Truth and Worldviews in Culture

Everyone has a value set that determines his or her view of the world. However, a recent national survey of adults conducted by the Barna Research Group (2008) indicated that only 4 percent of adults have a biblical worldview as the basis of their decision making. The findings from this survey are astonishing, even more surprising is that the survey also discovered that only 9 percent of born again Christians have such a perspective on life.[1] Our perception of truth, and what we esteem the most, directly impacts how we judge everything around us. It also determines the level of influence we will have on this culture.

What is Truth?

Truth in biblical terms can only be known in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus once said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). It is increasingly evident that we are living in “perilous times” (II Timothy 3:1-9), where the Christian faith and its truth are in conflict with the secular worldview of the current age of unbelief (I Timothy 4:1-2).

According to Colson and Pearcey (2001), “The dominant worldview today is naturalism, which has created a culture that is both post-Christian and postmodern. By post-Christian, we do not mean Americans no longer profess to be Christians or no longer attend church. As a matter of fact, most Americans do both. Rather, by post-Christian we mean that Americans, along with most other Western cultures, no longer rely on Judeo-Christian truths as the basis of their public philosophy or their consensus.”[2] If one is to make a difference in our world, he or she must grasp these profoundly contrary worldviews of reality, for they are the roots of our cultural crisis.

The treat against Truth

Whether one embraces naturalism or other worldviews, many in this world are saying “leave me alone with my truth.” They possess a plurality of truth which is commonly known as relativism and is often expressed through liberalism. Unfortunately, a great number of Christians have fallen for the lies of liberalism. Liberalism is always making major concessions to culture in order to become accepted. Adjusting and compromising the message of the cross for the sake of acceptance is an abomination to God. The making of Christianity as a relevant source of comfort to sinners through seeker friendly approaches is a mean of placating the approval of a hostile culture. Rethinking truth in order to make it palatable to culture is a false gospel and an abomination to God. No matter what your set of beliefs at the end of the day you will have to give an answer to God—Jesus Christ.

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[1] Barna Research Group, A Biblical Worldview Has a Radical Effect on a Person’s Life. Barna Update December 1, 2003 Retrieved on December 15, 2008 from http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=154.
[2]Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcy, How now shall we live? (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 22.

Christ and Culture

I am often fascinated by those who possess the ability to speak to the needs of the mass. None was more convincing to me than the Apostle Paul. As one of the greatest thinker and theologian of his day, Paul was called by God to speak to his culture. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Paul’s mandate to communicate the gospel to the culture was his ability to use godly wisdom through rhetoric.

Tertullian, in the seventh chapter of his classic Prescriptions against Heretics once wrote “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church? What between heretics and Christianity? Our instruction comes from “the porch of Solomon,” who had himself taught that “the Lord should be sought in simplicity of heart.” My friends, may I suggest that what this world needs is not more money and famous Christian leaders but a sound and effective proclamation of the truth claims of the Christian faith.

The Biblical Account

Acts the seventeenth chapter, records what many theologians have described as the time “When Jerusalem met Athens.” Please allow me to provide you with a little background on the story.

For those of you who do not know; in biblical times, Jerusalem was the center of theology, it was the place where theologians gathered to discuss their faith; and Athens was the center of philosophy, it was the place where philosophers gathered to reason and contemplate on life’s questions. In other words, Jerusalem can be seen as the place where men gathered to worship (Churches and the Christian community). And Athens is the marketplace (the world of business or schools) and where most of us live out our Christian faith.
Acts 17:22-25 records Paul address to the Areopagus, an open forum for philosophical debate:

"22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things."

Bringing Christ to Bear in Culture

Paul, the apostle is the perfect example of one who took the mandate to engage the culture with boldness and great resolve. He understood that we must be passionate about reaching the world for Christ and propagate the Christian worldview within every man’s world. The Athenians were like many people in our sphere of influence. They are ignorant of the true God, in spite of their religiosity.

Paul’s argument was as follow: “30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31).

Will you join me in answering the call like the Apostle Paul and proclaim the truth God’s answers to man’s deepest questions. For more information on how you can impact culture with the Christian worldview, you can purchase my book on the same subject at www.christianityandculturetoday.com and www.highercallministriesintl.org