Some basic and practical axioms for adopting and cultivating a Christian worldview

For the Christian today who wants to have a meaningful engagement with the world, there is nothing more needful than a Christian worldview. Sadly, one of those can take years to build. So, here are some basic points. Think of these as hills to die on, or more accurately, hills to fight and always win from. These are truths distilled from Scripture, which can be wholly relied on.

1. All facts belong to your worldview. If something is true, you need not be afraid of it, for it belongs to Christ, and being in Christ, it belongs to you. Firstly this applies to Scripture.
   1. If someone quotes Scripture to you, never be afraid. That book is yours, and it will never fail you. Often it will critique you, and you will be forced to cede ground, but you will be trading sinking sand for Christ, the solid rock on which you must stand. If there is a verse or a chapter that you don’t want to discuss, it is most likely because you are unwilling to submit to the truths taught therein. We don’t hesitate to say that if that is you, you need to cut it out. In application, this means that you should never be afraid to have someone show you from Scripture what they believe about God, and you should always be ready to welcome God’s word, and sit under it. You don’t force it into your categories or preconceived philosophical ideas. It sets the agenda.
   2. All the truths that have been discovered through the natural sciences and arts also belong to you. Let’s up the ante. No scientist will ever discover a single datum that contradicts the Christian worldview. All things hold together in Christ, and are sustained by him. All of creation is contingent upon God, and has been created by him to reflect his glory and attributes, and to sing his praises. Scientists may make claims or interpretations of data that contradict the Christian worldview, but that is not the same as saying that the facts will ever be on their side. This has application in the sciences. Are you cowed and embarrassed in your Christian faith because of the theory of Evolution and so many other claims about our world? You should not be. Not only is this unnecessary, for all facts are on your side, but it is often poor witness to those on the outside, who often see Christians as unscientific and closed-minded folks. Rather, you can be prepared to learn about any field under the sun, for the facts in that field will always attest to the truth of the Christian worldview.
      1. Notice, we did not say ‘you should be prepared to learn about any field’, because you simply may not have the disposable time in your life to study every field. We’re not required to be experts on everything.
      2. Also, notice we did not say ‘for the facts in that field prove the Christian worldview’. To prove something, you need to have a ‘standard’ of truth to compare it with, so you can tell if it matches, and is therefore true. Consider the ocean. If someone was treading water, and said, ‘it is two metres deep here’, you would appeal to the ‘standard’ of a two-metre ruler (which you already know is in fact two metres), and then check if the water matched that level. When someone says that some scientific discovery ‘proves’ the truthfulness of God’s word, they are essentially saying that the ultimate standard by which to measure truth is their scientific method, not God and his self-revelation. Suffice it to say that all of history and science will only ever be able to ‘attest’ or ‘assent’ or ‘bear witness’ to the truthfulness of the Christian worldview, because it is actually the only foundation on which those disciplines can have any meaning.
   3. As a final comment, this monopoly on truth is another reason that it is not befitting for Christians to become obsessed with the category of matters that the Bible calls “old Wives tales, vain genealogies, etc (cit)”, a category that today might include ‘conspiracy theories’ because we are the people of the Truth, we ought to have high standards of evidence (Deut, Matt (cit)), and we compromise that if we become fervent about something that turns out to be fiction or exaggeration all along.
2. Value judgements only have meaning in your worldview. This is not the same as saying that ‘only Christians can know right and wrong’ or ‘only Christians can truly be moral’ or ‘only Christians can say what is right and wrong’. For indeed, many non-Christians have accurate knowledge of many things that are right and wrong, and indeed, many non-Christians behave in (save for their unbelief) a good manner, and indeed all people will make value judgements. However, those value judgements don’t mean anything in their worldview. Let’s examine a current value judgement that is being made in our society.
   1. That it is wrong to refer to a person with the pronouns that accord to their sex, should they ‘identify’ otherwise. Whenever someone makes a value judgement, especially a false one like this, your response ought to be ‘says who?’ or ‘by what standard?’ The reason for this is that a proposition must be true for all people if someone else can demand it of you. It has to be ‘objectively’ true. That means it can’t be a matter of ‘your truth’ vs ‘their truth’, because they are demanding that what is right and good for them must also be what is right and good for you. They are imposing their morality on you by making such demands.
      1. If they answer, ‘because I say!’, then they are explicitly embracing a subjective position, (a.k.a an opinion) not an objective position (a.k.a. A fact)
      2. If they answer, ‘because this is a progressive country where we agree that this is right’, then they are appealing to consensus, and arguing that the consensus of the many is the basis for right and wrong. By that standard, they would have no grounds to criticise Hitler for his extermination of the Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, intellectuals and so on, because that program came with the consensus of the beliefs of the German populace. Whereas answer (i) was personal opinion, answer (ii) is collective opinion.
      3. If they answer, ‘because that’s just being a decent human being’, then they are making a claim about what is ultimately right and wrong. They need to appeal to a standard for right and wrong that transcends the current opinion of themselves or their countrymen, that transcends state and national borders, that in fact transcends time itself. In short, they need to appeal to God.

To summarise this point, we can simply say that a non-Christian has to borrow from the Christian worldview (that there is an objective standard of right and wrong) to critique the Christian worldview (in saying that our actions or doctrines are wrong or unfair). To make application, this means that if someone makes a claim that what you believe is unjust, or that what the Bible teaches is unethical, don’t jump to defending why you think it’s actually fair. Firstly, ask them what standard they have to appeal to, by which to make such a judgement (spoiler alert: if they’re not Christian, they can’t).

3. Don’t be surprised when non-Christians act like non-Christians. It is right and normal to flinch when someone uses God’s name as a common or vain thing, but despite that reality, it shouldn’t necessarily be a surprise when a non-Christian does it. That’s just one example. A non-Christian is not compelled by their worldview to be truthful, consistent or righteous. Now, most of them will attempt to have those qualities, generally speaking, but there is no grounds for that in their worldview. If you rebuke a Christian brother for idolising or objectifying his girlfriend/fiance/wife, then he is compelled by God’s word to heed that, and correct his course. However, if your non-Christian friend pockets a few snacks or gadgets from a shop without paying, what they’ve done is wrong (and you should still call them out on it), but their worldview provides no grounds for your claim.
   1. Dear reader, please do not hear this as this author saying that you should let your non-Christian friends sin freely, and without any question. Your commission as a bondservant of Christ is ultimately to call your friends out of a life of sin and into the supreme satisfaction of knowing God.
   2. However, this is a call to approach your non-Christian friends with wisdom. If you call them out every time they sin, then their impression of Christianity will be legalism. From your words, they will only ever hear ‘you have sinned, you have broken this rule, you shouldn’t do that in the future’, but not ‘Christ has paid the debt you could not pay, so that despite your inability to fulfil these commandments, you can have peace with God’. That last bit is something you will need to spell out, and with painstaking clarity. The gospel is not obvious. It is foolishness and a stumbling block to those in the world.
4. Everybody worships, secularism is a lie. It is a lie. Gentle reader, if you are a Christian, you are not the only person you know who has a God, and who worships. God made man to be a worshipping creature, and this is the testimony of the world and history as much as it is the testimony of Scripture. In some places, sport is worshipped. In other places, sex and popularity are worshipped. In your heart, perhaps control is worshipped. Perhaps ‘financial stability’ is your god. So often, the praise of man is what is most highly treasured, most earnestly sought after. This is (functionally) a god. As it happens, the fact that everyone has a God is very important, because it means that when you preach the gospel to someone, they are never an uninvolved 3rd party who is just not that interested in your club invite. They are worshipping the wrong God, and if they do not repent and trust in the only True and Living God, they will spend eternity in his presence, and under his condemnation. Let’s consider a couple of points of application:
   1. Firstly, this means that you must surrender the idols that you have secreted away into the inner chamber of your affections. Yes, even you, dear Christian. Yes, even you, august author of this list, pontificating from your laptop. In fact, it is only because this author sorely knows the reality of hidden idols in the life of a true Christian that he has made this the first point of application! Confess them to God, and to a mature Christian you trust for discipleship and accountability.
   2. Secondly, this means that you must learn to drop the mindset that ‘imposing your morality on others is wrong’ (which, by the way, is itself an imposition of a moral standard). You must learn to see that we are not in some school where every subject stays in its classroom, but the lunch hall is neutral territory. Your highschool worships a God, and so do its teachers and students. Your university worships a god (or probably a pantheon of them), and so do its courses and their curricula. Your workplace, your favourite fast food joint, the post office and the local council all worship. There is not a neutral atom in existence. Everything is either properly in willing and joyful submission to the Triune God of Scripture, who made the world and is redeeming it, or it is in active rebellion against him, whether that manifests as disinterest, ‘neutrality’ or outright non-Christian religion. The world is imposing its morality on you, and then calling you all sorts of names for even suggesting that your moral framework be given consideration. Blasphemy laws are still very much present in our society. Do you find this hard to accept? Today’s blasphemy is saying that a person born with XX chromosomes is a woman, and that she cannot change that fact with surgery or by simply saying so. Today’s blasphemy is saying that the murder of the unborn (abortion) is not a human right (some would go as far as to call it healthcare, which is as much evidence as is needed that we are seeing Romans 1 play itself out before our eyes). If you are a Christian, the fundamental tenets of your faith are blasphemous to the world around you. As it happens, the inverse is also true. So please, if you are zoning out, hear this: you ought to be prepared to bring the gospel to the public square. Faithfully represent Yahweh, and let the battles in the heavenly realms rage on. Treat Scripture as authoritative in your speech. Even in your essays, or work emails. God deserves the submission and worship of all realms of life. No exceptions. All things are with Christ, or against him. Secularism is an enemy of the cross, which means it has already been defeated at the cross, and will one day crumble under the sceptre of the King.
5. Rebellion, not ignorance, is the primary reason for unbelief. We have touched on this in our reflection on graveyards. As it happens, it is actually impossible to convince someone to become a Christian. What we mean by that, is that the real roadblock that is preventing a person from placing their trust in Christ is not a lack of information. If you were hoping to simply put together the most airtight case for the truthfulness of the Christian worldview, and win people for Christ simply by debate, you are embarking on a fool’s errand. To put it succinctly, it is not that non-Christians are in error, and needing correction. They are dead, and needing resurrection. They will not and cannot trust in Christ while they are still dead, and only the Holy Spirit of God can bring them to life. Let’s talk application. This means that your unbelieving friend needs to hear the gospel more than they need to hear your cosmological argument or your emotional anecdote of a miracle you heard about. Now please, please do not swing too far the other way and refuse to answer people’s legitimate questions about the faith. Scripture commands you to be ready with a defense for your faith, and as we said in point #1, all facts belong to your worldview. The truth always helps your case. Never be afraid to explain it to someone. Also pray, and pray earnestly. God has given us prayer, and we ought to make full use of it. This author is preaching to himself here. These are not the discoveries of one who has reached perfection, just the earnest sharing of truths and encouragement to fellow pilgrims.
6. Finally, people are not naturally good, so institutions or ideas built on the premise of human goodness are doomed. It is a fundamentally Christian idea to decentralise power, because the Christan recognises the proclivity of her own heart for sin, and thus casts the one true ring into the fires of Mount Doom. Or, in other words, Christians see the danger inherent in bestowing all power in one person, or one office. The danger is the human heart. We are so prone to making thrones for ourselves, and to exploiting those beneath us for our benefit. You see this in history with socialism in all its diabolical forms. It assumes that man is good, and that he will naturally arrange society into a fair and equitable plane once the violence of class oppression and exploitative capitalism has been dealt with. However, this isn’t human nature. Just as God created man to worship, the fall cursed all of man to clamber for power and supremacy. A cafe that lets its patrons pay what they can, or what they want, will soon go bankrupt.
   1. To return to the governmental examples, this Christian idea is inherent to the structure of the American division of powers across the judicial, legislative and administrative branches. The more restrictions and safeguards you can place on a leader, the better. Otherwise, give a tyrant emergency powers, and history (or Channel 9 news) shows that he will not easily give them up.
   2. Furthermore, you really don’t want to combine these concepts into a volatile cocktail, but it can certainly happen: imagine that the government creates a phone line dedicated to receiving anonymous calls from citizens who suspect that they may have witnessed a crime, or have reasonable grounds to believe that a crime is being committed. Let’s just say they added in CCTV cameras for extra coverage. If people were essentially good, this would undoubtedly have a large impact on crime, as the cumulative network of good honest citizens help weed out the few bad eggs. However, that’s not how real life works. In real life, that ends up being the CCP’s social credit system.

Dear Christian, we dearly hope that you can take these things to heart, and apply them to your life, to your thoughts, to your actions and speech. We have a powerful gospel, and it is the only one given under heaven by which men and women will be saved. It is a powerful force, full of light and truth. We have no need to fear, he is a mighty fortress, and a very present help in trouble. Now go, and walk in the good works that he has prepared for you, that you should walk in them.