Skip to content Developing a Biblical Worldview Sep 8 · 29 min ...more
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:09 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? It is such a joy and a privilege to study the word of God together with you. Today, we're gonna be talking about developing a biblical worldview. Let's look0:21 to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this day. Grant us your grace to study your word, Lord. We acknowledge that Holy Spirit is our teacher. Open our eyes to see and give us listening ears to0:32 hear and a heart that is willing to obey your word. We thank you in Jesus name and people of God said, amen and amen. You know there are 3 types of hairstyles. The center0:44 parted, the side parted and departed for those who don't have any hair. The reason I'm thinking about hair is because this is the first time in 21 years of marriage that I allowed my wife to cut my0:56 hair. Here's another hair joke for you. If someone is bald at the back, they are great thinkers.1:08 If men are bald in the front, they are great lovers. What if they are bald in the front and the back? They are the men who1:19 think they are great lovers. Today we are talking about developing a biblical worldview. The window through which you see the1:31 world. Story was told of a young couple who moved into their new apartment. Now the wife, every day she looks through her window and she sees the laundry in the1:43 neighbor's backyard. And she comments to her husband and says, the laundry is very dirty, it's still dirty. So every day she says that the laundry is dirty. Then 1 day, she1:55 looks through the window and the laundry is super clean. And this time she commented and turned to her husband and said, they must have changed their washing machine. The husband replied, no, no, I just2:07 cleaned our windows. Listen to me carefully. Where you live will determine what you see and what you see will determine how you live. I2:18 want you to catch this principle. You and I are living in the world but the bible says we are not of the world. There are 2 kingdoms here, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world.2:31 So where you live will determine what you see and what you see will determine how you live. That is why you and I, we need to recognize that we need to develop2:42 a biblical worldview. The bible says in Romans chapter 12 and verse 2, do not be conformed to this world. In other words, don't look at the world the same way2:54 the world looks at the world. You and I cannot be conformed to the pattern of this world but you and I are called to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. That means you and I, we need to3:06 train ourselves to see differently. So let's come back to this question. What is a world view? A worldview is one's collection of presuppositions,3:18 convictions and values from which a person tries to understand and make sense of the world and life. It is your value system. It is the lens through which you see the3:30 world. It's the window through which you see the world. Now this is important. What then is a Christian worldview? A Christian worldview3:42 is based on 4 truths. 1, we recognize that God is the unique source of all truth. Number 2, God's truth is revealed solely in his scriptures.3:54 And 3, and we evaluate our life from God's perspective. And 4, we order our life according to God's will. We recognize that God's word is the truth4:06 and we order our life according to the word of God. And we evaluate everything based upon the word of God. In summary, let me say it this way. A biblical world view4:18 is about putting God into the equation of our lives. It is about putting God into the equation of our lives and gaining his perspective, walking in his4:30 ways and fulfilling his will. Hallelujah. Now, we're not going to be talking about worldview exhaustively, but I want you to consider these 5 arenas4:41 where developing a Christian and a biblical worldview matters. Now the first 1 is the theology of the world. Your worldview about the community that you4:53 live in. The bible says that you are in the world but you're not of the world. And this is the command that he has given to all believers. Look at this in first John chapter 2 and verse5:05 15, Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. Listen carefully. Your command is to not love the5:16 world nor the things in the world. Sadly today, many Christians are in love with the world. In other words, our ego is tied to this world. Our esteem in life is tied to the world. That's5:28 why we compare ourselves with others and try to catch up with the Jones. We are so gravitated towards the things of this world. That's why a believer ought to recognize this.5:40 I can't love the world. If I love the world, it is in direct opposition with love of the father. And then in verse 16, it goes on to say, for all that is in the world, the desires of the5:52 flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the father but from the world. Listen, the desires of the flesh. What is the6:04 desires of the flesh? The desires of the flesh are sensualities. It is the sexual desires. It's the activation of the passions of the flesh. What is that lust of the6:16 eyes? The lust of the eyes is covetousness. What I see, I want to have it. The bible says, do not covet your neighbor's wife, your neighbor's property.6:27 Do not cover what someone else's have. But our heart is gravitated towards these things. The third thing it says is pride of life. What is pride of life? That you take pride in your6:39 acquisitions. What you have, accomplishments, what you have achieved, your abilities. All these things gives you a sense of pride within yourself. And the6:51 bible says, the love of the world will gravitate you towards all these things. That's why a believer ought to deny this world and we need to stop loving the world. See,7:03 I want you to catch this principle. You can't walk with God while holding the hands with the world. Why? Because they are both opposites. James chapter 4 and verse 4 says, you7:15 are doubtless people. In other words, you are married to 1 but you have an affair with something else. You have 2 loves. You are doubtless people. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?7:28 For therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Listen carefully, you can't walk with God while holding hands with the devil.7:40 You have to make a decisive choice here. That's why the theology of the world matters. This is what the bible says in first John chapter 2 verse7:52 17. The world is passing away along with its desires but whoever does the will of God abides forever. In other words, look at how he contrasts the world and the will8:04 of the father. The world along with all its desires are passing away. In other words, they are transient, they are temporal but the will of the Lord abides forever. You do the will of God,8:16 that's what matters. So your view of the world will help you choose wisely. Your world view will affect your lifestyle. It will affect the choices that you8:28 make and the word of God says here, he who does the will of God. So your life and my life is about doing the will of the father. That's what this world is about. Story was8:39 told of a missionary who returned back from the mission field. He arrived in his port in a ship and there was no 1 to welcome him on the harbor.8:52 But in the same ship, there was a celebrity and to welcome the celebrity, there were newspaper reporters and there's so many fans in the harbor. So9:03 this missionary sighed in his heart and he said, Lord, I have served you faithfully and I come home, there's no 1 to welcome me. And the Lord replied to him in his heart, You9:15 are not home yet. When you come home, there will be a great celebration, a great welcome for you. Now listen to me carefully. This is the truth. The world is not our home. We9:27 are just passing through. Is that the theology that you hold? Is that the world view you carry about the world? Let's examine the second 1, the theology of work.9:39 It has to do with our calling. See, we need to understand there's a difference between name card and calling card. Don't confuse your name card with the9:51 calling card. What's the name card? It's the name card you give to people to know what you do. See the key question that everybody asks you whenever they meet you for the first time is, what do you do?10:03 Because they want to know where to place you in the pecking order. Are you the CEO of a company? Are you the janitor in the company? Because the world measures these things. So that's why there10:15 is some some attachments of grandeur to certain roles and certain jobs and then the others are despised. But I can I humbly say this, the bible makes no difference like that?10:27 The Bible recognizes that every work is honourable before God. See many times when we think of the work, we always think of the fruit of our labour rather than the focus of our labour.10:40 So what should be the focus of a believer? The focus of a believer must be the unseen eternal kingdom of God. I want you to think about this verse. It's in second10:52 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 18. We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient but the things that11:04 are unseen are eternal. In other words, a believer ought to train themselves to move away from what they see, the pay packet, the position of influence, the11:16 privileges that come with it, the responsibilities that come with it. They got to see beyond these things. They see how is God going to use me in this role or in this place11:28 of influence for his glory and for the good of his kingdom. In other words, our focus should not be on the seen. Our focus should be on the unseen eternal kingdom of God. I've11:40 always noticed that people carry a dichotomous view of work. That there are sacred work and secular work. Sometimes people think that working in the church is sacred work and working in a company11:51 is secular work. Can I humbly say this? Even a secular work will become spiritual if your focus is eternal. And even a spiritual work will become secular12:03 if your focus is temporal. So whatever work you do, your work is meaningless if your work is divorced from your witness. So you got to recognize your12:15 calling is meaningless when it's divorced from the caller. God has called you but if you ignore God when you go to work, you have divorced your caller from the12:27 calling. So your calling becomes meaningless when it's divorced from the caller. The same thing. Your work is meaningless when your work is divorced from your witness.12:39 Can people look at your work and say, that's a man of integrity. That's a man of character. That's a man that honors God with his work. That's a man who takes his responsibility seriously. That's a man who12:51 does everything excellently. That's what the bible calls you to do. Whether you are the CEO or the janitor, God says, you and I need to do the work as though we are doing it unto the Lord for his glory13:03 and for the good of his kingdom. So what is your theology of work? Why do you go to work? Examine it. The third thing I want us to consider is the theology of wealth13:15 consumption. See life on earth is neither a party nor a curse, it is a stewardship. Do we recognize that everything that God has given to us is a13:26 stewardship? See I've told you earlier that there are 2 extreme views of wealth that we have studied in the past sessions. 1 is the poverty theology. The other 1 is13:38 prosperity theology. Poverty theology says, the poorer you are, the holier you are. Prosperity theology says, the more richer you are, the more God is pleased with you. In other words, you are13:50 favored by God. Listen, both are extreme ends of the spectrum. What is the theology that you and I, we need to hold on to? It's the stewardship theology. It's the providential theology14:01 that God is my provider, that God is the rightful owner of everything I have and I'm merely a custodian. You and I are called to steward our time, our14:13 talents, and our treasures for the glory of God. That's why you and I are called to honor God with everything we have. Because we recognize that everything comes from him. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse14:25 9 says, honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all you produce. This was written by the wealthiest man during that time, was king14:37 Solomon. And even in today's terms, he will still be the number 1, the wealthiest man in the world. And he says, honor the Lord with your wealth. Why? It is to recognize14:48 that everything that I have, whether I have much or I have little, it comes from the Lord. He is the 1 who has blessed me and whatever I have belongs to him. Therefore, I want to honor him. So14:59 how do you honor God? You honor God by giving generously to God and to his kingdom work. Start by tithing faithfully. See, when you set aside 10 percent15:11 of your income for the work of the kingdom and you give to the local church where you are getting fed, it is an acknowledgement that God is my rightful provider. He's my source of all my15:23 blessing. Everything in my hands belongs to him. So that is why we do it in obedience. See, my wife and I, we have been practicing tithing ever since we got married. But we have15:35 also learned the principle of graduated tithe. What is graduated tithe? Years ago I was reading this book by Ron Sider, Rich Christians in the Age of15:46 Hunger, where he talks about how once the Lord has prospered you and blessed you, that you no longer just limit yourself to give only 10 percent. Let's 10 percent15:58 not become your ceiling but your flooring. In other words, that's a minimum you give but from then on you graduate. In other words, you now give more. You increase the percentage of16:10 your giving based on how much more God has blessed you with. Now listen carefully. I'm not saying this that you should follow this, but that's what my wife and I would do. The reason is because we acknowledge that16:21 everything that we have comes from him. So we curb our spending, we increase our giving as the Lord continues to provide. That's why 3 times in our marriage so far,16:33 we have emptied everything that we have in the bank and give for kingdom work. The reason we can do it is because we acknowledge that it is he who has provided us and everything that we have belongs16:45 to him. That's the call in the New Testament. Paul writes to all the rich, the ones who are wealthy in first Timothy chapter 6. He says, as for the rich in this present age,16:57 charge them not to be haughty. In other words, don't trust your riches. Not to set your hopes on the uncertainty of riches but on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.17:09 Hallelujah. And then he says, they are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and to be ready to share thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the17:21 future that they may take hold of that which is truly life. Listen to me carefully, learn to invest wisely in the kingdom of God. Learn to invest17:32 generously. The reason is because thus you will store in heavens and you lay hold of that which is truly life. You know17:44 in my own personal pilgrimage, being generous into the kingdom of God, living like this with an open palm and emptying when God asked me to do, I17:56 have tasted God in a spectacular manner. I've tasted his provision. I've seen his miraculous.18:08 You know, it reminds me of a scripture in Luke chapter 12 and verse 32. The bible says, fear not little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And18:20 then in verse 33 he says, sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money backs that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth18:31 destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Hallelujah. You and I have read this and studied this in a parallel passage in Matthew chapter 6. Here18:43 he begins by saying, fear not little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. So therefore, sell your possessions, give to the needy, provide yourselves with money bags in18:55 heavens and then where your treasure is, that's where your heart will be also. Right there in this verse in Luke chapter 12 and verse 32, you see 3 pictures of God.19:07 1, you see God as your shepherd. He says, you little flock, do not fear. See, don't fear about where I'm going to live. How am I going to provide for my19:18 family? He says, don't worry because you have a shepherd who looks after his flock. Secondly, says, father, it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. In other words, the19:30 father loves to lavish good gifts to his children. He says, if you live like this, you are under the provision of a shepherd who is a good shepherd. You are under the19:42 provision of a father who loves his children and lavishes upon his children good gifts. Thirdly, he goes on to say, it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Kingdom means there is a king. He gives19:54 you the picture of God as king. God as king, he looks after his subjects. God has father, he looks after his children. God has shepherd, he looks after his flock. In other words, you20:06 will be taken care of. That's why your theology of the wealth matters. So how do you view your wealth? Is it your wealth or is it his?20:17 Are you doing what he has asked you to do with the wealth that he has given you? I hope so. The next thing I want us to explore is the theology of welfare. It is20:29 about compassion. See, a clenched hand is a sign of a closed heart. Open your heart to the needs of the people around you.20:41 Deuteronomy chapter 15 and verse 11, the bible says, For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Pause, reflect upon this. It says, there will always be poor in the land.20:53 Therefore, I command you, you shall open your hand wide to your brother, to the needy, to the poor in your land. In other words, God says, you and I we need to be21:04 generous, open our hand wide to feed the poor, to look after the people who are in the marginalized. And this is something that he commands to do in the old21:16 testament. See, want you to listen to me carefully. If God is the rightful owner of everything I have, then all my resources are borrowed resources, then all my resources belong to him. He can dictate the terms upon21:28 which I live and he directs where I should invest and the more I release it, the more He is glorified. In the New Testament, the Bible says in James chapter 1 and verse21:39 27, a religion that is pure and undefiled before God the father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the21:51 world. So listen to me carefully. What is true religion? It is to be able to serve the needs of the poor that you find among you, whether it's the widows or the orphans. And the whole general22:03 principle is be generous to the poor. So how are you serving the poor through your life? There are 4 areas where we serve God's22:14 purposes. 1, in our marriage, in our family life. Secondly, in our marketplace, in our work life. Thirdly, in the ministry, in the church life. And22:26 fourthly, in the mission in the world. There are things that God has earmarked for you to touch. There are mission fields that he has earmarked for you to touch. Be generous to these things.22:39 And sometimes people struggle with having compassion for this. I want to give you a statement, I want you to take this down. While compassion supersedes commitment,22:51 yet often it is commitment that precedes compassion. In other words, start with a simple commitment. Start with sponsoring maybe a child. Give a destiny for a child.23:03 Give a lift up for a family. Maybe uphold a mission field somewhere. Do that. When you start with a commitment, the compassion will follow.23:15 Otherwise, if we wait for compassion to kick start, it'll probably would never will. So I want you to listen to me. Start with simple steps of obedience. Start with a simple23:27 commitment of sponsoring maybe 1 child and let it begin from there. The fifth thing that I want you to consider is this, your theology of what's to come,23:39 consummation. In other words, you and I, we need to think about things that are going to take place in the world and we need to be informed, we need to be instructed by the word of God.23:51 But we're not called to be alarmed, but we are called to be awakened and we are called to be alert. There are specific passages in the scripture that speaks about the last days.24:03 This is what you call the apocalyptic chapters. These apocalyptic chapters are found in Mark chapter 13, Luke chapter 21, and Matthew chapter 24 and 25.24:15 I want to focus on Matthew 24 and 25. In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus speaks about the last days and he gives you 2 things in specific for you to24:27 consider. Look at this in verse 25, he says, see I have told you beforehand. In other words, as a Christian, we are already informed about the end of24:38 times. We are not surprised by what is taking place in the world. We shouldn't be. Why? Because the scripture points us to what is going on and what will happen in the last days. That's24:50 why you don't need to watch CNN to know how it will be in the end. You don't need to read the newspaper to find out what's going on in the world. Everything in the world that's happening right now has25:02 already been foretold and we know what the future is. So that's why Jesus says, you have already been informed. So how we are to live, he says in verse 42, that's the second thing.25:14 He says, therefore stay awake for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. So the call of Jesus Christ to the church in the last leg of the last days is this, stay awake25:26 and get ready for the coming of the Lord. That's why in Matthew chapter 25, he gives him 3 parables and these 3 parables apply to us who are living in these25:38 last leg of the last days. What are these 3 parables? The parables of the 10 virgins speaks about be alert. In other words, be awakened. The bridegroom can come any25:50 moment. Are you ready for the coming of the Lord? The second 1 is the parables of the talents. There are 3 servants in Matthew chapter 25 that received talents26:02 from their master. The master went away for a long time and when he came back, he asked them only 1 question. What did you do with the talents I gave26:13 you? In the time I gave you. So listen to me carefully. What is Jesus calling us to be? He's calling us to be accountable. Be on alert. The bridegroom can come anytime.26:25 Be accountable. Live your life as a steward of God. The third parable is the parable of the sheep and goat. In this parable of sheep and goat, there is a judgment of God that26:37 takes place. He judges those who did good works, where they met the needs of the poor, where they clothed the naked, where they saw the people in the hospital and cared for them.26:49 And the bible says, what you do to the least of the brethren, you did for me, Jesus says. So what is it? He asked us to be active in doing good works. So listen to me carefully.27:01 He's calling his church to be ready for the coming of the Lord. This is how we should be thinking about the times that we are living in. Therefore, it should dictate how we27:13 live. In summary, what is a biblical worldview? A biblical worldview is all about putting God into the equation of our life. So I want to give you the 5 summary27:25 statements of what we just explored. The theology of the world, in the world but not of the world. The theology of work, I should work honorably.27:37 Be not consumed by my work but my ultimate work is to do the will of the father. What is the theology of wealth? It's the stewardship theology.27:49 God is the rightful owner and I'm merely as custodian. What is the theology of welfare? I must leverage my resources and care for the poor. In other words, I got to learn28:01 to be generous for the kingdom of God. Hallelujah. Theology of what's to come. The world is passing away. Jesus is coming back in glory. Until he comes, I must be28:12 on alert and live as a good steward. I hope that we can embrace a biblical worldview and continue to honor God with our lives. God bless you.28:24 Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray for each and every 1 of us, Mighty God, that we'll continue to examine the worldview from which we live. Lord, I pray that you continue to tutor our hearts,28:37 that we will be grounded in the scriptures under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a life that pleases you and28:48 live a life that expands your kingdom. Wherever we go, that we will bring the kingdom of God and its influence. We thank you, Lord. I pray your blessing upon your people. In Jesus' name, and29:00 people of God said, Amen and Amen. We love you. God bless you.
Paul Jeyachandran
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