How we look at the world must be rooted in scripture
PART TWO OF THREE
By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross
How we think and act on information is influenced by our culture, our attitudes, our upbringing and the people we put in our lives. For Christians, how we think about the world around us needs to be one that’s influenced by our faith in Jesus and knowledge of scripture.
That’s called a “world view.”
It’s how owning a gun can be natural to many Americans but in Canada and England, far fewer people even think about owning one. As similar as the countries are, there are different worldviews influenced by their cultures.
Our world view as Christians MUST be grounded in scripture and influenced by a desire to live the way Jesus wants us to live.
There is no other way.
Having a Christian world view means we are going to want to seek out what is true.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Paul is encouraging us to look for what is right and good in the world around us and focus on that.
We live in a time where false information spreads like wildfire across social media platforms. When we aren’t operating from a Christian world view, we are going to have strong opinions about issues that affect us that aren’t shaped by truth. The false information is put out there by people who are putting their own interests first, wanting to shape how you think about the issue, person, circumstance or situation they are talking about, often for political or financial gain. They’ve formed their opinion without a Christian world view and often can’t be trusted. Their motivations are to get you to think the way they do. Some don’t even believe what they have shared or put out there. They simply say what they think you want to hear to collect views, clicks and likes for financial gain.
When we share information, are we doing the same thing? Are we sharing something because we want it to be true and want to sway others to believe it too or are we sharing something that we know is true. There’s a big difference and for Christians, it should only be because we know it is true. As Paul said, what’s noble and true are what we should be focused on.
As Christians, we need to be people other Christians can trust as well when we seek advice or wisdom on how to act on the information around us.
In the age of social media, it’s hard to know what is true sometimes. We have such strong opinions, particularly about politics right now, that we believe anything that supports our view without checking the sources or having any reason to know it’s true other than to us, it is something we want to believe is true. We are to the point where we are making life choices and ending friendships over believing information that isn’t real. In a way, that’s like living in a false reality.
It’s okay for you and I to look at the same facts and truths and come to a different opinion about it. As long as we’re doing our best to apply the Bible and seeking godly wisdom to know how to respond to the truths we are pursuing, we can still come to a different conclusion from someone else. Whether dealing with other Christians or not, as long as we still treat people we disagree with the same same way Jesus would, we still maintain our integrity and are still interacting with the world around us based on a Christian approach to knowledge that is real.
And when we’re focused on what is real, noble and praiseworthy to God, God is glorified and our hearts are more at peace with the world around us.
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