An Article of Faith

What is a “world-view?”

Your world-view is how you view the world. It specifically has to do with that set of beliefs and practices that shape your approach to the most important issues in life.

Who has a world-view? Everyone capable of considering the question already has a world-view. The question is: Do you have a Biblical world-view? Do you see the world through the binocular vision of the Old and New Testaments? Do you see the world the way God sees it?

When you chose to embrace a particular world-view (Biblical or not) you commit yourself, not just intellectually, but also emotionally and spiritually to the elements of that particular world-view. Every world-view has five basic elements. We’ll cover the first three today and the remaining two next week.

First, what do you believe about God? Who is He and what is He like? Do you even believe in God?

Exodus 34:5-8 is one of the most comprehensive self-revelations of God in the Bible: “The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with [Moses] as he called upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.’ Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.” Does this describe the God you worship?

The second element represents your view of human nature. Is man basically “good” or “evil?”

Genesis 6:5-6 reveal God’s evaluation of human nature: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” Genesis 6:5 sounds like a commentary on the 10 o’clock news!

The third element represents your belief about what’s wrong with the world. What do you see as the root cause of the problems in this world? Why do you believe the world is in the shape that it’s in today?
The Bible say it’s because of sin. Sin is the root cause of the problems in the world.

What is sin? The Bible defines sin as doing something that you already know is wrong, but you choose to do it anyway: “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die’” (Genesis 2:15-17).

Of course, you know the story. Adam and Eve chose to do what God clearly commanded them not to do. Thus, they sinned and that’s how sin entered the world: “Therefore, just as through one man [i.e., Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin [i.e., separation from God], and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12).

How are you doing so far? We’ll finish up next week.

(Jessie J. Charpentier Sr. is pastor of Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church in St. Martinville.)