Worldview Analysis 101

There is a story told about a Sunday school teacher who asked her third grade class the question: "What is furry, brown, and eats nuts?" One little boy raised his hand and said, "I know the answer is Jesus, but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me!" Well, this story is told for its humor, but it does raise some important questions about how well our children are being prepared to live out their faith in a post-Christian society. You see, most children growing up in church think they know all the answers, so long as the answer is "God," "The Bible," or "Jesus." But when it comes to dealing with ideas and the world around them, most young people don't know how to engage the culture, or how to respond with well thought-out answers to life's pressing issues. The late Francis Schaeffer put his finger on the problem when he wrote that Christians in America see things in "bits and pieces" instead of "totals." What he meant was that many Christians don't really understand how their faith intersects with most of life beyond their personal relationship with Christ. They know a little bit here and a little piece there, but what is missing is a comprehensive worldview, and the ability to see day-by-day issues from a biblical perspective. To deal with this situation, a Bible study series by Dr. David Noebel and Chuck Edwards introduces young people to Christian worldview issues. Called Worldviews in Focus: Thinking like a Christian. It's a twelve-part series that presents a "total" picture of how the Bible relates to all areas of life. During week nine of the study, for example, the focus is on politics. During that lesson students are shown how the Founders of the United States were motivated by a biblical worldview. The Founding Fathers designed a system with three branches of government. The reason for this design was to maintain a balance of powers. Then the question is asked: Why did the Founders feel the need to balance the powers of government? Most students know the answer: The Founders feared that one individual or group of people might gain too much power and use it for their own selfish ends. But that brings up another question: Why did the founders think that people might use political authority in a corrupt way? This is where most kids become silent. The answer is that the Founders were convinced that people are basically sinful, which is a biblical concept that our culture these days seems to have forgotten. The authors of the Constitution designed a political system based on a Christian view of mankind, which flowed directly from their understanding of the Scriptures. They recognized that it's impossible to separate religious principles from political ideas. They are organically intertwined and depend on a correct view of the world and of human nature. The Worldviews in Focus Bible study does a masterful job of leading high school and college students to make these kinds of connections on their own, in politics, psychology, ethics, sociology, law, economics, and history. So to give the teenagers in your church a total picture concerning life's most crucial questions, take them through Worldviews in Focus: Thinking like a Christian. It might just help them learn when to answer "Jesus" and when to answer "squirrel."

08/30/00