Building a Biblical Worldview

One of the key elements of discipleship is learning how to see the world through a Biblical rather than cultural lens.

Everyone looks at the world and assigns values, adopts priorities, and lives by a code of conduct. But where do those values, priorities, and codes come from? By default, we adopt those that our culture esteems. More often than not, those do not line up with the Bible. And that poses a challenge. Culture is all around us, influencing us through the values and priorities of friends, television and movie characters, employers, teachers, etc. Culture is like a current that will sweep us away in its thinking if we don’t have an anchor to keep us from drifting. That anchor is Jesus as he is revealed in the Bible. We must become students of the Bible in order to develop a Biblical worldview and we must ask discerning questions about the views of our friends, movies we watch, music we listen to, etc.

Learning to discern between cultural and Biblical influences is big part of what Paul writes in Romans 12:2,

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For example, rather than seeing work as a necessary evil that leads to wealth and/or survival, the Bible teaches us that work is a big part of our purpose. We were designed to work toward the cultivation of the earth. God made us as stewards of His Kingdom. Another example involves marriage. Our culture views marriage as one option (among many) that seeks to enhance the feelings of love between two people. The Bible teaches that marriage is a reflection of Christ’s relationship to the Church, where a man and a woman come together to be one, joined as husband and wife. Marriage helps man in his calling to cultivate the earth. One of the fruits of marriage is to be godly children. Since marriage is God’s institution (and not man’s), man doesn’t have the right to redefine it. The Bible helps us rethink everything that we do and bring it in line with God’s priorities and purpose. This is a big part of discipleship.