Who or What Influences Your Worldview? (View-Master Series)

Our pastor began a new sermon series this morning.  He is calling it the View-Master Series.  Some of you might have had a View-Master toy when you were a child.  Mine was red.  I loved it.  I had a shoe box full of reels.  Many of them contained lenses representing popular television shows and children's shows of the day.  I must have liked my Snoopy reel the best because it's the only one I remember using out of that big shoe box full of View-Master reels.  I remember buying one of my daughters a View-Master toy when she was a child.  Her favorite reel was the Barbie one.

If you are not familiar with a View-Master toy, here is an image of an older one.  It was a popular toy in its day.  In fact, the View-Master was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Image Credit:  Public Domain Image via Wikimedia Commons

You might be wondering what a View-Master toy has to do with a sermon about the Bible or Christianity.  Think back to your View-Master toy if you had one.  When you inserted the reel into the toy, you would look through the lenses.  As you viewed each lens, you saw something different or perhaps learned something new about the content of the reel.  Each lens gave you a perspective or an overall opinion about the subject of the reel.
In the same way, we look at the world around us through different lenses.  Each of these lenses work together to help us form a worldview.

The following are my Bible study notes based on my pastor's sermon.  You are invited to watch, listen, and worship with us here.

We Need A Starting Point. | August 18, 2019 | Pastor Jeff Crook from Christ Place Church on Vimeo.

Who or what influences your worldview?

A worldview is how we see the world.  The way we view the world will dictate the decisions we make.  Many people or things can influence our worldview:  parents, media, social media, Youtube, education, the law of the land, etc.  Our worldview is comprehensive.  It influences everything we do, every decision we make, including decisions regarding our relationships.

Do you have a faulty worldview?  A faulty worldview might look something like this:

*The one with the most toys wins.  (Now we are talking about adults.  We might be tempted to compare ourselves with the person who has the most coveted car, boat, or home.)

*I must think of me first. (Be careful about the memes you share on social media.  Many of them seem good at first glance, but their "feel good" theme might not line up with scripture.  Many of them actually display selfish motives.)

*Do what feels good.  Just like the point just above this one, just because it feels good doesn't mean it lines up with scripture.  Look at ideas such as these through the lens of truth which can only be found in Scripture.

*Do whatever works for you.  This attitude is popular whether it is right or wrong.  Just because it works for you doesn't mean it falls under the umbrella of God's Word.  

*God doesn't exist.  

*You are your own god.

None of these worldviews line up with Scripture.  If you look at each one through the lens of God's Word, you'll find that they are all wrong.

We need to come to a God-centered worldview.

1.  We must believe by faith that God does exist.  

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. - Hebrews 11:6

2.  We must believe by faith that God created all things.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. - Hebrews 11:3

3.  We must believe by faith that Jesus Christ is God made visible.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. - Colossians 1:15-17

My God-centered view must be focused on Jesus.  

4.  God's existence is expressed in Jesus.

5.  Everything was created though Jesus.

6.  Everything is held together by Jesus.

If we are to have a Christian worldview, we must think like Jesus.  If we think like Jesus, we will see the world like Jesus sees the world.  When we realize that Jesus was the smartest person who ever lived on this earth, we will want to think like Jesus thinks. 

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. - Colossians 2:2-4

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. - John 1:1-5

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” - John 8:12

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When our minds become dull, we can lose our way and fall into a sinful lifestyle.

But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. - 2 Corinthians 3:14

Our minds can become blind.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. - 2 Corinthians 4:4-6

Our minds can stray.

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. - 2 Corinthians 11:3-4

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. - 2 Corinthians 10:5

Do you have a Jesus-centered worldview?

When we see the world as Jesus sees it, we see it through the lens of God.

Read all posts in this View-master Series here.

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