We Value a Biblical Worldview

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Introduction: 2 Timothy, like 1 Timothy, is a letter not written by Timothy but to Timothy. This letter, like many others throughout the New Testament, is written by the Apostle Paul.

Relationship between Paul & Timothy: Mentor to Mentee, Spiritual Father to Spiritual Son, Experienced minister of the Gospel writing to a younger man whom God has called to minister the Gospel himself.

Context of Letter: Not a letter to an entire church like Romans, Corinthians, Galatians… but a personal letter to an elder/pastor from his spiritual authority and mentor.

Significance: We believe that this is probably the last letter that Paul wrote, at least in terms of letters that are canonical - meaning they made the Bible. Paul knows that he is about to die.. It’s in this letter from Paul to Timothy that we see the well-known scripture where he says “The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Paul will die soon: So, knowing that he is about to die, Paul is communicating the most important things he wants to say before he goes… So he exhorts young Timothy to preach the Word.. And he prefaces that instruction with this truth:

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Paul is affirming the authority of scripture while also stressing the unique, divine way that God works. The Bible is comprised of the works of 40 Different Writers, on 3 Continents, in 3 Different Languages, over a period of ~2,000 years. But it only has One Author: God.

“Breathed out by God” translates to one Greek word - a word that Paul, inspired by God, came up with. And basically what it means is that the writers of the Bible, from Moses to David to Isaiah to Luke to Paul to John, were like vessels for God, each with an open sail, and God breathed into those sails and directed them precisely where He wanted them to go, and said exactly what He wanted to say.

Now the Greek word that Paul uses for “all” is a common word, and it simply means “all.” That means every word in this book is straight from God.

The reason I’m spending so much time here is to emphasize the importance of scripture, because the Bible is how God has revealed Himself and must be the foundation that our faith stands on.

Our goal here at The Way Church is to discover God’s will and walk in God’s will. And in order to do that, we MUST stand on the Word of God.. we MUST have a Biblical worldview. And the first question we need to answer is this…

What does it mean to have a Biblical Worldview?

E. Our worldview is the way in which we view the world, the way in which we view life, the compass that we use to direct the decisions that we make everyday.

We can have what’s called a hedonistic worldview, where we’re just totally driven by pleasure and satisfying our own desires, and those desires become the driving force in our lives.

We can have a worldview that’s shaped by culture (what the Bible calls The World) and conform to how non-Christians around us think, act, and live.

OR we can have a worldview that’s shaped by the Word of God, meaning that in how we live our lives, in the decisions that we make, we live in a way that is aligned with how God tells us to live.

Our lives, and certainly the extent to which we discover and walk in God’s will, will be greatly impacted by the worldview we have.

I. Think of marriage, for example.

With a hedonistic worldview, where I seek to only satisfy my own desires, I’ll be driven to pursue only the benefits of marriage, the great blessings that God reserves to be enjoyed within the confines of a covenant marriage between one man and one woman. And if I do that, I’m setting up myself, and those around me, for destructive consequences. We don’t have to look far to see the consequences of not seeking God in this area of marriage. Everyone in this room has been impacted, either indirectly or directly, by folks not seeking God’s way in marriage.

With a worldview that’s shaped by culture, those around us get to tell us what marriage should look like. So you may have one view of marriage if you come from the big city, or you may have another view of marriage if you come from small-town-east-Tennessee like I do. Those two views of marriage are way different, but they’re both wrong because they’re shaped by opinions of others rather than the Word of God.

With a Biblical worldview, it doesn’t matter what kind of desires you battle, it doesn’t matter what kind of culture you live in, because you allow the Bible to tell you what marriage is and what a marriage should look like. And when you do that, what you’re doing is seeking God’s will and walking in God’s will in your marriage, so in effect, you see God have His way in your marriage. You see blessings flow in your marriage.

A. But marriage is just one example. Absolutely everything we do in our lives… from our finances, to raising kids, to the way we perform at work, to the way we interact with others… all of that should be influenced and shaped by the Word of God. That’s what it means to have a Biblical worldview.

As members of this culture that we live in, even as professing Christians, we have such a tendency to plot our our lives and say I want my life to look THIS way - I want this kind of car and this kind of job, with this kind of house, and I want my kids to spend their time doing this, and we’re going to go on this kind of vacation. We say THIS IS THE LIFE I WANT, and we work really hard, even make sacrifices to make that life a reality. Then when we step back at look at this schema of life that we’ve created based on our preferences, and we say “Well, I’m a Christian. Let’s see where God fits into my life.” And typically God fits into about one hour per week. Guys, that’s the complete opposite of a Biblical worldview. That’s the opposite of what it looks like to SEEK FIRST GOD.

A Biblical worldview is this… it’s when we pursue God in all of our decision making. We seek intimacy with Him by spending time with Him, inviting Him into every aspect of our lives, and then we step back and ask ourselves, “Do my preferences align with what God wants my life to look like?” And a lot of times they do. God’s not anti-nice things, as long as those things don’t pull you away from Him. He’s not anti-fun, anti-vacation, or anti-relaxation… but when those things become the focal point of our lives, we take our eyes of God, and our worldview becomes shaped by our desires rather than His instruction.

Living with a Biblical worldview is synonymous with submitting to the Lordship of Christ. It’s synonymous with the will of God through His Word.. because the will of God will always be in alignment with the Word of God.

How do we develop a Biblical Worldview?

E. It all starts with believing the Gospel.

The most important thing that anyone can ever understand is that Jesus came down from heaven and made his dwelling place among us, lived a perfect life, and went to the cross to die for my sins and your sins, and on the 3rd day was resurrected. The Bible says that if we believe that then we are saved. But if you don’t believe it and you don’t submit to that belief, then not only do you remain unsaved, but this book remains just that… a book. A book with some good advice here and some encouraging words there. And you get to decide which parts of it are valid and which parts are not - which is NOT a Biblical worldview.

But when you do receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, something supernatural happens.. You receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says that we are God’s temple, a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.

I. This book is a Spiritual book, authored by the Spirit of God, every word of it according to 2 Timothy 3:16.

And 1 Corinthians 2:14 says The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God (every word of the Bible is of the Spirit of God), for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Not rationally discerned, not culturally discerned, not emotionally discerned, but spiritually discerned.

In other words, if weHebrews says that the Bible is living and active. It discerns the intentions of our heart. This is more than a book full of good advice and inspirational quotes. It’s a Spiritual weapon, and by the power of the Spirit of God within us, the same Spirit who authored the book connects us to this Word that God has given us to guide our lives.

If we are in Christ, then we will hear from Him. His Word will speak to us and guide our lives; it will shape our worldview. On the flip side of that, if someone you know has not submitted their lives to Christ, then they can’t hear from God in the same way.

Several years ago, Haley and I visited Paris… and I don’t know why I did this, I guess just because I thought I was being nice. But every time we hopped in an Uber, I would say “Bonjour!” and the uber driver would just start speaking fluid French, trying to have a conversation with me. And I’d have to stop him and say, “sorry, no French.” Then we’d spend the rest of the car ride in awkward silence.. See, I didn’t know what he was saying because I didn’t have an understanding of the language. And this was before it was quick and easy to pull up Google translator. That’s what it’s like trying to read the Bible without the Holy Spirit.

But we, who are saved, have the Holy Spirit, and we should earnestly seek to know God on a more intimate level, and we should do that by spending time in His Word. And when we do that, our worldview is shaped in such a way that it begins to align with God’s.

A. And this means two things for us, as believers…

1. If you have individuals in your life who don’t know Jesus, you just keep sharing the Gospel with them. Keep planting those seeds until they fall on a heart of fertile soil.

2. Don’t lose sight of the gift that God has given you - the Holy Spirit of God within you - and seek him earnestly to know God’s will, to live according to how God has called you to live.

Because that’s how we develop a Biblical Worldview. So the last thing I want to look atpoint I want to address is this…

What happens when we live with a Biblical Worldview?

E. When we develop a Biblical worldview and begin to live with a Biblical worldview, then we start to live in God’s world God’s way. The Bible calls that WISDOM.

Our mission is this: The Way Church is a movement for all people to discover and walk in God’s will through an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

When we begin to live with a Biblical worldview, then we begin to discover God’s will. We begin to uncover what He has called us to do in this life.

Jeremiah 29:13 says You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. If we seek Him first, rather than our own way, then He’ll show us The Way. (We find Him + His way.)

James 4:8 says that when we draw near to God, He draws near to us, meaning if we seek to live His way and pursue Him, He’ll reveal Himself and His will to us.

Romans 12:2 tells us Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Meaning that if we allow the Word of God, rather than the world around us, to form our worldview, then He reveals His will to us.

If we’re living with a Biblical Worldview, then we are acknowledging that God’s way is the way, and we’re trusting Him, rather than emotions, or culture, or any outside influence to direct our lives. In Proverbs 3:5-6, God’s Word says 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

I. This journey of life that we’re on is just that, it’s a journey. It’s a journey in which we can see the ultimate destination - eternal glorification - but between here and there, there’s a lot that we can’t see. And that’s actually how God prefers it. Because if we could see every step of the journey, then there would be no need for this thing called faith.

Psalm 119:105 says Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

That means that trusting God’s Word, following God’s Word, living with a Biblical Worldview, is how we stay on the path that God has laid out. But it’s not a one-time decision to live this way. It’s a way of life.

Notice Psalm 119 says that God’s Word is a lamp to my feet. It doesn’t say that it’s the sun that illuminates the whole road ahead. It’s not a high-powered flashlight to help us see 100 feet down the path..

It’s a lamp. A lamp will show us the next step. And seeking God’s will is this.. Living with a Biblical worldview is this.. It’s saying, “God, all I can see is the next step. That’s the step I’m going to take, and I’m going to trust you with the rest.” And then you wake up the next day, and you seek God through His Word in whatever you’re facing, and you say “God, all I can see is the next step. That’s the step I’m going to take, and I’m going to trust you with the rest.”

God calls us to do this daily. You can’t go to the gym one hour per week and expect to see your body transformed. Romans 12:2 says that we are to be transformed by the renewal of our minds, and we have to do that consistently in order to live with a Biblical worldview, to discover the will of God. In Luke 9:23, Jesus said that we are to take up our cross daily and follow Him.

A. This pursuit of God, this trust in God… That’s what it means to live with a Biblical worldview. That’s what it means to be led by God’s Word. And when we do that, we walk in God’s will, we live the life that we were put here on earth to live. Amen?