Inside Information (A Biblical Worldview Gives Insight)

Chapter 5

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.
—1 Corinthians 10:11

Let’s begin our discussion of the Bible and the worldview that springs from it by considering what the Bible is … and isn’t. The Bible is simply God’s written revelation to us. We also call it God’s Word or Scripture, which means sacred writings. It consists of sixty-six books written by dozens of authors from varying cultural contexts over a long period of time. It contains many literary styles, including historical narratives, law codes, poems and songs, wise sayings, prophecies, firsthand accounts of Jesus’ life and teachings, an account of the early days of the church, and letters.

He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit. (Psalm 147:4–5)

The Bible is neither a history book nor a science book, and you will be frustrated if you try to make it into either one. However, I am absolutely convinced that God means what He says in His Word. When the Bible says that God knows how many stars are in the sky, and He has a name for every one of them, I believe it (Isaiah 40:26). When the Bible says that God knows how many hairs are on your head, I believe He has an accurate count after a few came out in your comb this morning (Matthew 10:30). I don’t think Scripture is speaking about His knowledge in a poetic way; I believe God says what He means to say.

In an age of “smart” everything, I am baffled by our increasing willingness to depend on technology while we are increasingly reluctant to believe what God says. We allow unknown people and soulless technology to give us advice about which road to take and where to eat, but we question God’s directives for navigating our journey through time. I’m not opposed to technology or science. In fact, I’m an advocate for both. But they cannot replace or exceed the knowledge of the God who created the heavens and the earth.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

I’m persuaded that the entirety of Scripture is inspired by God and that it is a necessary and profitable part of His provision for my life. And I believe all of it. There has never been a time when people were not reading the Scripture and picking and choosing what they thought was real, trustworthy, and relevant. But when Paul wrote to Timothy with advice about handling God’s Word, he said “all” Scripture is from God. Enough said!

A Biblical Worldview

The dictionary defines a worldview as “a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint.”1 You may have heard someone say that they are operating from a philosophical worldview, or a scientific worldview, or a worldview based on a cultural perspective. Evangelical Christians look at the world through a biblical worldview. That simply means that we see the world through the lens of the Bible.

The unfortunate reality is that the difference between Christians and non-Christians is almost imperceptible today, because we’re allowing the messaging that’s driven by an ungodly worldview to fill our hearts and our minds and shape our dreams.

Researcher George Barna once commented, “If Jesus Christ came to this planet as a model of how we ought to live, then our goal should be to act like Jesus. Sadly, few people consistently demonstrate the love, obedience, and priorities of Jesus. The primary reason that people do not act like Jesus is because they do not think like Jesus.” Barna went on to say, “Behavior stems from what we think— our attitudes, beliefs, values and opinions. Although most people own a Bible and know some of its content, our research found that most Americans have little idea how to integrate core biblical principles to form a unified and meaningful response to the challenges and opportunities of life. We’re often more concerned with survival amidst chaos than with experiencing truth and significance.”

The study went on to say that only 4 percent of the adults in a national survey had a biblical worldview at the heart of their decision-making. And it suggested that “a large share of the nation’s moral and spiritual challenges is directly attributable to the absence of a biblical worldview among Americans.”2 This analysis, with its description of being “concerned with survival amidst chaos,” sounds like it was written today, but it was published in 2003.

Another study, published in 2014, found that even among Christians, only 50 percent of evangelical Protestants believe “there are clear standards for what is right and wrong.” Forty-eight percent said that “right or wrong depends on the situation.” The remaining 2 percent were straddling the fence. In the same study, only 32 percent of mainline Protestants said there are clear standards of right and wrong.3

It’s obvious that even Christians struggle with the place of Scripture in our lives. I want to invite you to reflect on the place of God’s Word in your own life and why you have assigned it that place. At the heart of the discussion is the question, “Can I trust the Word of God to speak to my life?” I hope that by the time we finish this chapter your answer will be a resounding “Yes!”

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Adapted from Big Trouble Ahead: A Real Plan for Flourishing in a Time of Fear and Deception. Copyright © 2022 by Allen Jackson. Published by Thomas Nelson. Available wherever books are sold.