In the north of England where I grew up, the air was heavily polluted with soot and other contaminants. I had never lived anywhere else, so I wasn't in any way disturbed by that. At the time it didn't seem strange that when it rained, my mother would rush outside to bring the washing in, not just to stop it getting wet, but to prevent it from being stained by the soot-laden rain drops. Most of the older buildings in our area were built of sandstone. A century or more of pollution had turned the stone completely black. But again, because I had grown up with black stone buildings, I didn't think anything of it. I was about twelve years old before I realised that sandstone wasn't naturally that colour.
We all grow up in an atmosphere of beliefs and values that vary from place to place and from time to time. Those of our own time and place become so much a part of our thinking, our "world view", that we are not consciously aware of them. Even when we become Christians, and begin to adopt a new way of thinking, the old ideas remain ingrained in our minds. It is much easier to notice and evaluate the beliefs of other people. We consider slavery abhorrent but many decent people in the eighteenth century saw nothing wrong with owning slaves. In Martin Luther's day most people were anti-semitic. From our view point, tolerating slavery and anti-semitism are quite at odds with being a Christian, but people at the time saw no contradiction between their beliefs and their behaviour. The prevailing attitudes of their world clung to their faith like soot clinging to sandstone.
Why bother?
It would be foolish for us to believe that our own thinking and behaviour have not been tarnished by the world. But what is the point of trying to understand the world view of our own culture? Is it just an academic exercise, an attempt to look in a mirror to see what we look like from behind? After all, our salvation is based on faith, not works. Does it really matter that in some areas our thinking, attitudes and behaviour are still worldly, if we have faith?
It is true that, once we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, our place in God's kingdom is assured. But the very word "Lord" implies that we have come under Christ's rule, and are now endeavouring to live in obedience to him, to think as he wants us to think and act as he wants us to act. If our lives are to stand out in our grimy surroundings in the way God intended, we need to undergo a process of "sanding back". Where Jesus' teaching is clearly contradicted by the world's ways, we must choose which we will follow.
Peter had accepted Jesus as Lord. He had left everything to follow him and no doubt he loved him. When Jesus told him what was about to happen to him in Jerusalem he cried "Lord, this shall never happen to you!" We can easily feel sympathy for Peter. Yet Jesus rebuked him quite harshly for having in mind the things of men, not the things of God (Matt 16.22-23) Jesus never allowed those who followed him to waffle, to compromise, to mix the old ways with the new. He spoke of new wine needing new wineskins, of avoiding the "old leaven" of the Pharisees.
If we don't recognise the conflict between what we say we believe and our underlying world view, we are liable to feel anxious and unhappy without really knowing why. For example, we may sincerely want to witness to our faith, but if we unthinkingly accept the prevailing attitude that religion is a private affair, we will constantly find ourselves failing to speak. We may think we have rejected worldly ambitions, but find ourselves worrying about our looks and clothes because we have accepted the idea that outward appearance is important. We may claim we are free in Christ, but have lives effectively shackled to the bank or the clock. Our world view will influence our behaviour whether we are aware of it or not. Our goal, then, must be to have a truly Christian world view. In Romans 12, Paul says "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Standing out
Sifting our ideas to distinguish what is Christian from what is worldly has another purpose. Rather than separating us into a Christian ghetto, it should enable us to relate more easily to non-Christians. We will have a clearer understanding of what beliefs we share with them, and what underlying assumptions can't be taken for granted when we discuss issues with them.
When our local P & C decides the school should offer meditation lessons each morning, we will be aware that they make no distinction between true spirituality and occult practises. When our employer enthuses about the motivational book he has just read and suggests that we read it too, we won't take it on board without thinking. Instead we might see such occasions as an opportunity to discuss where the truth lies.
The thriving market in self-help books and various forms of "spirituality" is an indication that people are looking for answers to some big questions, and not just answers but results. When they meet Christians whose lives look pretty much like their own except on Sunday mornings, they are unimpressed. Non-believers are quicker than we are to recognise any discrepancy between what we say we believe, and how we live from Monday to Saturday.
Of course, the renewing of our minds which Paul speaks of is an ongoing process. We can't hope to be completely free of non-Christian or distorted thinking. Even after we've cleaned up some areas, we are prone to reabsorb the attitudes of those around us. We have to live in the age and place in which God has put us. But what does it mean to be a Christian in Australia in the year 2000? How will we be different from the non-Christians around us, at home, at school, at work, in our relationships and in our handling of money and property? Scripture will give us guidelines for living, but how do we apply them so that our minds are transformed for Christ?
Footnote
In this new series of World Views I hope to answer some of these questions. Since I am as much infected by the prevailing world view as anyone else, it is a very tentative series. I would appreciate your comments, suggestions and ideas.
By Stella Budrikis