Friday: Further Thought ~ The Eyes of the Lord – Biblical Worldview
Further Thought:
“The true object of education is to restore the image of God in the soul.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 595. With this idea in mind, we can see why a solid Christian worldview is essential for Adventist education.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
After all, as we noted earlier, education in and of itself is not necessarily good. People can be educated, even highly educated, in ideas and attitudes that are contradictory to the principles found in the Bible. That’s why, as Seventh-day Adventists, our educational system must be based on the Christian worldview. This means, then, that all general fields of education, science, history, morality, culture, and so forth will be taught from that perspective, as opposed to one that contradicts or even just ignores it. Also, as said earlier but worth repeating: there’s no such thing as a neutral perspective; all of life, all of reality, is viewed through the filters of one’s worldview, whether or not that worldview is cogently and systematically thought out. Hence, it is essential that the biblical worldview form the foundation of all Seventh-day Adventist education.
Discussion Questions:
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A review of our world view is fine, but I get the feeling that the lesson has concentrated on a couple of distinctive Seventh-day Adventist doctrines rather than some of the practical issues. I put myself in the shoes of some of my non-believing friends and asked myself, how much of this discussion would make sense to them. And I have to admit - not very much.
It is all very well to have a world view (and I am not saying it is wrong) for ourselves, but we need to think a lot more about its transmission in action and our relationship with others. Take for instance, the Leibniz statement “Why is there something instead of nothing?” The lesson goes on to state essentially that it is important for us to recognise God as the creator, which is fair enough, but how do we transmit that message to others. My point is that a world vision that pats ourselves on the back for getting it right, but does not take into account how we put that world view into action is essentially an ivory tower.
Of course we do need to know what we believe and why we believe it, but we also need to know how to transmit it and put it into action. And there is much more to it than explaining it to a non-listening audience. Our world view should include how we see others and how we interact with them.
I have to say this though. On several occasions we have had people not of our faith join this discussion and I have been delighted by the way that participants have treated them. The language we use changes, understanding is shown, and we appear as fellow learners, not know-it-alls. Some of us do understand the importance of transmitting in our world view.
Maurice, I agree that our "light" should not be put under a bushel, or merely displayed on some sort of trophy shelf or honors sash. I also agree that "our worldview should include how we see others and how we interact with them". So what is the next proper step?
Well, we did just spend a whole quarter on how to put our worldview into action. One thing is for certain, it is an individual work to be "transformed by the renewing of your minds" which will lead each one who is thus transformed to "prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God"(Rom 12:2). Of course this takes place only after presenting ourselves as "a living sacrifice", and no longer conformed to this world.(Rom 12:1,2). If this is our intention and action, our worldview will become attractive to those looking for something better than what this present world offers.
What have I learned from this week's lessons?
Not everyone has the same worldview so what makes sense in my opinion might sound nonsensical to another.
I realized that I really need to be fully persuaded (in the words of Paul) that what I believe is the only true real worldview before I can share it with anyone else, 2Tim 1:12 KJV, Heb 11:13 KJV or they might convince me to be swayed by their worldview.
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.....and this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us 1 John 5:11-14
Maurice you stated- 'The lesson goes on to state essentially that it is important for us to recognise God as the creator, which is fair enough, but how do we transmit that message to others.'
That is when our personal lives comes into place. We daily transmit God as our creator by the lives we live- decision we make and the things we do.
Solution-My take away for the week is to put God first in everything that I do. All of me, or non of me. Let the bible which was inspired by the Holy Spirit be my guide.
What I have done and I need to continue putting God first in everything that I have done and will do. As mentioned before. For example, we are doing a project and asked several evaluators to evaluate the project and come up with a cost. Mind you, we told them what we are doing is not illegal but the authories are involved. We managed to get a person/company who supposed to be keeping the sabbath but is not an Adventist. They said to us if we had known, we should not have gotten the authories involved because they could come during the wk end and do the project without the authories even knowing. We said that will not work because we are SDA and do not do any work or allow no one to do work on the Lord sabbath.
To recognize the Sabbath as belonging to the Lord is one step forward in recognizing the Lord as our Creator, Provider and Sustainer.
For this is the love of God that we keep his commandment: and his commandments are not grievous. 1 John 5:3
I agree with Maurice. This lesson seems to be directed at believing Adventists with an attempt to protect the traditional teaching in our schools. I think it is doubtful it would convince a non Adventist, Christian or otherwise, that our world view is the correct world view.
Jim, I didn’t got that view of the lesson. Can you tell me what is the traditional teaching of the school, and what is the teaching of the school presently? Thought I miss something.
Dear Doc Ashton,
Can you please elaborate on this paragraph from Wednesday lesson. My question is this:
Does Christ came to help us just for eternal life. What do you think?
Notice that the “everlasting gospel” is linked directly to God as the Creator. And when we realize that the God who created us is the same God who, in human flesh, bore the punishment for our sin upon Himself – it is no wonder we are called to worship Him. What other response should there be from us when we realize what our God is really like?
For this reason, Christ and Him crucified must remain front and center to all that we teach – a teaching that, in fact, must include the Second Coming, as well, because Christ’s first coming doesn’t really do us a whole lot of good apart from the second, does it? One could argue, from Scripture, that Christ’s first and second coming are two parts of one event – the plan of salvation.
Hi Ernst. Your question is a very perceptive one. If we think of salvation only in terms of life after the second coming, then we have “missed the boat”. Salvation is as much about the here as the hereafter.
Jesus says:
That sounds like salvation is about life now. Does that answer your question?
My worldview has always consisted of two realities – the physical and the Spiritual. Once we learn to express the Spirit of the Creator which is appreciative, selfless giving, fellow-man-and-other-focused, sacrificial, nurturing, healing, other-empowering Love, this will be our testimony to the God we confess that we believe in.
My handyman made a sobering statement. He knows I am a Christian and we stablished and maintain a relationship based on trust. He told me that the only times he was shorted of his earned compensation was when he had worked for supposed Christians.
I whole-heartedly agree with Ellen White’s statement in today’s lesson: “The true object of education is to restore the image of God in the soul.”
In a nutshell - the Christian Worldview is reflected in the Beatitudes. It is expressed as an interactive experience between God and man -
Matt.5:3-12 –
When I first studied the Beatitudes, I could not understand the Spirit undergirding its principles and brissled at the implications should I agree to live accordingly. Over time, step by step, the Holy Spirit deepended my understanding of the Beatitudes and their life-giving principles of Love our Father holds for His children; this formed my worldview and these are the principles I live by.
We are called to live by the principles governing the Kingdom of Heaven not of the ones governing the kingdom of earth; God's Grace provides material benefits as an extra blessing. As we become well established, committed citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, our worldview will be apparent to all who come in contact with us and imprint all that we engage in.
Some good thoughts to ponder this week, and some that were perplexing and even disappointing to see in the lesson.
Our worldview cannot be "better" based on logic or reason, but rather, that it is based on Truth from the Word of God.
I'm not so sure the Leibniz's question was properly answered. The scriptures cited only tell "how" there was something. The "why" is better answered in Rev 4:11 isn't it? Also, in Genesis 1 we read that "God saw that it was good", and when completed, that it was "very good". This better answers "why" doesn't it? To me this tells us more about God's character than just saying He did it.
I pray the part on Worship gets due consideration from each of us.
Wishing everyone a Blessed Sabbath Rest.
Robert good point, the KJV version of Rev 4:11 KJV is for me the best, not only were humans created by His will - because He decided to do it - as per some translations, but for His pleasure - to make Him happy - as per KJV.
The question we can ask ourselves - is my life and worship of Him making the LORD happy?