Strategy for a Biblical Worldview
By Jeff Myers, Ph.D
November/December 2001 Family Voice

No one can know anything for sure. “I am the way,”  There are no absolutes. “the truth,”  A person creates his own meaning in life. “and the life.”  —John 14:6a NIV

In a wealthy suburb of Indianapolis, I asked a group of high school students, “Was Adolf Hitler wrong in murdering millions of Jews?” They said yes. I asked them why. They did not realize that their response was chilling.

“Well, you see,” they said, “Hitler was defeated by the Allies. And in war, like everything else, the victor gets to define reality. The Allies determined that what Hitler had done was wrong. Therefore, he was wrong.”

These students all came from fine Christian homes, so there was no excuse for them to be ignorant of the moral implications of that reply. Only one student demurred. “I think Hitler would have been wrong, even if he had won the war and brainwashed everyone into believing he was right.” This lone student could articulate a moral absolute.

We are engaged today in a battle between worldviews. Ultimately our battle is not against flesh and blood. At stake are the hearts and souls of America’s youth, who are leaving the faith at an unprecedented rate. Our involvement as Christians must go beyond political action. We must understand and defend a Biblical worldview in all of life. Furthermore, we must impart this Biblical worldview to the youth who will lead the next generation.

Three Deceptive Philosophies
Paul says, “See to it that no one takes you captive, through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world, rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8). Three philosophies deceive young people such as those I met in Indianapolis and, I suspect, most adults as well.

The first deceptive philosophy is: No one can say what is right and what is wrong. Students today say, “Maybe you think adultery, abortion or homosexuality is wrong. But who are you to decide for everyone else?” According to a Gallup Poll, 82 percent of college students said they believe in no absolute truths.

My mentor Dr. David Noebel (the founder of Summit Ministries) prepared me to refute this philosophy on my college campus. When one of my professors proclaimed, “There are no absolute truths,” I asked him, “Professor, are you sure?”

He said, “Yes, I’m sure.”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

He stared at me. “You’re very clever,” he said. “If I say there are no absolutes, then that is an absolute statement. Let me revise my remarks. There is one absolute, which is this: There are no absolutes.”

The careless illogic of his reply stunned me. He refused to see the truth. This should not surprise Christians, however. Proverbs 4:19 says, “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness. They do not even know what makes them stumble.” Without a moral compass, people cannot make rational decisions about what is right and wrong for themselves or for society.

The second deceptive philosophy is: No one can know anything for sure. My philosophy professor taught this on the first day of class. He asked, “How do you know the sky is blue? Maybe it’s green, but society has conditioned you to call it blue.” After several such examples, he crowed, “My point is that you can’t know anything for sure.”

The postmodern mindset has embraced this philosophy with a vengeance. German philosopher Martin Heidegger said, “In the naming, the things named come into their thinging. Thinging they unfold the world, in which things abide, and so are abiding ones.” In other words, there is no such thing as objective reality; reality is what each person creates for himself through communication with others.

I disagree with this for a very practical reason. A number of years ago, I started a company to train students in wilderness survival. On the last day of our trips, the guides left camp and told students to meet them at the trailhead, using a map and compass. The students were in the middle of nowhere, but they always found their way back.

Imagine what would happen, however, if the young man with the compass had an enormous magnet strapped to this back. “I am the North Pole,” he’d say. Without a fixed point of reference, those students might still be wandering in the Colorado wilderness!

The third idea that takes people captive is this: The only meaning in life is what you create for yourself. We live in perhaps the most self-centered age in our nation’s history. Everyone seems to be saying, “I have a right not to have your existence affect my life.” People move from the front porch to the back deck. They stop singing around the piano and start wearing headphones. The populace cries, “Leave me alone!” and perhaps the ultimate hell is that this wish would be granted.

Every Thought Captive
These deceptive philosophies are taking young people and adults captive at an astonishing rate. We must reclaim this lost ground by developing a strong, effective Biblical worldview. The apostle Paul wrote, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And we take captive every thought, to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

The Bible teaches that to take every thought captive we must first embrace the truth found in Jesus Christ. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” This is indeed a deep statement, for the great philosophers have struggled to answer three questions: What is good? What is true? And finally, what is beautiful?

In Jesus’ day, “the way” referred to a moral course of action. By claiming to be the way, Jesus claimed to be the standard for right and wrong. When He said He was “the truth,” He said that the nature and character of God defined all reality, and that He himself was God made flesh. When He claimed to be “the life,” Jesus established himself as the standard for that which was worthwhile, that which was beautiful.

In this simple statement, Jesus revealed himself to be the answer to the philosopher’s quest. Only one pursuit in all of life yields unending satisfaction: a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The second way to take every thought captive is to see the conflicts of our age as a battle between competing views of God. One says that God created us, and He gives us purpose. Since we are made in his image, we ought to reflect His nature and character in every sphere of life, including politics.

But today’s secular elite rejects this view. They embrace the idea that human beings invented the idea of God to help them cope in a “meaningless” universe.

The chasm between these two views is unbridgeable. Those who hold that belief in God is inherently irrational are deeply offended when Christians try to get involved. They scoff, “Who do these Christians think they are to impose their irrational ideas about some make-believe ‘god’ on us?” They openly disdain any religious person who wants to influence government based on their beliefs.

Sadly, most Christians have been intimidated into surrendering to this secular ideology. Wade Clark Roof in Spiritual Marketplace points out that 50 percent of evangelical Christians believe that “all religions are equally good and true.” Josh McDowell and George Barna note that 56 percent of evangelical Christian young people said it was possible to get to heaven without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

To take every thought captive in our current cultural context, we must learn what God’s Word has to say about the issues. Moreover, we must be alert to those who attempt to marginalize and ridicule those who believe in God.

A Biblical worldview is not just a view of the world, however. It is a view for the world. The apostle Paul said, “Those who oppose him [the Christian], he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will lead them to repentance” (2 Timothy 2:25-26). It is enraging when secular humanists deny Christian influence in society. But we are not allowed to respond in the way of our secular counterparts. Our strategy is to know what we believe, explain it articulately, and graciously persuade those in authority to honor God.

Time to Persevere
I suggest three ways to shape the worldview of our young people. First, training programs, such as the Summit Ministries course. It is crucial that we get Christian young people between the ages of 16 and 21 to come to these courses where they will learn how to defend the Biblical Christian faith and influence the world. I believe every Christian young person should attend one of these vital two-week courses.

Second, books. The great ideas of all time are not on television; they are in books. David Noebel, my mentor, says, “If you want to be a leader, you’ve got to be a reader.” First, we must immerse ourselves in Scripture. Then, we must immerse ourselves in the writings of great authors who have thoughtfully applied God’s Word to current issues. It is important that we understand and articulate a consistent Biblical worldview rather than just respond issue by issue.

How You Can Help

Pray Pray daily that the young people in your life will adopt the Biblical worldview.  Praise God because He alone is Truth.  Act Encourage your church to offer a class in Biblical worldview. Even better, become educated and offer to teach it yourself!

Third, the Internet. There are dangers to it, of course, and we have a filter on ours at home. But it contains dozens of Web sites to help you defend your Christian faith. Properly used, the Internet allows you to find answers faster than ever before. It can give you confidence and poise in sharing the hope within you (1 Peter 3:15).

Finally, having done all, we continue to stand. We persevere. We bless and do not curse; we speak the truth in a spirit of love. We live in times that are both scary and exciting. We’re going to become bruised and bloodied. But our Master did not send us here to start the race; He sent us to finish it. Let’s press on and finish strong.

Dr. Jeff Myers teaches communications and leadership at Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, and is director of the Summit Ministries program in the eastern U.S. This article is adapted from Dr. Myers’ presentation at the CWA National Convention in September 2000. Scriptures from the New International Version.

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