Biblical Accuracy Matters.
Having a biblical worldview is essential for the Christian. The Bible displays God in all of His glory and perfection as it tells mankind of His purpose for natural creation and for man himself, who is created in His image, and that purpose is to glorify Him in every thought, word, and deed. With a solid, biblical worldview, the believer can be assured of his decisions when he considers God’s thoughts about life and its purpose.
A Christian worldview creates a grid that the believer has in his mind as he traverses through life. That grid can control his thoughts which in turn determine the words he will say and the deeds he will do. With a correct, biblical grid, the believer will think the good and therefore do the good. He will also evaluate everything that comes into his life through that grid, always testing philosophies and actions with that grid/value system in mind. Consequently, when he reads/learns something new that has not yet been filtered through that grid, he should take time to question the root of the philosophy in order to judge if it is Christian or not, biblical or not. For instance, in the poem The Creation, James Weldon Johnson obviously desires to communicate a regard for God and for His creation. In very honoring images, the poet acknowledges that God created the universe and that He made it beautiful. That concept is very precious and, more importantly, true. However, when Johnson explains the reason for His creating everything including mankind, he states that “God was lonely.” That presumption is wrong. It is a wrong understanding of who God is. God is not lonely; He loves His relationship with His Son and with the Holy Spirit. The triune God is perfect, whole, and “satisfied”, if you will, with Himself. He doesn’t NEED man. He doesn’t NEED creation. Delightfully, He chose to create man and the natural world, and we are the benefactors of His delight in Himself and His joy in creation, but we are not necessary for His joy to be complete. So when we encounter a poem like this one, we can acknowledge that a writer has a desire to communicate God’s beauty, but we must measure the poem against God’s word and the biblical worldview that is in place in our minds.
In society, we can often wonder about various wicked leaders and their actions, but when we know Scripture (Ps. 37) and know that God puts “kings” in place and removes them as He sees fit, we can rest in His sovereign rule over the world. We can “be anxious for nothing,” Phil 4:6, and thereby fulfill our purpose of glorifying Him. Without a biblical worldview, we will be tossed about by every wave of doctrine (James 1:6); we will doubt God’s goodness and sovereignty. A strong Christian worldview establishes a strong and fruitful life in Him.
By Patti Frisk
