Did you know that everyone has a worldview? For the non-Christian it’s often a secular worldview that doesn’t have God in the equation. However, many non-Christians insert a god into their worldview such as Islam and Hinduism. But for the Christian, his worldview is decidedly biblical. In other words, the Christian views the world through the lens of the Bible.
Since the Bible is our non-negotiable sourcebook for our worldview why is it that we see so many different doctrinal beliefs among Christians? One of the main reasons, I believe, is that too often we view the Bible through the lens we get from our culture.
For example, many of the parables of Jesus are given in the context of an agricultural culture which to many of us is somewhat foreign. As a result, our modern day lens needs to adjust to the biblical culture these parables referenced.
Another example is the age of the earth. Many Christians believe that the age of the earth is quite old, on the magnitude of 4.5 Billion years old. But there are also many other Christians who believe that our planet is very young, on the order of ten thousand years. Why such a vast discrepancy in age?
Ever since Charles Darwin published his monumental book, The Origin of Species, in 1859, much of the scientific community has cast their lot believing that evolution is the vehicle that was used to bring mankind into existence. For many non-Christians evolution now is often considered a scientific fact and thus requires an extremely old earth to explain how mankind arose. Before Darwin, most scientists may not have accepted a very young earth but very few would lean to a very old earth.
Today our culture is so saturated with the belief in evolution that even many Christians, both scientist and layman alike, choose to view the age of the earth through this distorted lens. In fact, there are many Christians that have bought into the lie of evolution and the belief in an old earth; and that God used evolution to bring mankind about. This belief is called theistic evolution, and shows how far our culture will go to align itself with evolution, even if it means attributing trial and error and death to God’s creative plan – clearly contradicting the Genesis account. Whether, as a Christian, you believe in a young or old earth, is a debate we can have, but I believe that theistic evolution is a doctrine that the Scriptures never intended as an option.
One final example surrounds the entire abortion debate in America. 100 years ago, abortion was very uncommon and our society frowned upon this murderous event. But with many states enacting laws permitting legal abortion, as well as the fifty year reign of Roe v Wade, society began to accept the practice as permissible, especially with the cultural explosion of women’s rights. As a result, many Christians, sadly, have also allowed the culture and not the Scriptures to be the lens they use to look at life. After all they reason that it’s a woman’s body and she should have the right to decide if she wants to keep the baby.
The Bible is a special and unique book that transcends time and culture, and we need to be very careful to interpret its teachings and commands through the eyes and the lens of the Holy Spirit. Yes, it is important to understand the culture we live in, but culture should never trump the clear teaching of the Bible. The Bible is a timeless treasure and never changes. Culture, on the other hand, differs from time period to time period and from country to country. Bible doctrines are meant to influence the culture and never the opposite way around.