Worldview

1 John 4:5-6

          Our perspective on life changes everything. Let me give you an example. If you believe that the government has the solution to all human problems, then you will want a bigger government with ever increasing power. That is because when the problems don’t get solved, the answer is to make government bigger. The thinking goes something like this. The problem wasn’t solved because we didn’t make a bold enough program in the first place. If we could have fixed it the way we really wanted to, without the opposition from small government proponents, the problem would have been solved. The problem with this kind of thinking is that once the government has taken everything over and the problem isn’t solved, they have nowhere to turn for a solution. Government can’t control individual actions and attitudes.

          If we believe that large corporations are sinister entities that make a profit by selling us things that will kill us, then you become suspicious of their products. You withhold vaccines for fear of Autism. You buy organic foods because you fear the poisoning effects of fertilizers and pesticides are being hidden from the public. You end up so afraid of so many things that you fail to live a full life.

          John highlights two very distinct perspectives. The world has a perspective that is very different than that of God’s. In fact, the two are in opposition to each other.  And the world won’t listen to God’s perspective. They have their own spokesmen.

          We see it in the media arena. Almost all the news sources in the United States favor the liberal view of things. They support the Democratic political agenda. They most often just act as a mouthpiece for that agenda, rarely questioning or challenging. They support the demonization of opponents. But what else would you expect. They have been educated in the institutions that are the seedbed of liberalism. They keep company with those in power who are liberal. Their social circles rarely overlap with conservatives. So they aren’t even exposed to conservative ideas. What else would we expect?

          John tells us that we can know a person’s heart by seeing who influences them. We primarily listen to those who support our worldview. So Christians often listen to sources that align with Biblical ideals. We listen to John and the Gospel message. We gain wisdom and hope from the Scriptures. We examine other sources and compare them and filter them. If they don’t fit with our worldview, we reject them.

          So take a look at your sources of information. How much of what you believe is the result of your information sources? Do you need to change your sources?

The Big Waste

Mark 14:4-5

      Our world faces the clash of value systems. I’m not simply talking about Islam here. I am talking about us and our value system. You can tell when value systems are clashing when people say one thing and do another. The value system of our heart bumps into the value system of our wants and desires. This area of wants and desires is driven by the value system of the world. It is the system that promotes size 2 as the ideal size for a woman, or that being a beer drinking, sports watching man is the best we can do.

      Our value system, often called our worldview, often gets put to the test around money. Money is an outgrowth of our heart. Where we put our treasure we will find our heart. So if we have the big house, TV, boat and SUV’s but can’t pay the bills or give our of our wealth in obedience to Scripture, our value system is being stressed.

      Don’t feel too bad, yet. The disciples had the same problem before and after Jesus’ resurrection. Our text tells of a meal that took place just a few short days before Jesus died. A woman has entered the room and wasted a very expensive jar of perfume on Jesus’ head. And when I say expensive, I mean expensive. This would be almost $70,000 in today’s money. I don’t know about you, but 70K is a lot of cash. And she just wasted in on Jesus’ head.

      At least some of the disciple’s value system was in clash that day. They saw the money pouring out and they got angry with the woman. They saw it as a waste. But could it have been something else that drove their anger?

      Maybe they were greedy and wanted a portion of that money for themselves. Maybe they were jealous wishing they had thought of honoring Jesus in such an extravagant manner. Maybe they had a genuine concern for the poor, having listened to Jesus and taken what He said seriously. Maybe they were angry at being upstaged by a woman, since they were after all friends of the honored guest, Jesus. We will never know.

      What we do know is that money was at the heart of it. They saw money and it caused them to boil. Whatever reason drove them to it, they got mad. And they took their anger out on her. They should have been mad at themselves for their greed or lack of appreciation for Jesus’ care. They could have redoubled their efforts to help the poor, being driven by her example of generosity. They could have swallowed the humble pill and stepped back from the stage. But they didn’t.

      Where is your value system on trial? Part of the Jesus-follower’s life is self-reflection. We are supposed to hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us about our priorities. He is supposed to speak to us about our actions. When we do something that violates our stated beliefs, we are supposed to get a prick, a check in our spirit, warning us about the disobedience. Are we listening for those course corrections and obeying?

Shortchanging

Mark 12:24

      Often out worldview limits what we can see. If we don’t believe in pink elephants, then when a pink elephant walks in the room, our belief system will not let us enjoy the moment. It will be too busy trying to explain and dismiss what we are seeing. If we believe in aliens from other worlds, then any unexplainable event can be evidence of the alien’s existence and interaction with our world. If we believe that deaths happen in threes, then once we reach three we start counting over.

      Our view of the world changes our experience of it. I see the clouds here in Florida every day and I marvel at the beauty and creativity of God. The infinite variety of shapes, shadows, swooshes and puffs speaks to me of the LORD’s greatness and majesty and of my humility.

      But for so many, the clouds aren’t even seen. They don’t speak at all, other than perhaps telling of a coming storm. They are just water vapor and water crystal. They have no significance. They speak of no overarching story of life.

      Jesus is in the middle of an attempt to trap Him for the second time. His opponents want to catch Him saying something that could serve as evidence against Him at trail, evidence that would allow the death penalty as punishment. The Sadducees don’t believe in the resurrection, or in Heaven for that matter. And yet this is the topic of their trap.

      Jesus responds that they are wrong on two counts in their presentation of the facts of their question to Him. Jesus knows that you can’t answer a bad question. If there are errors in the question, then you can’t give a good answer. This happens all the time. People ask questions with assumptions that are false built into the question, thus invalidating any answer you might give. Question about manmade global warming are a contemporary example. When the questioner’s worldview accepts man’s role as the primary driver of changes in climate, then if you try to answer his question, without first presenting the contrary evidence or challenging his assumptions and conclusions,  your answer begins in a place of error. And you can’t get to truth by beginning in error.

      And because of these two parts of their worldview, that resurrection and heaven don’t exist, they have missed the Truth. They start in error so they can’t end up at the Truth. So Jesus points out their errors before He answers their question. He says that they don’t know the Scriptures. This would have hit at the very heart of their belief system. They claimed to know the Scriptures better than anyone else. So Jesus answers using their frame of reference, the Old Testament, and specifically the only parts that they accepted, the first five books.

      They had read these books their whole lives and yet they had missed some plain Truth about our essential existence, that we don’t stop existing after our physical body stops working. And in the process they had placed limits on what God was capable of doing. They put limits on God’s power. They said He was unable to raise the dead, that it was out of His scope of practice.

      What are you missing in Scripture because of your view of the world, of God and of yourself? How are you not seeing God’s power at work in your life and in the world around you?