We live in an increasingly postmodern world in which truth is no longer valued to the degree it once was. More often than not, people understand “truth” to be relative and self-defined, meaning that each person defines truth in a way that seems best to him or her. Furthermore, the acceptance of “absolute truth” has become a thing of the past—an old notion that is considered to be the source of intolerance and arrogance. Every day we are bombarded by a secular worldview, which is militant to absolute truth. Standing against this tide of postmodernism is the Truth of God—objective, absolute, universal, unchanging, and made knowable through God’s Word, the Bible. And that truth is not only necessary for salvation; it is also relevant for every aspect of life. In her book Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey recalls the following quote from the late Francis Schaeffer:
Christianity is not a series of truths in the plural, but rather truth spelled with a capital “T.” Truth about total reality, not just about religious things. Biblical Christianity is Truth concerning total reality—the intellectual holding of total Truth and then living in the light of that Truth.Nancy then goes on to comment:
Genuine worldview thinking is far more than a mental strategy or a new spin on current events. At the core, it is a deepening of our spiritual character and the character of our lives. It begins with the submission of our minds to the Lord of the universe—a willingness to be taught by Him. The driving force in worldview studies should be a commitment to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind (see Luke 10:27). That’s why the crucial condition for intellectual growth is spiritual growth, asking God for the grace to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). God is not just the Savior of souls, He is also the Lord of creation. One way we acknowledge His Lordship is by interpreting every aspect of creation in light of His truth. God’s Word becomes a set of glasses offering a new perspective on all our thoughts and actions.
(Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity, © 2005)
As parents and teachers, we sometimes tend to focus almost exclusively on things of a “religious” nature, and not on those “earthier” things—things like sports, friends, school, entertainment, the environment, politics, or… Halloween. Are we training and encouraging our children to see and interpret those realities within the framework of biblical truth?A biblical worldview sees and interprets all of life through the truth of Scripture.
Building Blocks
Here are a few essentials building blocks for helping our children develop a biblical worldview in every aspect of life: Teach our children…- that God is the source of all truth and that His Word, the Bible, is truth. Proverbs 30:5, Isaiah 40:8; 45:19, John 17:17, 2 Timothy 3:16
- a biblical understanding of God’s nature and character. Isaiah 44:24; 45:7; 46:9-11, Romans 11:33-36, 1 Timothy 6:15-16
- that Biblical truth is relevant to everything in life. Colossians 1:15-19, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 10:31
- to evaluate all things through the truth of Scripture: biblical discernment. Romans 12:1-2, Colossians 2:8, Hebrews 5:14
- the enlightening and transforming truth of the Gospel. John 14:6, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Ephesians 2:1-10, 2 Thessalonians 2:13
- that biblical worldview is meant to point them to true, lasting joy. Psalm 16:11; 19:7-11; 119:24, 43, Proverbs 22:17-18, Jeremiah 15:16, John 8:31-32
- to boldly proclaim God’s truth in a spirit of humility. Colossians 4:6, Ephesians 4:29, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; 2:1-5
- to expect opposition and to be prepared to stand firm. Matthew 5:11, John 15:18, Philippians 2:15, Ephesians 6:10-18
