How should We View Our World
How Should We View Our World?
. World View: A way of looking at or thinking about the world so as to make sense of things, to know how to act or respond in any situation, and to know one’s own place, responsibility, and significance in the world. (My own definition).
. Nearly everyone has a world view, whether they realize it or not. Most of us, in our own limited way, try to ‘make sense’ of things. We may not attempt to understand the vast universe in all of its detail and complexity, but we do feel the need to understand our own world of experiences, relationships and duties. We need a sense of identity, a knowledge of who we are and what we should be doing in our world.
. But many of our world views are inadequate and too limited in scope. Many of our beliefs and attitudes, if submitted to critical analysis, would be found to be based on prejudice, cultural conditioning (being ‘raised to think this way’), or unreliable information. And there are probably many important topics and issues on which we don’t even have a certain opinion. We don’t know what to believe or feel about some things, so we just sort of ‘play it by ear’ and hope that we never have to make up our minds.
. But the fast-paced world in which we live today doesn’t wait for us to deliberate before it demands from us important moral, social and spiritual choices. Decisions must often be made immediately, and we may be caught in the dilemma of not knowing what is right, yet nevertheless having to respond.
. Often the easiest route is to allow the circumstances to push us in one direction or another, or to follow majority opinion. Many young men and women, for example, who have never seriously thought about how they feel concerning war and its moral status, could in the future suddenly face a military draft. Circumstances are definitely in favor of simply submitting to the draft (the current registration laws also help in that direction) — it’s considered ‘unpatriotic’ to refuse to fight for one’s country. So, a great many people’s decisions will be easy, as the world around them will ‘squeeze’ them ‘into its mold’ (the paraphrase that J. B. Phillips gives to Romans 12:2).
. All this is not to say whether war is always wrong (I don’t feel certain myself), simply that such important decisions as whether or not to participate in violent combat resulting in the deaths of many human beings should be based on firm and reasoned convictions — not on blind faith in public or majority opinion, the wisdom of the politicians, or on the ease of following the path of least resistance.
. We who are Christians believe that we have access to a reliable source of guidance. God has revealed himself and his will in the writings of the Hebrew scriptures and through the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as reported and expounded upon in the New Testament. Why is it, then, that Christians often seem to be as much in the dark on moral and social issues as non-Christians?
. Part of the answer surely lies in weak and sinful human nature. For example, Although Christians know the forgiving, renewing mercy of Christ, they’re not immune to sinful attitudes toward other social and racial classes or apathy regarding others’ sufferings.
. But another part of the answer lies in the fact that although Christians have the resources available to develop the most adequate of world views, they either fail to work on such a development or that which they do construct is based on faulty methods of Biblical interpretation. The New Testament, for example, does not sanction second-class status for women or blacks, but some Christians have been guilty of using scripture passages outside of their proper contexts to rationalize and support prejudice and discrimination. Neither does Genesis chapters one and two indicate how God created the universe, but some Christians have used these passages as scientific documents to argue against the theory of evolution. The Bible, when understood properly, does not conflict with scientific knowledge, although it may conflict with unsound theory.
. It also seems at times that some Christians are too “heavenly minded.” To many Christians salvation and redemption is a matter of “pie in the sky when you die,” or when Jesus returns, whichever comes first. And, “though I won’t set a date (for no man knows the exact hour), look for Him somewhere near 19– (insert arbitrarily chosen year here).” Many such Christians understand the Gospel as a matter of being saved from eternal judgment and being assured of eternal life after the grave. Nothing is said about this present life, except that we should live in joy because of our future reward, and that we should always live right so that we won’t miss the “rapture” if Jesus should return today or tomorrow. And, since he will be returning any time now, we should be primarily concerned with getting everybody “saved” beforehand. There’s no time for long-term commitments to social and moral causes which are probably futile anyway.
. This is also an adequate perspective, both Biblically and morally. Christ did command us to announce the Good News to every creature (Matt. 28, Mark 16), but he also made it clear from his example that we are to be likewise concerned for people’s physical needs. He constantly went about healing physical illnesses, and two of his greatest miracles had to do with feeding multitudes.
. Young Christians who are presently involved in developing a world view need to approach their task carefully, critically, and in a sincere attempt to understand what is necessary for an adequate perspective. With this in mind, I’d like to suggest a few guiding principles.
. To begin with, the Bible states that God created the physical universe (Genesis 1 & 2), and that man was given the responsibility of bringing nature under to subjection to God’s will and purpose (or, in Biblical language, to “have dominion” over all of creation). Platonic dualism, wherein the material world is considered an evil prison from which man must seek to be freed, has had an unhealthy influence on Christian thought since the early Church ages. But if God created the material world, then it is not bad in itself. Otherwise, we would be attributing evil or imperfection to his character. But it is what man does with the world that makes it a either a good or a bad place, not the mere fact that it is physical (meaning to many, non-spiritual).
. And because the universe is God’s creation, because man is meant to exercise dominion as a steward over it, we must make room within our world view for a positive attitude toward the natural and physical sciences. The scientific study of the world enables us to grow in our understanding of God’s way with nature and, very importantly, how we can more wisely exercise our responsibilities as nature’s stewards.
. Science and technology has been misused to bring much harm to nature, but the evil has been due to sinful man, not to science itself. Science has also enabled us to develop such things as effective vaccinations against many diseases, farming methodologies that tremendously increase agricultural production (surely, feeding the world is not a bad thing), and surgical and delivery room procedures that have greatly increased surgery and birth survival rates. Christianity has nothing to fear from the sciences, for “all truth is God’s truth.” If we don’t speak out for the use of science and technology for morally worthwhile purposes, they definitely will be used by others to achieve immoral goals (as they often are now). We can’t turn back the clock and return to ignorance — we need all the scientific understanding that we can achieve in in order to survive on planet earth.
. Neither should we have the attitude: “Well, Jesus will come soon and all this mess will be over” in order to avoid dealing with problems. The Apostle Paul also thought Christ might return within his lifetime. What if Jesus doesn’t return in this generation? What if the professional interpreters of Biblical prophecy have somehow gotten off-track? Might we then through the above attitude be guilty of having neglected our duty to our world?
. Let’s work against such a possibility. Christ became flesh, got involved in the world in order to redeem it, and he said, “As the Father hath sent me, so send I you.” (John 20:21) The Incarnation is God’s affirmation that his will is to redeem the physical, material world, not simply to judge and destroy it.
. Another essential requirement for a wholesome world view is an adequate concept of God’s love and purpose for us. We Christians know that God loved us so much that “He gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) But God’s love and will encompasses much more than the forgiveness brought by Christ’s death on the cross. He also desires to restore us to a close, intimate relationship with him, whereby our own personalities will be fundamentally changed and renewed, and we will gradually become the whole persons that he created us to be.
. But God doesn’t love only those who choose to believe in Christ. “He makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil.” (Matt. 5:45) God loves and cares for the needs of all people, whether they know his redeeming grace or not. His care is much more than concern for their souls. He created the whole person and he is concerned for human need at all levels of being: physical, mental and social as well as spiritual.
. As Christ’s disciples, should our concerns be any less? He has called us to love as he loves, to be his hands and feet, his body in this world. Our world view must make room for a love broad enough to reach out to human need wherever it exists.
. Finally, we need to take a close look at how we can work for social change on a larger scale. Not only do we need to influence individual lives through close personal relationships, but we should follow the example of Old Testament prophets such as Jeremiah and Isaiah, who cried out against sin and injustice committed by their society’s major institutions. The governments and religious establishments of their days were often guilty of oppressing the poor and favoring the rich, and sanctioning immoral practices and policies. Should we in the Christian “dispensation” be any less involved than Jeremiah in working for greater social and economic justice, and for a society openly and sincerely committed to the things that please God and benefit all men?
. Christ called his disciples the light of the world and the salt of the earth. These analogies imply that our influence is to spread further than just individual persons — we are to affect our whole environment. We are exhorted by Paul, in I Timothy 2:1-2, to pray for all those in governmental authority; should our concern stop there?
. As Christians, we should be aware that our responsibility doesn’t end with prayer for others’ needs — we are to do all we can to help meet those needs. Surely, this should include things such as addressing the sins of large corporations and institutions, as well as governments. Wherever society’s structure causes or supports injustice and human suffering, that’s where Christians need to be working toward change for the better.
. The development of an adequate world view is a life-long undertaking, as we will be continually adjusting and rearranging it as we mature in the knowledge of who we are and what we are about.
Charles Shelton
Computers for Christ – Chicago