What Is Truth? AKA What is my worldview?

“Worldview” was a subject brought up by My Sunday School Teacher Eddie a couple of weeks ago. That subject made me want to re-read The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer a Christian Worldview. Don’t even ask me how it is going. There are four volumes. It was written in 1982 by this twentieth century Christian philosopher. He is in heaven now and I wonder how he would interpret our national Christian worldview today?

He said that in the future whether we believe the Bible is actual truth would be what is at stake for the Christian. Wow, I think he was right. But he was only stating the obvious because history reveals that people have always had a problem with, “What is truth?” Pilot even asked Jesus that before he executed Him. What he was asking was: Is there really anything that is a certainty? Is there an unchangeable life ruling system? Is there anything I can put my absolute trust in? When the world asks what do I believe, is there an answer?

And what our answers are to the above questions is our own worldview.

The Barna Group says that the 2014 faith and culture trend will lead us to apply definitive answers to these questions about truth; - 1. What is our church teaching us? (Do I trust and believe it foundationally?) – 2. How is national violence affecting us? (What is our standard for control of violence?) – 3. What are our schools teaching our children? (What are the foundational philosophies to which my children are exposed?) We will each have to answer these questions about truth we have been avoiding for centuries.

This same Barna Group (I’m not making this up, Google them) polled United States Christians in 1984 using this survey:

• Do absolute moral truths exist?
• Is absolute truth defined by the Bible?
• Did Jesus Christ live a sinless life?
• Is God the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe, and does He still rule it today?
• Is salvation a gift from God that cannot be earned?
• Is Satan real?
• Does a Christian have a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people?
• Is the Bible accurate in all of its teachings?

If you answered “yes” to all of these questions you were one in only 9% of those claiming to be Christian in 1984. Now you are in the 4% of Christians. So this “truth” question is very important to our view of life and our place in the world. And, yes, we may have to answer these questions and live by our answers this year as the trend indicates.

I don’t know why we are having such a problem with the meaning of truth. The Bible addresses it 380 times. How’s that for a definition?

But I think the sustaining, you can grab it and hold on to it, definition came from Jesus Christ Himself. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father God but through Me.” He said He was in the past and for all time to come the only reality for life’s journey, the only absolute truth, and the only sustenance for physical and spiritual existence.  And that He was the only way to gain acceptance into our place with the Heavenly father. As we continue in this truth we obey and serve Him. He was very dogmatic about this.  There are no other options for those claiming to be a “Christ”ian.

So the questions are; Do I believe this Jesus Christ Son of God as explained in the Bible from creation to revelation? Do I use the Bible as my truth guidebook? Do I relate to the world around me with this as my unchangeable foundation?

This absolute doctrine may make us a little uncomfortable in our world of unfixed, uncertain, and “it’s OK to believe what you want to,” and “can we really define truth” philosophy.

But it’s the truth.

1.      It will revive our churches.

2.      It will bring enforceable standards to our violence problems.

3.      It will help us guide our children into having their own Christian worldview.

4.      It will show all those around us that we know where to get real answers to life’s tough questions.

It’s a real Christian’s worldview.

Life Lesson Concerning Kick-outs and Timing

I have a guilty pleasure. I like to watch WWE Monday Night Raw. It all started when I was in high school and went to my first wrestling match. It was not actual wrestling. We call it “wrassling” in North Carolina. It ended in the throwing of a metal folding chair and an audience brawl. My youth pastor hustled us out of there. Can you believe he took us there in the first place? I thought it was hilariously awesome. Since then I have sporadically checked in to see what is going on in the WWE and who is who.

My favorite thing is when one guy is pinned down and he throws his legs out (called a kick-out) before the ref counts to three. His opponent has to let him go. I don’t know if this is exactly a rule but it always happens and adds to the drama of the fight.

I was thinking about the kick-out and wondering why life didn't give us one. Wouldn't it be great if we could have a kick-out anytime we feel under stress and pressure? Not having a great day at work? Kick-out. Not getting along at home? Kick-out. People making fun of you because you are a Christian? Kick-out. Depressed? Kick-out. Frustrated? Kick-out. Angry? Kick-out. Then the oppressor or oppression would have to let you go. That would be a nice thing to have in my life tool kit.

To my great astonishment I realized I have a kick-out. All this time, I had a kick-out and was not using it. The ref would get to three in my life and the opponent would win. When all along, I could have used my kick-out option.

David said in Psalm 13:1-2

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

The ref beats the mat; one, ...two, ...and just before three.....

The kick-out is in verses 5-6

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

Our kick-out when we are held down by Satan’s forces is…..Trust and Understand God's Character.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways understand Him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust = belief in the reliability, truth, ability, and strength of our God over the situation

Understand God = Know God's character even if you don't understand the why of the situation

Then we are released from the bondage we feel. We still have to get up and continue the fight but we won't be out. The opponent doesn't win.

Then we get happiness and security from our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Life lesson: You can always use the kick-out option but your timing is critical.

Dirty Hearts

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

I had the wonderful adventure of being an aid in a k-4 class last week. It was fun to see these children interact with each other, the teacher, and me. I must say that I didn't just sit and watch but worked as hard as the teacher. An aid is a very necessary thing in a k-4 class.

During Bible time the teacher was talking about John the Baptist. She said his job was to go around and say, “Get ready. Jesus is coming! Get your heart ready. Get sin out of your life! Get ready!” Then she asked if any of the four (and some reminded me that they were actually five) year olds knew what sin was. One little girl raised her hand and said, “It’s when you have dirt in your heart.”  I tried not to laugh and the teacher continued to talk about sin as disappointing God or not doing things God’s way or doing things we know are not right.

But the “dirt in your heart” statement kind of stuck with me and made me do a lot of heart searching.

1 John 1:9 states that:

1.    We must confess our sins. In our Greek New Testament the form of the word “confess” was only used here. I found out (for all of you grammar geeks) that it is a first person present active subjunctive verb.  Wow, one word can have a six term grammar place?  This is something I haven’t explored in a while. (Maybe since a college English class.) First person means me. Present means now. Active means and actual action. Subjunctive means my action will cause another action. And of course a verb is something I physically, emotionally, or mentally do. Confessing is not a half-hearted "wish I could" or "hope I can." It is telling it to God like it actually is. It is getting brutally honest with God about myself and my actions.

2.    We must confess our sins.  Sin is when we missed what God wants out of us. We failed pleasing God and it was our fault not someone else’s. We know God knows about it and we agree that something must be done to rectify it.  That’s where the confess part comes into play.

3.    If we confess our sins (the subjunctive part) He will faithfully and actively forgive our sins.  God will let it go and not hold us accountable for the fault. He will divorce Himself from it and forget it ever happened. That’s so encouraging to know.

4.    He will cleanse us from all of the unrighteousness. This is where the “dirt” comes in. You see, this word cleanse was talked about by the Greeks of the day. The word they used was “Katharsis” which we use today as “catharsis.” It really means to clean, remove the dirt, and purify. The Greeks used the word when they washed dishes, to be cleansed from leprosy, a resolution for an emotionally charged play, or removal of an offense. So sin really is having dirt in your heart that God can clean up for you.

As I watched these 4 (and 5) year olds go home at the end of the day, I saw how much these little dirt magnets had physically accumulated. And it made me wonder and evaluate how much metaphorical dirt I was bringing home. And I realized my dirtiness was more serious than theirs. That’s why the present active verb is so important. Confession of sin is a daily thing (maybe a several times a day thing.)

I want to keep the dirt out of my heart.

If we confess our dirt He is faithful clean it up.

I don’t want to go around with a dirty heart.

My Treasured Pearl

I love pearls. They fascinate me. To think that a live creation of God made this beautiful gemstone is awesome. I know that the pearl farms have perfected the culturing process and can crank them out by the dozens but they all start with the lowly mollusk. It has to start with the live creature. That is amazing to me.

Through history pearls have been of great value. Before they were cultured finding a pearl was a rare discovery and very expensive. Culturing is now the thing but still pearls are graded and hold value. Strands of fine cultured pearls can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars. The most expensive natural pearl ever found is a nine and a half inch pearl found in 1939 in a giant clam and is worth over three million dollars. That is a pearl of great price. Throughout antiquity we have always put a value to a mollusk produced pearl. We have tried to copy nature. (Can you say faux?)  But we have never really been able to produce a pearl that equals God's creation.  OK, that is the end of the gemology lesson.

It leads me to Matthew 13:45-46

 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,

who, on finding one pearl of great value,

went and sold all that he had and bought it.

We were like the seeker looking for that thing that would bring us ultimate fulfillment, ultimate peace of mind, and an ultimate feeling of being loved. We searched and searched and tried this activity or that luxury. We attempted to produce this soul contentment on our own.  But we couldn't get that critical lasting satisfaction of the heart. You remember those days and you remember the day you found Jesus and the feeling of peace that filled your life.

Jesus put it very clearly to the people of His day. All the pearls of life you look at, try out, or participate in will not be the “it” that causes you to stop searching.  There is one pearl of great value – Jesus Christ Himself. When we discover His incomparable grace and mercy, His all-encompassing love, and His eternal forgiveness we have found the grand prize of our earthly quest.

When we give ourselves totally to belief and submission to Christ, we are like the merchant who sold everything he once thought valuable. Like he, we receive that one treasure that satisfies our search and soul forever.

Do you think the merchant in the story had buyer’s remorse? No, he had the best. Do you think the merchant became complacent about his treasure?  No, it was all he had ever wanted. Did he tell others about his treasure and display it?  Very probably, yes.

Jesus also called it living water to the woman seeking water so she would never thirst again. He called it finding something very valuable (a sheep, a piece of money, or a loved child) that was lost and celebrating at finding the treasure that had been so elusive. All of these characters of His stories were looking intently for something.  All of these examples were given to the people of His day to show the value of being born again,another name for believing in the forgiveness of Christ, that was used to explain eternal life to another seeker.

We, who are at the end of our search having found our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord, have an obligation to show others this pearl of great value. People are looking at and trying out all kinds of the world’s playthings but never experiencing inner peace. They may not even know that the answer is within us. Let’s share the treasure of knowing Jesus.

Let’s share our treasured pearl.