Proverbs 17.24
“The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.”
We are examining worldview. A worldview is a belief system about reality — what is good, what is important, what is sacred, what is real. The values and behaviors of a culture stem directly from its worldview.
- What worldview is directing American culture in our generation? What reference points is our nation using for its decisions and actions?
- What worldview is directing the Christian community in our generation? What reference points is the professing church using for its decisions and actions?
- What worldview is directing you personally? What reference points are you using for your decisions and actions?
Consider question #1: What worldview is directing American culture in our generation?
Our nation was founded on the Judeo-Christian worldview, which is belief in a sovereign God who created a universe governed by the laws of nature (physics) and natural law (morality). This is a cause-and-effect universe, where man is given the ability to choose, and choices have consequences. If we violate the laws of nature, we are damaged physically. If we violate natural law (God’s ethical standards), we are damaged morally.
Historically, there were variations of the Judeo-Christian view among those who shaped the formation of our nation. Deists such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Ben Franklin believed in God as Creator of the physical and moral order, but doubted the literal veracity of the bible. On the other hand, founding fathers such as Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and John Witherspoon embraced the classical Christian faith. Despite their theological differences, there was consensus among both groups that God exists and is the author of the physical and moral order of the universe, and that American society and governance should respect and reflect the Creator’s moral order.
The great challenge of our time is that America has abandoned the Judeo-Christian worldview, and has rejected God as the author of physics and morality. The result is a “worldview vacuum” in American culture and governance, and we are living in the midst of an ugly and increasingly violent battle to fill that vacuum.
There are profound, far-reaching implications of this abandonment and subsequent battle for what worldview will guide American society going forward. GK Chesterton, the great British thinker, argued that democracy is only possible among a people who believe in God. Self-government, he said, is freedom. The alternative is tyranny, which is inevitable in a secular government. Chesterton gave this warning:
“Lenin said that religion is the opium of the people… But it is only by believing in God that we can ever criticize the Government. Once abolish the God, and the Government becomes the God. That fact is written all across human history … The truth is that irreligion is the opium of the people. Wherever the people do not believe in something beyond the world, they will worship the world. But, above all, they worship the strongest thing in the world.”
To abandon the timeless truth and moral standards of the Creator is an act of extreme foolishness, for it sets a nation on a path toward moral confusion, cultural chaos, and social conflict. Tragically, this is precisely what is happening in America in our time. There are many secular philosophies competing to fill the worldview vacuum that exists in post-Christian America, but none of those worldviews provide a foundation of truth upon which to build a healthy and productive society. We are, indeed, experiencing an era of increasing confusion, chaos, and conflict, and it will continue unless there is a return to the wisdom and timeless truth of the Creator.
Read again the message of Proverbs 17.24: “The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.”
Where do you look for truth to live by?
