Francis Schaeffer was a pre-suppositionalist theologian who wrote the book "How should we then live?" with the subtitle of "The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture" back in 1976 as well as many other books.
I remember this particular book quite well as one that helped me to see
what the Christian's role was in society, and it was required reading in
seminary back in the day.
Schaeffer's book differed from other theologians like Tozier or
Sparks, for his book focused on an apologetic approach to how we see our
western society and it's decline. Schaeffer started me on the path of discovering a solid worldview of how
our God interacts with His people and how we interact with each other.
Schaeffer saw our modern culture as
overwhelmingly opposed to God and rapidly disintegrating and cut off from any
ability to make transcendent judgments or truth claims. He saw humanism as a
direct challenge to Christianity.
Schaeffer saw that it was a battle of
differing worldviews that would be part of our future. Schaeffer cared very deeply about a generation
of young people who at that time were deciding between Christianity or the
intellectual revolution.
Schaeffer was a voice for this message, and he was
successful, for he inspired many other Christian leaders who have since picked
up this torch to help rebuild evangelical Christianity into a recovery of Reformation
theology and biblical authority.
Now almost forty-five years later after reading this
book, I can look back and see where I have come from, I have slowly developed my worldview which sees God as the true influencer and the shaper of culture, and
humanism as the engine of distraction because it lacks actual truth claims at
it's base to support its assertions.
I no longer see Christianity as an "us and them" proposition as I did when I was a young Christian.
The people who fail to acknowledge Christ are not outsiders (or heathen) in God's eyes; I see a much broader worldview now, God loves all of
His children whether they acknowledge or obey Him or not, His love remains constant.
So now it behooves all of us
to understand and interact with our friends or acquaintances who have differing
worldviews, not to just focus on converting them, but to seek out to understand
them and to love them as Jesus loves us.
"But God has given us his Spirit. That's why we
don't think the same way that the people of this world think. That's also why
we can recognize the blessings that God has given us."
1 Corinthians 2:12
(CEV)
I am grateful for teachers like John Wimber and others
who inspired and helped me on my journey to develop a solid Christian worldview through a consistent example of evangelical missional world outreach.
Wimber took my personal Jesus and
demonstrated that Jesus wants to influence the world through me, my personal
Jesus has since expanded with my worldview. Jesus is much larger than just a
personal savior; He is the savior of the world, which means He is the savior of every human no
matter what their proclivity.
As my concept of Christ began to expand, so has my
prayer life, as I began to see a big God in a much larger context. I began
praying for people, nations, and cultures, and I started seeing how God
influences people through different styles of art, music, and philosophy, and through different styles of Christianity.
I remember Wimber once telling a story about a tribal village in the jungles of South America who did not know Jesus, they were
desperate, living in poverty, and were starving.
A small group of Christians
went to meet with these villagers and began talking with this tribe regularly
and sharing the love of Jesus with them and loving them personally.
They prayed with them and taught them about Jesus and His
love for them and His coming kingdom. Many sick people came for prayer to be
healed and were healed as they were introduced to Jesus for the first time.
There was a problem with the soil where they lived, and the crops that they
produced were inferior and small in size, and there was not enough produce to
feed all of their people. The Christians gathered with the villagers around
their farms and fields and prayed for God's kingdom to come upon their village and farms that God may heal the land and the soil for a new crop for God's kingdom.
The Christians taught the villagers that the economy of God's kingdom was
always for expansion, not contraction, "we surrender our lives to God, and He can rule in our lives and can use us in ways to expand His kingdom through us that He might
be honored. Less of me, more of Him"
Upon returning to this village the next harvest season,
everything had changed, there were no more sickly people to meet the Christian team, and
there was a joy that had permeated the villagers, a hopefulness that was not
there previously. There was also a bumper crop of vegetables, what was unusual
is the crops were five times the size of the previous visit. God had truly
blessed this village. God's people had demonstrated the principles of living a victorious
life in Christ by teaching the villagers to live a life of surrender. It was a
completely new worldview for these villagers.
"The economy of the kingdom of God is quite simple.
Every new step in the kingdom costs us everything we have gained to date. Every
time we cross a new threshold, it costs us everything we now have. Every new
step may cost us all the reputation and security we have accumulated up to that
point. It costs us our life."
John Wimber
This concept of surrender formed my
worldview, "the economy
of God's kingdom is about expansion, not contraction," always trusting the Lord with each new step I
take, even though I may lose what I have gained, but it is God's glory that is the prize.
I am personally drawn to the life of Paul, the apostle; He had no say in being chosen by God to be a spokesman for the truth of God's love and mercy. He
encountered Jesus by falling off of his horse on the road to Damascus; he was
then blinded by a light that surrounded him from the glory of the Lord. It took
the intervention of an obedient servant named Ananias to pray for Paul to be
healed and receive his sight once again.
Paul was raised from a young age to
become a Pharisee, well versed in scripture and Jewish law. Now he met this
person named Jesus, who turned his world upside down.
This became an entirely new paradigm for Paul.
"The God who rules
this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers. They cannot see the light,
which is the good news about our glorious Christ, who shows what God is like."
2 Corinthians 4:4 (CEV)
There will always be competing realities that tempt us to
follow the world's way rather than the ways of the kingdom and obedience to
Christ. That is the reality we face daily, do we trust and follow the God who
created this universe and knows our predisposition better than we do, with His
intent for us to live a life of joy and peace? Or do we blindly
follow the world and it's leaders who lead us around like sheep over a cliff to our eventual destruction?
Paul was utterly committed to this new paradigm of Jesus
he received, no matter what would befall him, you could not stop him either with
beatings, torture, or even jail, Paul was going to tell the story of Jesus to
the bitter end, which is what he did.
Paul's worldview included everyone in God's kingdom,
which included the whole world, either living or dead. Paul took this stand
even though the Roman world was opposed to what they perceived as competition or a threat to Caesar's throne.
Paul saw God's kingdom as absolute; EVERYONE WILL BOW
BEFORE THE LORD.
So at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down, those in
heaven, on earth, and under the earth.
And to the glory of God the Father everyone will openly
agree, "Jesus Christ is Lord!"
Philippians
2:10-11 (CEV)
Paul was beheaded for this belief but look at his
influence! His words have shaped generations of Christians who have come into
the knowledge of Christ Jesus. All because of a man with a different worldview,
someone who was driven to make a difference.
We may not see our lives or ministry as something that
has this type of impact, but in reality, it does, we influence people every day
by our interaction with others, and our lives either speak of the love of Jesus
or not. We are living epistles reflecting the life of Christ that resides within us,
so we do make a difference every day.
"A disciple is
always ready to take the next step. If
there is anything that characterizes Christian maturity, it is the willingness
to become a beginner again for Jesus Christ.
It is the willingness to put our hand in his hand and say, "I’m
scared to death, but I’ll go with you.
You’re the Pearl of great price.”
John
Wimber
Be Blessed;
Stephen Barnett
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