In a pluralistic age, it is critical that the Christian message be proclaimed with clarity and conviction.
Below I have outlined six distinct components of a Christian worldview, as promised in yesterday’s post. These components are especially important in a relativistic age – in which the very concept of absolute truth is under attack. In upcoming posts we will look at some of these in more detail.
1. Objectivity — Authentic Christianity starts with the premise that there is a source of truth outside of us. Specifically, God’s Word is truth (Psalm 119:151; John 17:17).
2. Rationality — A second key word that helps define an authentically Christian world view is rationality. We believe the objective revelation of Scripture is rational. The Bible makes good sense. It contains no contradictions, no errors, and no unsound principles. Anything that does contradict Scripture is untrue.
3. Veracity — Biblical Christianity is all about truth. God’s objective revelation (the Bible) interpreted rationally yields divine truth in perfectly sufficient measure. Everything we need to know for life and godliness is there for us in Scripture (2 Peter 1:3).
4. Authority — An understanding of the Bible’s authority is the fourth foundation-stone for a proper Christian world view. Because we believe Scripture is true, we must proclaim it with conviction and without compromise or apology. The Bible makes bold claims, and Christians who believe it ought to affirm it boldly.
5. Incompatibility — Scripture says, “No lie is of the truth” (1 John 2:21). As Christians, we know that whatever contradicts biblical truth is by definition false. In other words, truth is incompatible with error. Incompatibility is therefore a fifth essential key word in describing a biblical world view.
6. Integrity — Rounding out our list of essential principles for a biblical world view is the word integrity. This flows naturally from all the preceding principles. Since Christianity places such a high premium on truth, we must acknowledge that integrity is an essential virtue and hypocrisy is a horrible vice.
Unfortunately, the evangelical movement today is drifting from these fundamental principles and has already begun to embrace post modern ideas uncritically. Evangelicalism is losing its footing; people’s confidence in the Scriptures is eroding; and the church is losing its testimony. Fewer and fewer Christians are willing to stand against the trends of this generation, and the effects have been disastrous. Subjectivity, irrationality, worldliness, uncertainty, compromise, and hypocrisy have already become commonplace among churches and organizations that once constituted the evangelical mainstream.
The only cure, I am convinced, is a conscious, wholesale rejection of post modern values and a return to these six distinctives of biblical Christianity. We must be faithful to guard the treasure of truth that has been entrusted to us (2 Timothy 1:14). If we do not, who will?
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