The Importance Of A Christian Worldview

I subscribe to a few daily/weekly newsletters and every once in awhile they deliver some real gems like this one from Memorial Lutheran School on Houston, TX the other day...

 

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. -- Colossians 2:8 

Classical education aims to prepare children to see the world as it really is. This is done by logically exposing faulty presuppositions and refuting inadequate arguments. For example, many evolutionary theories presuppose a philosophy of naturalism, suggesting that God is unnecessary in order to explain the origin or development of the world. Multiculturalists presuppose the view of non-judgmentalism, claiming that no culture or law code is better or worse than another. Many socialists believe the theory of social progress and utopianism, hoping that more regulation and more money will solve the world's problems so that people will have no reason to commit crimes. 

These are faulty presuppositions that yield a distorted view of reality. Try as we might, people will always be sinners and do bad things, the reality is that systems of justice which acknowledge biblical precepts are better than others, and ignoring God's part in the universe does not change His role in the creation and preservation of our world. 

St. Paul warns against false philosophies, human tradition, and distorted worldviews. And he affirms that to understand the world aright we must know Christ. Christ, the Alpha and Omega, is the center and Lord of history. Christ, who sustains all things by His powerful word, is the creator and designer of all that scientists, historians, and mathematicians study. Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, is the only one who can give the full riches of complete understanding (Colossians 2:2). 

Classical education, to view the world aright, must therefore teach Christ. St. Paul says, "My purpose is that you may be encouraged in heart and united in love, [and] ... so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments." False philosophies in the world abound, but the true worldview is found in Christ Jesus, our Lord. 

*- Rev. William Heine, Headmaster, Memorial Lutheran School

Isn't that beautiful? It's so true too.

As another Christian blog put it...

We live in a global society with a multitude of worldviews: religious (Christian, Pseudo-Christian, Non-Christian), political, cultural, philosophical and ethical. There is no one universal worldview held by all who call themselves Christian. How are we to judge the many different worldview we encounter? Can any human come up with a standard to judge by? No. Only God can give us the standard. The Bible is God's revelation to us, not human speculation about God (2 Peter 1:21). The Bible deals with humanity's greatest need -- the need for redemption (Romans 3:23). The Bible transcends age, time and culture (1 Peter 1:25). Jesus says he is the only way to heaven and that the Bible is God's errorless Word (John 14:6 and John 17:17) The Bible is the guiding norm and the Lutheran Confessions are the guided norm. The Lutheran Confessions accurately reflect what the Bible teaches, they agree with God's Word and guide our worldview.

What is a Biblical Christian (a.k.a. Confessional Lutheran) worldview?

In a Lutheran layman's terms, it's one that's centered on Jesus Christ and His redemptive work, and one that's always grounded in Scripture.



NOTE: Please understand that I'm not a called and ordained minister of God's Word and Sacraments. I'm a layman or just a regular Christian, Executive Recruiter, Husband, Father, Friend who lives in the "City of Good Neighbors" here on the East Coast. To be more specific, and relevant to the point I want to make with this disclaimer/note, please understand that I'm also a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism a little more than 2 years ago now. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is inconsistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and repeatedly point us back to over and over again) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray (James 3:1). Also, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote for this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that "Old Evangelical Adam" category since I was a "Lutheran-In-Name-Only" at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a Christian "Book of Concord" even existed (Small/Large Catechism? What's that!?!). This knowledge of the Lutheran basics was completely foreign to me even though I was baptized, confirmed, and married in an LCMS church! So, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by those old beliefs of mine. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because they are not blasphemous/heretical, because we now have this disclaimer, and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Most importantly, please know that any time I engage in commenting on and/or interpreting a specific portion of the holy Scriptures, it will always closely follow the verse-by-verse notes from my Lutheran Study Bible and/or include references to the Book of Concord unless otherwise noted. Typically, I defer to what other Lutheran Pastors both past and present have already preached and taught about such passages since they are the called and ordained shepherds of our souls here on earth. Finally, I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the length of most entries (this disclaimer/note is a perfect example of what I mean! haha). I'm well aware that blogs should be short, sweet, and to the point, but I've never been one to follow the rules when it comes to writing. Besides, this website is more like a "Christian Dude's Diary" in the sense that everything I write about and share publicly isn't always what's "popular" or "#trending" at the time, but is instead all the things that I'm studying myself at the moment. For better or for worse, these posts tend to be much longer than most blog entries you'll find elsewhere only because I try to pack as much info as possible into a single piece so that I can refer to it again and again over time if I need to (and so that it can be a valuable resource for others -- if possible, a "One-Stop-Shop" of sorts). Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Feel free to comment/email me at any time. Grace and peace to you and yours!

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