What is a Christian Worldview?

A Christian Worldview is not simply how a Christian sees the world.  It is not how a missionary looks at the world through the lens of evangelism, and it is not how the worship leader looks at the world through the lens of what may or may not be played on the pipe organ.  Instead, it is a worldview that lays its foundation in Scripture, views all of life in the context of the complete canon of that Scripture, and seeks to understand all of life as valuable to God.  In short, the Christian worldview should encompass how every believer “ought to be driven, that is, informed and guided by the coherent theology of the total biblical metanarrative with its cosmic scope and matching emphasis on the totality of life under the authority and blessings of the triune God." [1]

Holding to a Christian worldview takes several simultaneous steps of great importance.  The first is letting go of dualism.  Often times Christians take a somewhat Gnostic approach to life by believing that all spiritual things are good, but that all physical things are evil, bad, or just not important.  To think Christianly, one cannot hold to this idea.  God created the whole man, body and soul, and He is redeeming both elements through Jesus Christ.  Therefore, a person is important in his or her entirety, including the way one thinks, feels, and acts with reference to every aspect of life.  Just as the Church is to minister to the needs of the whole person who knocks on the door needy, so God ministers to the whole person in this life as He provides both physically and spiritually for His creation.

The second step that someone seeking an understanding of a Christian Worldview must take is to be willing to see value in all things.  In Scripture we find stories relating to issues of government, agriculture, fellowship, pleasure, love, and worship.  Every aspect of life must be viewed as meaningful, including all these things and more.  To understand the totality of life under the authority of God is to see God in everything from the way one finds pleasure, to the way one works, to the way one worships and prays.

The third and most important step that someone must take in order to grasp and accept the Christian worldview is to adopt a hermeneutic of trust when reading Scripture.  In other words, Scripture must be read in a way that trusts what it says as the absolute authority governing all aspects of life; as the meta-narrative by which all things in life must be judged.  To do this, one must become familiar with what Scripture has to say collectively concerning all aspects of life.  This is a lifelong process, but one well worth the time and effort of every believer.  As each of us reads Scripture, interprets it, and evaluates it in context with the rest of Scripture, we will be able to strengthen our own beliefs and continually mold them to the patterns that God desires His children to follow in life.

Application

If all aspects of life are to be viewed and evaluated by the whole of Scripture, then the creative capacities individuals possess should also be viewed and evaluated by Scripture.  These creative processes do not only include art, but even the technology that humans have used to produce art.  Because humans are fallen and in a sinful state, much art that is produced does not line up with the Christian Worldview.  This does not mean that someone who is not a Christian cannot produce good art, but it does mean that Scripture must evaluate art just like everything else in life.  The purpose of this newsletter is to look critically at art in such a way that the good will not be looked past even when the work being evaluated is not created by a Christian.  In addition to evaluating art, this newsletter is designed to help believers think more Christianly about life; to develop a Christian worldview.  While this worldview is directly related to art, it is also directly related to every other area of life.  It is my prayer that you will take this section of the newsletter in months to come and read it not only in reference to how it applies to music or movies, but also to see how the issues discussed apply to work, friends, family, and Church.  I hope that you will use this letter to help you think more biblically and that this letter will be used by God to draw you into deeper fellowship with Him.

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