BATTLE OF THE WORLDVIEWS

Introduction

-{pray}

-{James 3}

-I saw this cartoon where there was a letter that had been painted on the ground. There were two men by the letter—one man was standing on one side of the letter, the other man was standing on the opposite side of the letter. The first man confidently stated, “Look, it’s the letter W.” The other man just as confidently replied, “You are wrong. It’s the letter M” And the argument ensued—W vs. M.

-This story is a reflection on what we might call perspective—how you view something. Everyone has a perspective on everything, including how we view the world and life. The more familiar term that we use is WORLDVIEW. A worldview is a belief structure and heart orientation that leads to a particular interpretation of reality.

-Now, unlike the letter painted on the ground where both men had valid points, when it comes to worldview (how we look at life) there is a right way and a wrong way of viewing things. How you view the world and life ought to be informed by the One who created the world and life. Unfortunately, most people do not view things that way, and that is why you have so many different worldviews that contradict one another and contradict reality.

-Our worldview is important because the worldview you embrace determines your beliefs, thoughts, and actions. And because differing worldview contradict one another, there is no way that you can really mesh them together—so you have to choose from which worldview you are going to live.

-Now, while there are so many different false worldviews, there is only one that is based on truth—it is the worldview that comes from God as revealed through Scripture—a biblical worldview. It is based on the reality that God created all things, rules over all things, has His hand of providence in all things, and He has revealed Himself and His works to us through the Bible.

-I have been doing a series on spiritual warfare, and why this topic of worldview is important to that subject is that while as Christians we ought to hold to a biblical worldview, our enemies are trying to confuse us on how to live our worldview or lead us to live out of a false worldview.

-There are many who claim to be Christians who aren’t and their worldview shows it. However, there are many true Christians who have been deceived into believing that they can somehow live out both a Christian worldview and a non-Christian worldview or somehow meld a Christian worldview with a non-Christian worldview. But it can’t be done—it just ends up with some sort of spiritual schizophrenia.

-So, there is a battle of worldviews that fight for our attention. I want us to see the differences between worldviews, and then lead us to make a commitment to the one worldview that is based on God’s Word. And James talks about this:

James 3:13–18 LSB

13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good conduct his works in the gentleness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not coming down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, without doubting, without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

-{pray}

-James was writing to believers scattered throughout the Roman Empire. He warned them that there were many different worldviews that they would be exposed to. James uses the word WISDOM. And WISDOM refers to one’s sense of the world order, the moral insight that comes from that, and then the human conduct that corresponds to one’s sense and insight. So, we call it a worldview. And he is telling Christians that they cannot mix their Christian worldview with other worldviews—they battle against one another. He encourages them to deny other worldviews and embrace the biblical worldview. And he talks about two reasons why it is impossible to meld any other worldview with the biblical worldview. The first reason is because there are:

1) Different origins for worldviews

-The biblical worldview and any other worldview come from different places with different backgrounds and different sources. Last week I talked about how the devil uses the world to appeal to our flesh to lead us to live for the world; but you can’t do that and love God at the same time. The fallen world system and God are opposed to one another. In a similar vein, the biblical worldview and any other worldview are opposed to one another because they come from these two places that are opposed to one another.

-First, there is the wisdom from God. In v. 15 and v. 17 it is described as the wisdom that comes from above—it is not part of this world, but comes from above this world. It is a worldview that is heavenly and it has God as its author. It is the wisdom that God has revealed to us that corresponds with the reality that He has created. God is the origin and source of this worldview, called wisdom here by James. We are told:

Job 12:13 LSB

13 “With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and discernment.

-But how does God give this worldview to His people? He reveals it through His Word—the Bible. David told us:

Psalm 119:130 LSB

130 The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

-God is the origin of our worldview, and we know and understand it through the Word. That means that God, through the Word, tells us what to believe, what to think, and how to act. God through the Word gives us our view of reality. So, what we are to think about money is given to us through the Word. What we are to think about the origin of life is given to us through the Word. What we are to think about human relationships is given to us through the Word. This is the wisdom that comes from above.

-But then James tells us in v. 15 that there is an opposing wisdom, an opposing worldview, that is earthly, natural, and demonic. Here again is that trifecta that works against us: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Any worldview that is not the biblical worldview has its origins from the powers that be on this fallen world that the Bible tells us is under the power of Satan.

-James says that this wisdom is earthly, meaning that it doesn’t rise above the world. It is represented by the philosophies and rational approaches that are born out of the world’s way of looking at things—the world that is opposed to God. Not that all philosophies and rational approaches are bad, but when they are merely grounded in the world, they lead people astray.

-James says that this wisdom is natural—some translations will say unspiritual. The word literally means soulish. It is a worldview that has its basis in the selfishness of fallen humanity. Whatever it is that the fallen nature of man wants and desires, they use that to formulate their way of thinking and living. Because fallen man is greedy, their worldview makes a way for them to live selfishly and matierialisticly with no problems. Because fallen man desires pleasure, they formulate their worldview to approve of any sensuality that they want. Everything is just about the base, raw, animalistic nature.

-But James gets down to the nitty gritty and tells us the real source of these worldviews—they are demonic. All other worldviews have their source from the pit of hell. These worldviews have been created so as to lead humanity astray so that they direct people away from God and away from the true gospel message. The demons feed humanity whatever they want in the world so as to make them feel good about themselves and not seek the answers of man’s problems from God through Jesus Christ.

-So, this earthly, natural, demonic wisdom leads to an atheistic worldview that believes that everything came from nothing, there is no God to whom man must account, and since humanity is nothing but a cosmic accident they can live however they want to fulfill themselves in the short amount of time they have. All the while, those with that worldview are suppressing the deep pit of emptiness that they feel in their souls.

-Then this earthly, natural, demonic wisdom leads to a Muslim worldview where you just have to have your good outweigh your bad, but if you commit violence in the name of Allah against the unbeliever you get some extra reward. Or this earthly, natural, demonic wisdom leads to a postmodern worldview where you can determine your own truth, and you just have to ignore all the ways that it contradicts itself.

-There is the wisdom above and then there is the wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic. And because of their different origins they lead down different paths, and because they are so opposed to one another there is no way for them to be brought together under some kind of compromise. But people sure do try. They think that they can take the best of both sets of wisdom and come up with an even better worldview than they would be separately.

-I think of a commercial from many years ago for Reese’s peanut butter cups. In the commercial there’s one person eating chocolate and then there’s another person eating peanut butter. There is some sort of accident and the two foods get mixed together. The one guy says, “Hey, you got peanut butter on my chocolate.” And the other says, “Hey you got chocolate in my peanut butter.” Then they both try the two together and find out that it is the most heavenly combination there could be—the two living in culinary harmony.

-People think they can do that with their worldviews. Hey, you got you naturalistic humanism on my Christianity. Hey, you got your Christianity on my naturalistic humanism. Let’s try both. Guess what, it doesn’t work because they have origins that are opposed to one another. So, what happens is you get a naturalistic worldview that uses some Christian terminology, but it has nothing to do with Christianity.

-So, to give an example of an attempt and fail of bringing two worldviews together: There was a video making the rounds on social media of a female pastor (which is another subject I don’t have time to get into) of an unknown denomination who was saying that if Jesus were on this earth, He would gladly and joyfully escort women into abortion clinics and hold their hands offering love and support as they end their pregnancies. And that Jesus would add a Beattitude, saying, Blessed are those who end pregnancies, for they will be known for their lovingkindness. She would then go on to laud that she herself had two abortions and speak of them as reproductive power.

-There is just so much wrong going on here, but that shows what happens when you try to combine different worldviews. They battle against one another, so one of them is going to win out and show itself. She may claim to be Christian, but her naturalistic worldview comes shining through. They have different origins, and can’t mix. And this is an example of the second reason I want to touch upon today, and that is that there are:

2) Different fruits from worldviews

-The wisdom from above and the wisdom from below lead to two very different results. They bare different spiritual fruit (we might say). Because the wisdom you choose, the worldview you hold, leads to a lifestyle. James tells us in v. 13 that one’s wisdom leads to conduct that leads to a certain type of work.

-For those who hold to the wisdom from above, the biblical worldview, it is demonstrated by good conduct in the gentleness of godly wisdom (according to v. 13). The wisdom from above will show itself to be wisdom from above with the goodness of the life of the one who adheres to it. And it is demonstrated by a life that is centered outside oneself. It is a life focused on God and life focused on others.

-We know this to be true because of the example of Christ Himself. Jesus said that He did not leave the glories of heaven to be served by other people, but to serve. And the greatest service that He gave was to be the ransom for the many who would believe in Him. That is gospel truth. And as Christ was so outward focused, we are the same.

-So, James describes this worldview wisdom further in v. 17. It is pure like the unsullied goodness of God. It doesn’t compromise on His holiness for the sake of pragmatism or expediency. He also says that it is peaceable, meaning we live out what Paul exhorted in:

Romans 12:18 LSB

18 if possible, so far as it depends on you, being at peace with all men,

-Added to that is being considerate (or as some translate it, gentleness). Just as Jesus was the gentle teacher, so we turn away from any harshness or anger. Then it says we are submissive (other translations may say accommodating). We are willing to put others first—accommodating our lives to the needs of others. James then says that this wisdom leads to being full of mercy and good fruits—we do good works to show mercy to others. It is then without doubting and without hypocrisy. It is a worldview that is unwavering and sincere.

-What is so interesting is that James’ description of the worldview that comes from above corresponds with the Beatitudes of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes describe the fruits of our worldview. James says it is pure: Blessed are the pure in heart. Our worldview is to be peaceable: Blessed are the peacemakers. It is to be gentle: Blessed are the meek/lowly. It is to be compliant/submissive: Blessed are the poor in spirit. It is to be full of mercy: Blessed are the merciful. It is to be full of good fruit: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. According to v. 18 this leads to the fruit of righteousness.

-But the worldview that is earthly, natural, and demonic bears different fruit—it is all about the self. It is described in v. 14 as full of bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, arrogance, and lying against the truth. According to v. 16 it leads to disorder and every evil practice. While the biblical worldview is all about finding peace with God through Jesus Christ and then living peaceably with others, the worldviews from below are about how to live for self, how to gain more for self, how to give one’s self an advantage, how to feed the lusts of the self, how to promote the self.

-You see this in the video I mentioned of that female im-pastor. It is about doing for oneself whatever one want to do for oneself regardless how it affects anybody else. She showed the fruits of her worldview—and it had nothing to do with God or Christ or the Bible. It was all about self. And the devil knows it is all about self—that is why he is so crafty in what he does. He wants to keep unbelievers from taking on the biblical worldview, and he wants to lead believers away from the biblical worldview to any other worldview because he knows that it feeds into our natural desire to feed the self—feed the ego. And that is why Christ says to deny self, because self will only lead you astray.

-Part of spiritual warfare is this battle of worldview. There are two types of wisdoms and worldviews that have different origins, and they lead to different results which show that they cannot be meshed in any way. And so you have to choose.

Conclusion

-And today we are doing something that celebrates the wisdom and worldview that comes from the God who is above. Who loved us so much that He gave His only Son to die on the cross for us to give us forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Through the Lord’s Supper we celebrate Jesus, through whom we are made new and that means that we take on the biblical worldview so that we believe, think, and act in a God-pleasing manner.

-The Lord’s Supper is for baptized believers to pause to remember all that Christ gave to give us eternal life and the truth by which we live. And if you have not believed in Jesus, let the elements pass you by and consider repenting and believing in Jesus...