A Picture Of A Biblical Worldview
We talk often about the importance of understanding and following a biblical worldview. However, the concept of what a biblical worldview looks like is not often understood. Tim Keller in his book, The Meaning of Marriage, gives a great example of what this concept looks like practically in our lives.
Some years ago, a man who regularly listened to my preaching made a shrewd observation. He said, “When you are well prepared for your sermon, you cite a great variety of sources, but when you aren’t well prepared, you just quote C.S. Lewis.” He was right. The reason for that is that I have over the years read virtually everything of Lewis that is in print. When I first became a Christian believer, his writings spoke to my questions and concerns more than any other. So I have continually, repeatedly, read his writings until I can recite dozens of passages by heart. I have also read several biographies and lots of his personal letters.
When you dive that deeply into the life and works of a single figure, something interesting happens. You don’t just get to know his writings; you get to know his mind works. You come to know what he would have said in answer to a particular question or how he would have responded to a particular incident. The reason that, when I have to speak off the cuff, C.S. Lewis just comes pouring out is because, as it were, he is in there, he is part of my thought life.
What, then, would the effect be if we were to dive even more deeply into Jesus’s teaching and life and work? What if we were to be so immersed in his promises and summonses, his counsels and encouragements, that they dominated our inner life, capturing our imagination, and simply bubbled out spontaneously when we faced some challenge? How would we live if we instinctively, almost unconsciously, knew Jesus’s mind and heart regarding things that confronted us? When you receive criticism, you would never be crushed, because Jesus’s love and acceptance of you is so deeply “in there.” When you gave criticism, you would be gentle and patient, because your whole inner world would be saturated by a sense of Jesus’s loving patience and gentleness with you.