"The first step in forming a Christian worldview is to overcome this sharp divide between "heart" and "brain." We have to reject the division of life into a sacred realm, limited to things like worship and personal morality, over against a secular realm that includes science, politics, economics, and the rest of the public arena. This dichotomy in our own minds is the greatest barrier to liberating the power of the gospel across the whole of culture today."
Nancy Pearsey, Total Truth, 20.
One of the marks of authentic spirituality is a quest for truth and its application in every area of life. Notice I said quest. It is a life-long pursuit and a trajectory of constant searching and hopefully Spirit-lead growth. None of us have perfectly apprehended the truth about the world.
One of the effects of sin is to warp our minds so they are preoccupied with self-concern and self-deceit. The proper response to understanding this reality should be authentic humility that seeks to learn from God through His word, others, and creation.
So why is authentic humility so lacking in the Christian world? Why are so many Christians marked by an arrogance that is appalling? It never ceases to amaze me how a person rescued by God's grace from complete darkness can change in a year into a person who judges and looks down upon others still in darkness! Why does this happen?
I think it is primarily because we have not learned how to develop a authentic Christian mind. We have not been taught even the basics of how to understand and live in this world.
The first basic we should know is that all things were created good. If we look honestly, the ringing cry of Genesis 1 is God's declaration that what He made is good. Over and over again, God creates and declares it good. The final summation of the chapter concludes, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." (vs. 31)
What does this mean? All things were created with an inherent goodness. This includes humanity that is created in the image of God (vs. 26). Not just individually but also corporately since male and female together reflect the full image of God. This means that human interaction and culture was created to be good and to reflect the character of the God who created it.
The second basic we should know is that all things were infected and effected by the fall. Genesis 3 details how Adam and Eve turned away from listening to God to listen to their own desires, prompted by the Evil One, to eat of the so called knowledge of the good and evil. The result is alienation from God (3:10), alienation from others (3:12), alienation from self (3:13), and alienation from all creation (3:16-19).
These various forms of alienation from the way we were created cause us great pain. The more we move away from our created good the more pain, suffering, and alienation we experience and feel. The closer we are to our created good, the more harmony, peace, and joy we will experience. The final hope of the Biblical understanding of the universe is that one day we will be set free from the power of sin and death so that we can once again reflect the created good perfectly. This will be achieved when we die or Christ returns!
Now the tie to our opening quote can be made. In our fallen state, the reality of our condition is often felt, but not really understood. We are special because we are created by God to reflect His glory and character. Yet, all of us are fallen beings struggling to put off the gravitational pull of our sin tendencies. This pull drives us away from trusting in God and instead moves us toward trusting in self: our strength, our judgment, our resources. The problem is that we forget that our strength, our judgment, and our resources are all infected with the consequences of the fall! These consequences do not end when someone becomes a believer. They continue until death or Christ returns!
Many Christians have bought into the dichotomy borrowed from the Enlightenment, which argues that there is a divide between sacred and secular realms. We have been taught that Church, Bible, and personal faith are good. We have also been taught that "secular humanism" and all worldly pursuits (anything not related to Church, Bible, and personal faith) are bad. Hopefully you can see that this is wrong on many sides! This will be our topic for the next few days as we investigate the implications of our false worldview.
One implication before we end. There is not a sacred/secular dichotomy in scripture made along the lines we have borrowed from the Enlightenment. All of us and every area of culture and creation are created good yet fallen. This includes the Church and all Christian institutions. It includes all "worldly" activities and enterprises. The real task of authentic spirituality is to take this truth and apply it to every area of human experience. We must seek to integrate this Biblical worldview into action. It must inform all of life. It creates vision on how we should live and how culture should function. Yet, our fallenness should create humility and a willingness to grow and learn as we seek to apply these truths into a fallen world by fallen people.
Any observations and comments are welcome! Let's grow together as we look at this area of authentic spirituality!
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