So....what IS a Christian Worldview?

Last week we looked at 3 world views and compared them.   This week we will look at them again, but from the perspective of evaluating them in terms of helpful and unhelpful aspects.  I would encourage each of you to look critically at what you consider "normal" and ask yourself, "Is this way of looking at life 'Truth', or is it the construct of man?"

As a group we talked through each of the views we had studied.  The following was our consensus:

None of the world views we studied is a Christian way of life.

     The Classic Virtue View was first detailed by Aristotle, and because it works, societies have adopted it for the most part up until the 20th Century.  Because it emphasizes the group rather than the individual, it built strong societies and families over the centuries.  It held people together, using shame as a motivator.  People need a compelling reason to stay together.  Our sinful nature doesn't lend itself to harmony.
     This view kept people from getting off course, from going against the grain of Natural Law, and  kept them in a rough framework of morality and order.  
     Of the 3 worldviews, it was probably the best.  However, it stopped short of being a Christian worldview in the following ways:

1. Love was not the motivator, shame was.
2. Repression was used as a method of control.  Children were shaped by repressing socially unacceptable parts of their True Self, and made to feel ashamed when they slipped.
3. God played no part in this life.  There was no grace.
4. Only the group/family/society was held in esteem--not the individual.

     The Classic Liberal View still held to a form of morality, but instead of the group being the motivation, it became the individual.  All pretense of the individual having a "nature" was dropped, due to Naturalism that made a 'god' unnecessary.  There was no longer any blueprint for life, so life became the domain of the individual to do with as he pleased.   One no longer had anything to be ashamed of, since everyone has the right to pursue his idea of the "good life", but there would be great amounts of guilt heaped upon anyone who interfered with the individual's Right to travel their own path.
     This view has its merit in giving more emphasis to the individual.  The group is not unimportant here, but the individual is pre-eminent.

     The Post Modern View leads society into futility, hopelessness, fear of repression, suspicion of others, and rampant self-will.  There is no moral code other than what the individual chooses to live by. Perhaps the only redeeming quality of this view is the suspicion of repression.

     So where does that leave us as far as a Christian Worldview?

     Guilt and Shame are the "idiot lights" on the dashboard of our souls.  That's called having a conscience!  But what they tell us is that there is something wrong inside us, and rather than suppressing it, we need to take it to the Cross for forgiveness and receive Grace.
     Man does indeed have a God-given Nature that needs to be shaped.  Discipline is necessary, but repression is harmful to our hearts, causing them to bury things that sit and smolder under the surface, tripping us up and perpetuating our sin.  Parents, while applying discipline and structure, need also to make the child aware of what they are feeling and thinking in their hearts during conflicting situations, giving a voice to their hearts and enabling them to share with their physical parents so that they can learn to share their heart with their heavenly parent.
     Although much of the New Testament is about the unity of the Body of Christ, there is also personal responsibility to God for each individual.  The Classic Liberal View brought to light the importance of the individual, which was a good thing on the heels of a form of bondage to the group that had been the norm up until that time.
     Perhaps the sole positive contribution to a Christian view that could be made by the Post Modern View is the strong objection to repression.  We were not designed to repress parts of our Self, but to live openly before God, in full acceptance and full forgiveness.

In summary, the Christian Worldview that can be extrapolated from these worldly approaches to life would contain:

• Confession to God of parts of ourselves that bring guilt and shame rather than repressing them
• Loving the individual who God created as well as loving the Body of Christ
• Living lives that are "with the grain" of Natural Law, tempered by the Law of Love and Grace
• Individuals who are shaped into people who love and respect God and one another 
• A society that lives according to biblical principles of discipline, love of self and others, and love of God foremost.

    Lord Jesus, help us to focus on what is important to You as we are conformed in Your Image by the Holy Spirit.  Amen.