by our standards or the church’s standards but in the light of Jesus and who He is (Galatians 5:22-23). Our aim is to be like Jesus in everything (1 John 2:6). Our entire being is revolve around knowing and loving and worshiping Him (Romans 12:1-2). We are to be dead to sin and alive to God in Him (Romans 6:11). So to examine ourselves is not to examine ourselves next to this brother or that sister but in the light of God’s Word (James 1:19-27).
This enables us to judge others. In John 7:24 Jesus said, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgement” (NASB). What is a righteous judgment? How can we get a righteous judgment? Simple: by judging all things according to the Bible, the inerrant Word of God. The Bible is able to judge all things (Hebrews 4:12-13) and we are to judge all things by the Bible (1 Thessalonians 5:21). The Bible is the holy truth of God (John 17:17) and the Bible reveals God and His ways to us (Hebrews 5:11-14). By abiding in the Word of God, we are able to make wise discernment. The Holy Spirit reveals His Word to us as we study the Bible and allow it to transform us by God’s grace. Then we are able to make righteous judgements not based on appearances but upon the Word of God which is always true.
So now we see that Matthew 7:1 is not teaching us to never judge. It is simply calling us to avoid being a hypocrite in our judging. How dare we call someone out for sins when we ourselves struggle with those sins and more. God wants us to be clean before Him (Matthew 5:8, 48) and we can only be sanctified holy through Christ (Acts 15:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). The will of God is our sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3) and as we abide in Christ, He is able to cleanse us and help us be the holy people of God who take a stand for God in an age of great errors.
