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War of World Views
by Kate Warren Sin. It happened in the days of Adam, of Noah, of Jesus and still happens today. God created a way of living, a philosophy of life protect us from sin and keep us in a close relationship with Him. For the most part, man has chosen different paths that lead away from His guidance and righteousness. Worldviews are a politically correct way of explaining why people put their own ideas in front of God's ideas. There are four major worldviews today and this article will cover two of them: Postmodernism and Christian/Biblical. Postmodernism is a term used to describe a way of thinking ruled by humanistic relativism. Its beginnings can be found in the writings of Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud. These ideas are very close to new age thinking whichallow individuals to create their own reality and morality. God and traditional teachings tend to be ignored. There is no absolute truth, no absolute right and wrong. This flies in the face of a Christian or Biblical worldview which is founded on the Bible and accepted by Christians and Jews to be the infallible Word of God. It sets moral boundaries as found in the Ten Commandments and requires a total commitment to all of its tenants. If you disagree with one part, you must then disagree with all. In addition,if you agree with a Biblical world view, as stated in James, that belief should be evidenced in your life for faith without works is dead. A Biblical Worldview requires action while a Post-modernistic worldview requires adherents to do nothing. We are constantly under a barrage of messages from a worldly view modern society has adopted. We are besieged with it from the commercials we see on the television to the articles we read in our newspapers and magazines, to the teaching our children receive in school. We are a society of instant gratification, pleasure of body and mind through drink, drugs, video, and sex. Just recently this country legalized gay marriage. Service providers for weddings did not all welcome the new legislation. When they turned down potential bookings because it was a gay affair, they faced with major lawsuits, prosecution on civil rights issues, ostracism by their communities, and embarrassing negative news coverage. Many lost their homes and their livelihood. These individuals were labeled as intolerant, homophobic, haters as well as a myriad of other unflattering terms. Man gave himself over to this same sexual sin in the days of Noah lapsing into sexual sin of every conceivable type. As a result of the sinfulness, which went far beyond deviant sexual appetites, God had Noah build an ark and He flooded the world and started again with Noah's family. Man fell away again as evidenced by Sodom and Gomorrah. Although the post-modernistic view espouse relativism; adherents become extremely defensive, even intolerant of a Biblical world view. Relativism allows Post-modernists to embrace sex before marriage, abortion, selling of fetal body parts, transgenderism, same sex marriage and the right to adopt and raise children. Adherents of a Biblical Worldview find these actions and philosophies abhorrent. The result is pointed intolerance of Biblical views. Simply put, the two philosophical concepts are diametrically opposed, there is no common ground. There are "Christian" churches that are actually post-modernistic. They have set aside Biblical teachings and replaced them with statements such as "God is Love" and theorize from that statement that God loves all mankind and would never sentence anyone to an eternity in hell. God does love all mankind He loves the sinner, but hates the sin. Thus, if the sinner does not repent of his sin, there is no alternative but hell. For if we do not accept the mercy offered by Jesus Christ, we must face the judgement of the law. As Jesus stated in John: John 3:16-18(NIV) "16For God so lovedthe world that he gavehis one and only Son,that whoever believesin him shall not perish but have eternal life.17For God did not send his Son into the worldto condemn the world, but to save the world through him.18Whoever believes in him is not condemned,but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." It is not enough to believe in Jesus, or to acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God and that He came to die for our sins. One must repent of sin and recognize Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior. Continued and purposeful sin evidences that no spiritual rebirth has occurred. A truly born again Christian accepts the teachings of Jesus. Psalm 19 says. The law of theLordis perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of theLordare trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8The precepts of theLordare right, giving joyto the heart. The commands of theLordare radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9The fear of theLordis pure, enduring forever. The decrees of theLordare firm, and all of them are righteous. If the law of the Lord is perfect and his statues trustworthy and the precepts right, then it is incumbent on a believer to follow them. If an individual can set aside emotion and simply compare the two worldviews, it begins to become obviousthat some serious introspection needs to be done. I will leave you with one more bible verse to consider. 18Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.19Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit whom you have received from God? You are not your own;20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Katy Curry kafrak.com Kathy is a retired teacher in SW Florida who enjoys writing about politics, faith in Jesus Christ, and other topics as they seem timely. www.kafrak.com Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |