Salt and Light
Written by Administrator Saturday, 11 March 2006 19:00
Jesus challenged His followers to be "salt" and "light" in a world filled with corruption and darkness. Why is it that Christians in the 21st century are not making more of an impact on the American culture?
In a recent nationwide survey conducted by the Barna Research Group, it was discovered that only 4 percent of Americans had a “biblical” worldview. That’s not surprising when you realize this includes ALL Americans. But shock came when Barna “pulled” from this number the responses from those who claim to be “born again.” A dismal 9 percent of those professing to be Christian hold to a “biblical” worldview. Just what is a worldview? A worldview is the framework from which we view reality and make sense of life and the world. “[It’s] any ideology, philosophy, theology, movement or religion that provides an overarching approach to understanding God, the world and man’s relations to God and the world,” says David Noebel, author of Understanding the Times.
Del Tackett of Focus on the Family writes, “Whether conscious or subconscious, every person has some type of worldview. A personal worldview is a combination of all you believe to be true, and what you believe becomes the driving force behind every emotion, decision and action. Therefore, it affects your response to every area of life: from philosophy to science, theology and anthropology to economics, law, politics, art and social order – everything.
Having a biblical worldview will be determined by what you believe about the Bible and what it asserts. So Barna’s survey started with a series of questions that Christians were asked to answer. They were to provide their response “based on what you believe the Bible teaches.” Here are the questions.
- Do absolute moral truths exist?
- Is absolute truth defined by the Bible?
- Did Jesus Christ live a sinless life?
- Is God the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe, and does He still rule it today?
- Is salvation a gift from God that cannot be earned?
- Is Satan real?
- Does a Christian have a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people?
- Is the Bible accurate in all of its teachings?
Think of it … only 9 percent of “born- again” believers answered “yes” to all these questions.
Barna offers this assessment, “Although most people own a Bible and know some of its content, our research found that most Americans have little idea how to integrate core biblical principles to form a unified and meaningful response to the challenges and opportunities of life.”
How would you answer those eight questions? If you claim to believe the Bible, then let its truths “transform” your mind and change the way you live (cf. Romans 12:1-2).
-- Sparky