In my previous post I wrote, "If you have a high position then of course you will have large influence in the society. And if you are a Christian then your influence will be also Christian or biblical, since your worldview shapes what you do." I had previously thought that this was common sense, until I came accross these words in the first page of Total Truth: "It doesn't matter how many Christians gain positions of influence in the cultural gatekeeping institutions if we don’t permit our worldview to shape what we do" (William Wichterman, congressional aide). This sentence surprised me. I had too naively thought that as Christians, everything we do will be automatically shaped by our Christian worldview. But the fact is different. A great number of Christians do not know how to express "a Christian philosophy of business, politics, or culture."
I have been reading Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity, a really good book (even if I have not finished reading it), which I think should be read by any Christian, whom Jesus called as the salt and light of the world. This book will help us to go out of the sacred/secular, private/public, or fact/value split, which has been dominating our world today--without us realising it--and has prevented us to let our faith speak to every aspects of life. As emphasized by the author, many Christians are satisfied with being a Christian in their work, and never bother to have a biblical framework on the work itself. Some perhaps have realised that it is not enough just being a Christian in their work, but they don't know how to craft a Christian worldview, a Christian philosophy, on their work. Hence it is the call of this book for all Christians to live out our faith in every areas of life, for in fact if we truly believe our faith to be the truth, then we will see it as a total world- and life-view.
The fact that we do not regard our faith as total truth--and so we lock our faith in a private compartment of our lives--runs contrary to the Scriptures. For if God is the Lord of all creation, then all creation--every single area of life--must bow to His Word. Furthermore, the Bible does not talk about the redemption of souls only, but also the whole creation. We, the redeemed people, are God's agents to bring redemption unto this world. If we truly believe that the Word of God shines upon every aspect of our lives, then, we should have a Christian philosophy of everything, yes, everything under the sun.
What really matters is then to have a correct view of our faith as a worldview, and to let it shape everything that we do. "The most effective work ... is done by ordinary Christians fulfilling God's calling to reform culture within their local spheres of influence--their families, churches, schools, neighborhoods, workplaces, professional organizations, and civic institutions. In order to effect lasting change, ... we need to develop a Christian worldview" (Total Truth, p.19).
3 comments:
Amen, bro Adi! Our people in the marketplace not only need to be competent in wat they do, but also equipped w a christian worldview to influence it... but too often, ministry is defined in terms of ecclesiastical tasks only...
we need to equip people for the 'agora' of life.. send and empower them to minister in the markeplace :)
http://theagora.blogspot.com
Hi there,
Quoting you,
"...Christian philosophy of everything, yes, everything under the sun..."
A Christian philosophy of mathematics? Now what shape would that take....jus wonderin'
I believe too that we are placed in positions of influence for a reason, but I'm a little skeptical of the part of the Faith being a worldview...
I admit I haven't read Nancy Pearcy's book, but from the relevant parts you've quoted,..I sometime have this nagging and iggy feeling that we jeapordise the good work we do silently, by casting it as a product of a Christian Worldview. (capitals intentional)...to illustrate my point:
"(1)The most effective work ... is done by ordinary Christians fulfilling God's calling to reform culture within their local spheres of influence--their families, churches, schools, neighborhoods, workplaces, professional organizations, and civic institutions. (2)In order to effect lasting change, ... we need to develop a Christian worldview"
I agree with (1), but I'm a little skeptical about (2) and I'm sure that (2) does not follow from (1).
Call me a pessimist, but the stretch of history has shown that there is no lasting change brought about by any kind of philosophy (religious or secular), if there is a change in social mores, it is often the silent work of those godly people who laboured under a love for God and man, with little thought of 'worldviews'...
Just my humble opinion.
I definitely agree with you that "if there is a change in social mores, it is often the silent work of those godly people who laboured under a love for God and man, with little thought of 'worldviews'." But this doesn't mean that we don't need to develop a Christian worldview. Perhaps those with little thought of 'worldviews' are the ones who understand Christian worldview more than others. For if we truly live an integrated lives, meaning that we allow our faith to shape everything we do, then we really don't need to talk about 'worldviews'. But why all these talks about worldviews? Because Christians are not living out their faith totally. They might be sincere in their work, for example, but often they adopt wordly practices without realising it. How are we going to reform culture within our local spheres of influence, if we don't let our faith shape all that we do? And this is not easy, since the world we live today is dominated by so-called secular philosophies which may not be biblical. To know where they came from, we need to trace those philosophies back along history and see where and why they run contrary to the Scriptures.
An example on the Christian philosophy of mathematics I shall quote from the book Total Truth:
"...as soon as we try to explain what we know, ... our spiritual and philosophical assumptions come into play. Take, for example, mathematics. You might not think there is a Christian view of mathematics, but there is. Certainly everyone, believer or not, will agree that 5+7=12. But when you ask how to justify mathematical knowledge, people split into several competing camps.
The ancient Greeks, standing at the dawn of Western history, are famous for having discovered Euclidean geometry. But they did not believe the material world itself exhibited a precise mathematical order, because they regarded matter as independently existing, recalcitrant stuff that would never completely 'obey' mathematical rules. So they kept mathematics locked up in an abstract Platonic 'heaven.'
By contrast, most of the early modern scientists were Christians; they believed that matter was not preexisting but had come from the hand of God. Thus it had no power to resist His will but would 'obey' the rules He had laid down--with mathematical precision. ...
Today, however, most philosophers no longer even regard mathematics as a body of truths. The dominant philosophy of mathematics treats it as a social construction, like the game of baseball. ... It's not true or false; it's just the way we choose to play the game.
Even American schoolchildren are now taught this postmodern view of math. A popular middle school curriculum says students should learn that 'mathematics is man-made, that it is arbitrary, and good solutions are arrived at by consensus among those who are considered expert.' ...
... if math is arbitrary, then there are no wrong answers, just different perspectives. In Minnesota, teachers are instructed to be tolerant of 'multiple mathematical worldviews.' In New Mexico, I met a young man who had recently graduated from high school, where a mathematics teacher had labeled him a 'bigot' for thinking it was important to get the right answer. As long as students worked together in a group and achieved consenses, the teacher insisted, the outcome was acceptable.
This means that even the simplest, most universal form of knowledge--mathematics--is subject to sometimes radically differing worldview interpretations. Clearly, the impact of worldview will grow even larger as we move up the scale into more complex fields, like biology, economics, law, or ethics.
The danger is that if Christians do not consciously develop a biblical approach to the subject, then we will unconsciously absorb some other philosophical approach. ..."
I may not and could not possibly have answered your questions in a limited space. If I could, then Nancy Pearcey would not need to write a book on the issue. I suggest that you read the book. I heartily recommend it for every Christians. But just a final note, because there is only one God, and one Truth, it should encompass all aspects of creation. And if God is the Lord of all creation, isn't it a logical consequence that everything, be it spiritual or material, should bow to His will as set in the Scriptures? Remember the song "This is My Father's World"? It says, "...that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet." We should remember always that God reigns. That is our comfort and with that, we can be assured that He is in control as He invites us to join in His redeeming plan.
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