Worldview Matters

Friday, May 31, 2013

Intentionality

When it comes to bringing meaning to work, the challenge lies in making conscious connections between the work itself and the "bigger picture" of a biblical worldview that gives our work the meaning God intends.

This isn't rocket science. But it isn't simple either. First, it requires the development of a sound biblical view of God, Creation, Humanity, Moral Order and Purpose. This takes some time and thoughtful reflection on what we read in the Bible. But in addition to this, it requires some focused intentionality.

Along those lines, rather than present you with a list of biblical truths that relate to work, a more helpful approach might be to suggest questions that prompt deep personal reflection on the connections between your own work and the bigger picture of a biblical world-and-work framework.

With that in mind, here are some reflection-prompting questions relating to the "God factor." Pick one that speaks to you, and take a moment (or two) to deeply reflect:

How does God look at _________ [my mowing the lawn, my managing a bank, my selling of real estate]?

How does God feel about _________ [the way I treated that customer, the solution I came up with]?

Is ________ really important to God? If so, why?
Where was God when ________ happened? [i.e., something went very wrong] How did God reveal Himself when this negative thing happened? How could I have been more spiritually or emotionally prepared for this?

With respect to _________, what practical difference does my biblical view of God make in contrast to an atheist's view?

If I were God, what would I do about _________? How might I co-labor with Him in this?

What has God said in His Word that relates directly or indirectly to _________?

Why is God silent in His Word about _________?

How does my work release God’s hand to freely work in the world? How does it limit Him?

How does God participate in _________?

How is God’s mercy and forgiveness evidenced through this activity?

What assumptions about God lie behind _________?

How does God’s ownership of all things relate to this enterprise?

What about ________ is in harmony with the biblical view of God?

What about ________ is in opposition to the biblical view of God?
What joy might God receive through my involvement in this work?

We'll pick up next week with questions relating to "Creation" and "Humanity."

Friday, May 24, 2013

Ending Up As Greece

Everyone has a mental concept of what's "really real," even if one thinks the Tooth Fairy is real. A worldview, or as Immanuel Kant called it, a Weltanschauung, is a person's "take" on the deepest questions of life that serve as "compass bearings" for our big decisions, core values, and significant meaning in work.

I'm convinced that the five biggest factors that make up the "compass bearings" of any worldview are:

the GOD factor [who or what is the ultimate power and authority?]
the CREATION factor [what's really real ? how did it get here?]
the HUMANITY factor [who are we? what gives us true significance?]
the MORAL ORDER factor [what are the rules ? who decides?]
the PURPOSE factor [what is the reason for all that exists?]

Beliefs in these five areas will shape a person's concept of what is ultimately "real." Whether or not that Weltanschauung is accurate (or, really true), is another question.

Now let me say something that is politically incorrect and deeply offensive to many in our post-Christian culture: some views of God, Creation, Humanity, Moral Order and Purpose are false.

Our current culture tells us one worldview is just as valid as another, and those who don't agree with this premise are now branded "intolerant." It's against the fundamental code of multi-culturalism. But if we buy into the idea that anything goes, we'll be ending up as Greece, when they came to similar conclusions 2,500 years ago.

Consider this description of Greece in her latter stages of decline, given by Will Durant in his book, The Life of Greece, under a subsection titled "The Morals of Decay" (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1939, pp. 565-568):

Cults from the East have been accepted.

Astrology is practiced.

Patriotism has declined.

Men practice manners which have previously been considered effeminate.

The upper class is consumed with the pursuit of pleasure.

Education stresses knowledge more than character, and produces masses of half-educated people.

Public athletic games have turned into professional contests.

Homosexuality is popular.

The dramas of the day are full of seduction and adultery.

A women’s liberation movement has brought women into active roles in a previously male-oriented culture.

Motherhood is devalued, and the bearing of children is viewed as an inconvenience.

Abortion is commonly practiced, as well as infanticide.

Sound familiar? Could there be a reason for this resemblance to our current condition?

Friday, May 17, 2013

Weltanschauung

As Bonnie Wurzbacher pointed out last week, she was able to bring meaning to her work with Coke only after she understood how it connected with the bigger picture of a biblical worldview.

When it comes to bringing meaning to work, having a handle on what a "biblical worldview" is, makes all the difference. You may have noticed the name of this blog is "Worldview Matters." This is also the name of the educational service organization my wife, Kathy, and I founded back in the year 2000. Your worldview really does matter.

I am convinced that the ability to make connections between the bigger picture of a "biblical worldview" and our everyday work is essential for bringing meaning to whatever we do. A "worldview" provides a larger frame of reference that enables us to make sense of everything around us. Without a biblically informed worldview, the task of bringing real and lasting meaning to everyday work is impossible. That's a strong statement, but let me support it by providing some definition to the word "worldview."

The word "worldview" was first coined by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, in the eighteenth century. The word he coined was: Weltanschauung. As the Germans often do, Kant combined two German words into one: Welt, which means "world," and Anschauung, which can be translated into English as "conception," "idea," "opinion," or "view."

If two German children are resting on the grass looking up at the clouds, and one child points to a particular cloud and says, "Look at the horse!" and the other child looks at the same cloud and doesn't see a horse, he might reply: "That's your Anschauung!" In other words, that's "your take."

This brings us to a major characteristic of "worldviews." Everyone has a view of reality, but not everyone's "take" on it is the same. Some people see a Designer-Creator behind the existence of all things, while others (who are looking at the very same things, mind you) see nothing but impersonal matter, functioning by pure, blind fate. Some people see a Higher Law Giver behind "right and wrong," while others (who are looking at the very same issues) see only varying degrees of human preference.

In the next few weeks, we'll take a look at the basic essentials of a biblical worldview, and how these essentials can bring remarkable meaning to all human endeavor.

Friday, May 10, 2013

A Pause That Refreshes!

Last week I mentioned an interview I did several years ago with Bonnie Wurzbacher, Vice President of Global Accounts for The Coca-Cola Company, in which this committed follower of Christ told me, "We don't find meaning in our work, we bring meaning to our work.”

I invite you to hear Bonnie's explanation of this statement in her own words. The videos below are short, the first one being 2 minutes, and the second being 1.5 minutes. If the clips do not play, click here and here.

You'll find Bonnie's perspective a pause that refreshes!

Friday, May 3, 2013

The Coca-Cola Company? Was She Joking?

Last week I quoted Behnamn Tabriai and Michael Terrell as saying one of the biggest reasons people struggle to find meaning in their work is because they “aren’t aligned.” The way they put it is: “...people don’t build an external reality that is in line with their internal selves and values. When your inside world and your outside world are misaligned, it’s easy to feel frustrated, unhappy, and adrift.”

Tabriai and Terrell are touching on something very fundamental: “aligning” our behavior with our core values. When we don’t do this, we certainly do feel uncomfortable with ourselves. Conversely, when we do this, we have a sense of satisfaction. This is true whether it’s in the context of the workplace or anywhere else. And, as Tabriai and Terrell point out, the feelings of satisfaction that come when our values and our behavior are in alignment “contribute significantly to how well we perform and our sense of meaning.”

So what happens when a person’s a line of work constantly rubs against his or her deeply held values? If the “rub” is big enough, it may require a change of location. That is, a different job. A follower of Christ who is making a living through the propagation of pornography, should be uncomfortable.

But I suspect most of the readers of this blog are not dealing with that degree of misalignment. For most followers of Christ who suffer from a lack of alignment between their everyday work and their inner values, the issues are much more subtle. I am of the opinion that many followers of Christ who lack fulfillment and deep meaning in their everyday work are in this condition not because their job is in need of adjustment, but because their ideas about work itself are in need of adjustment.

I once interviewed a high-level executive in a famous worldwide company who told me, “We don’t find meaning in our work, we bring meaning to our work.” These profound words came from the lips of Bonnie Wurzbacher, then Senior Vice President of Global Accounts for The Coca-Cola Company, who, as a follower of Christ, learned to bring meaning to her work with The Coca-Cola Company by seeing how this work “fulfilled and advanced God’s purposes for the world.”

The Coca-Cola Company? Was she joking?

Not at all. I’ll pick up from here next week.

Friday, April 26, 2013

He Escaped A Life Of Toil?

Last week, a beloved man of God passed from this life to the next at the age of 104: George Beverly Shea, the long-time associate of Billy Graham who always sang an inspiring song just before Billy preached.

Mr. Shea’s obituary in the New York Times caught my attention. The first line declared that George Beverly Shea had “escaped a life of toil in an insurance office to become a Grammy-winning gospel singer.”

What’s this? He escaped a life of toil in an insurance office? If you happen to work in the insurance industry, I hope you’re not saying to yourself, “Congratulations to Mr. Shea. I’d like to find my escape before I turn 104!”

The fact is, many people feel trapped at work. Many don’t want to be doing what they’re supposed to be doing at work, and endure the situation until the weekend. Many are not engaged. How many? Research by The Gallup Organization suggests 55% of the US workforce is “not engaged,” and another 16% are “actively disengaged.”

If Gallup’s findings are correct, then 71% of US workers are not engaged in their work! The “not engaged” folk are described as those who “hang back and don’t commit themselves [to their job],” while the “actively disengaged” employee is described as one who is “not just unhappy at work…[but] acts out that unhappiness.”

The big question is, “Why?”

In response to last week’s post, one reader, Alex Brubaker, sent a link to an article in the Huffington Post, from April 15, titled: “Why Are We So Frustrated at Work and at Home?” written by Behnamn Tabriai and Michael Terrell, who are affiliated with the Stanford Business School. Here is their answer to the “why” question:

"Though our society-wide struggle to find greater meaning is certainly attributable to a variety of nuanced factors, we have found that one of the biggest reasons is that, simply, people aren't aligned. By that we mean that people don't build an external reality that is in line with their internal selves and values. When your inside world and your outside world are misaligned, it's easy to feel frustrated, unhappy, and adrift. However, when they move into alignment, our lives are pervaded with a sense of satisfaction and happiness -- feelings that researchers have shown contribute significantly to how well we perform and our sense of meaning."

Could "alignment" be a key to meaning?

Friday, April 19, 2013

Meaning At Work

The following article is by David Mashburn, a consulting psychologist for Tidemark, Inc., and editor of WorkPuzzle. His post is reprinted here by permission. It is a good lead-in to the topic I'll be focusing on in coming weeks: how to bring extraordinary meaning to "ordinary" work.

Dr. Robert Emmons, a prolific researcher and professor at the University of California, recently wrote:

“As far as we know, humans are the only meaning-seeking species on the planet. ‘Meaning- making’ is an activity that is distinctively human, a function of how the human brain is organized.

The many ways in which humans conceptualize, create, and search for meaning has become a recent focus of behavioral science on the quality of life and subjective well-being.”

A tremendous amount of research and writing on the connection between human performance and the meaning people find in their work has started to emerge because of this focus. And, some of the heavy-hitters in the business world were quick to take notice of these discoveries.

Here are some examples of how much attention is being paid to “meaning-making” at work:

Research at McKinsey and Company has led to actionable strategies and tasks that help infuse meaning in the work of individuals and organizations. These findings were based on research done by social scientists. Their full perspective and recommendations can be found in Beyond Performance: How Great Organizations Build Ultimate Competitive Advantage.

Gary Hamel, ranked by the Wall Street Journal as the world’s most influential business thinker, and who Fortune magazine called “the world’s leading expert on business strategy" is encouraging managers to see themselves as “entrepreneurs of meaning.”

One of my favorite psychological researchers, Mikel Csìkszentmihàlyi, writes extensively about “the making of meaning” in his book Good Business.

I want to emphasize that the research being done in this area is far from the touchy-feely anecdotes or inspirational speaker clichés that sometimes sound similar. I have little tolerance for methods and insights that are not based on research. Once you push through the surface language, there is substance behind this topic that leads to real and measurable performance improvements.

There is far too much to share with you about this subject matter in one blog edition, but here are a few examples that will get you thinking about the importance of meaning at work. These examples were compiled by Susie Cranston and Scott Keeler at McKinsey and Company:

[To view the examples, access David's full article here: WorkPuzzle.]

Friday, April 12, 2013

This Could Change A Future Generation

A good English friend of mine, David Oliver, surprised me the other day when he asked if he might write today's post. Many of you will have already met or heard David. He is an international speaker and author of twelve books, including one I highly recommend, titled, Love Work! Live Life! Releasing God's Purpose in Your Life. David has spoken for Focus on The Family and The Billy Graham Association on the subject of Christians finding their destiny in the workplace. Speaking to over 10,000 people each year on this same important topic, David has become one of the leading voices in our generation on serving God in our places of work. Let me hand the pen over to him.

Hi, everyone.

Today's blog is very different and could quite literally be life-changing for a whole generation. In a moment I am going to ask you for a small favour as a way of helping Christian, that will cost you nothing and take less than 30 seconds.

I'm writing this blog because, like many of you, I have been a subscriber to Christian's blogs for nearly five years and have taken a keen personal interest in his tireless efforts to bring down the stronghold of dualism, introducing "whole life thinking" to families, churches, schools and workplaces. His anointing as a teacher and "champion" for this message is evident and clear in all his writings, but in a conversation a few weeks back, Christian let something slip that got me so fired up I wanted to do everything I could to help.

Christian is burdened by the lack of the theology of work being taught in our Christian schools. Even the most enlightened Christian schools in the USA and the UK simply do not address this topic; and from all we can tell, they don't have a clue where to start. It's as if headmasters and teachers know they really should be teaching it, and better still, embedding it into the standard curriculum, but no-one in education seems to know how to do it. Yet it's a critical need.

As you will see in the short video clips below, Christian has what I believe is a God-given game changer. He provides a toolkit for developing a comprehensive approach to embedding theology of work into the standard curriculum of any Christian school, with personal coaching for headmasters willing to undertake the journey with him. There is nothing like this anywhere else in the world. You can see why I personally believe this could change a future generation in unimaginably positive ways.

So...

Could I ask you for that small favor: If you know a Christian school teacher or headmaster, I'm asking you to forward this post to him or her. Ask your friend to view the video clips below. Ideally, forward the links by email with a short one or two line personal introduction from you.

For best viewing, click the You Tube icon in the lower RH corner of each video:

Headmasters, I encourage you to have a personal phone or SKYPE conversation with Christian, as mentioned in the second video. Simply request this here: CHAT WITH CHRISTIAN

For a print version of Christian's programme, click here: VITALIZATION PACK

If you are a pastor, elder or church leader, I encourage you to consider sponsoring an educator within your own congregation to go through this programme. If you are a businessman, I encourage you to consider sponsoring a school.

Christian is currently seeking a limited number of headmasters to participate in a pilot project in the development of learning communities dedicated to restoring the integration of faith and work to the standard curriculum.

Applications are now being accepted through July 10, 2013: APPLICATION

You may forward this post with ease using the "SHARE" button below.

Thank you!

Friday, April 5, 2013

What Got The Early Christians Into Trouble

Several months ago, a Christian school headmaster who was raised in an environment where theology of work was often spoken about, realized the subject wasn’t being discussed in his current Christian community. He brought this matter to his staff: “We wondered outloud about how we could address this in our classroom. We committed to praying about how we could address this issue with our students.”

While he and his staff were praying (unknown to me), I was putting finishing touches on a project that addresses the very issue they "wondered outloud about." (!) Through remarkable circumstances, we connected. I informed him of the project, and he presented the opportunity to his board: “They wholeheartedly support the school's involvement in such a project and voted unanimously to approve all expenses that will be incurred.”

What’s "the project?”

It’s rooted in the project Christ initiated long ago, in Matthew 28:18-20, an injunction to teach others to observe all that He commanded. Where is this observation to happen? In church? At home? In our personal lives? Yes. But what about beyond church, home, and personal life?

This is what got the early Christians into trouble. Some were burned alive, and others thrown to lions. Why? Because they observed what Christ commanded in the world.
Caesar was not their god. Today, Christians are sprinkled like salt throughout the full spectrum of society in the workplace. Here we have prime opportunities to “observe all that Christ commanded” in the world. Observing all that He commanded between 9 to 5 in today's "Rome" could "turn the world upside down” again!

Imagine if those who name the name of Christ were to observe His commands through marketing activity, salary and benefit issues, work conditions, decision-making policies, products, production, pricing, contacts, customer service, employee-employer relationships, hiring and firing, accounting, strategic planning and profit distribution!

Yes, alignment with Christ in some of these areas might mean getting fired. But not like early Christians in Rome were "fired."

Yet, teaching on how to make connections between the biblical worldview and all legitimate work is no longer commonly practiced. It’s absent from schools. Addressing this void is what “the project” I shared with the headmaster is about.

Next week, a good British friend of mine will ask a small favour related to “the project” that will cost you nothing, take about 30 seconds, yet could change the future of a generation.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Wholism 303

Why should kids go to school?

With the responsible role of rulership over the earth given to human beings, who were created in the image and likeness of God so that we can fulfill this grand purpose (Gen. 1:26-28), and since Planet Earth was not given over to Satan at the Fall, but remains God’s full possession in its fallen condition (Ps. 24:1), and since Christ continues to hold all the atoms of the material world together “by the word of His power,” thus turning the realm of creation into more than a one-time act of the past but a continuous "voice" of the present (Heb. 1:3), and since Jesus’ authority presently resides over all things, including earth things, such as legal things, artistic things, agricultural things, industrial things, and civil things, not being limited to “spiritual things,” and “church things” (Acts 10:36), and since God is now working in the Earth through His Redeemed People to reconcile all things to Himself, not just the things of the soul, but whole systems (II Cor. 5:17-20 and Col. 1:16-20), then perhaps Dallas Willard was on to something when he wrote:

“There is truly no division between sacred and secular except what we have created. And that is why the division of the legitimate roles and functions of human life into the sacred and secular does incalculable damage to our individual lives and to the cause of Christ. Holy people must…take up holy orders in farming, industry, law, education, banking, and journalism with the same zeal previously given to evangelism or to pastor and missionary work.”

That’s wholism 303. It gives no place to SSD, that false "Sacred-Secular Divide" which we Christians have talked about so long we think is really there. But where exactly is this place? We certainly do live in a secularized world, where Christ is marginalized, ignored, or completely denied. But this is a fantasy-world people create.

Why school?

So the next generation will be equipped to do well in reconciling the things of Earth to the living God, and rule well over the whole of God's creation, especially in its fallen, broken condition. It’s about equipping the next generation to bring farming, business, law, economics and journalism into alignment with the Lord's vision for the Blue Planet.

Next week I have an amazing testimony from a headmaster that I can't wait to share!

Friday, March 22, 2013

Wholism 302

If Earth is “God’s creation—now displaced,” and Satan is “lord of the planet,” then we might see our sole purpose on Earth as telling others how they can go to Heaven when they die. Yes, evangelism is essential! But when we see the whole of God’s Kingdom "in the light of His glory and grace," the things of Earth will not grow “strangely dim.” Quite the opposite.

If we view Earth as “God’s broken creation He wants to restore,” then the Gospel is more than the Gospel of Personal Salvation. It is the Gospel of The Kingdom, and that is the fuller biblical description.

Yes, it's Good News that my soul is saved from Hell. But that’s not all there is to the Good News. The Good News of The Kingdom is that Christ came to restore things as well as souls. What kind of “things?” Earth things.

I’m not suggesting all things will be fully restored before the second coming of Christ. But it is clear from Scripture that the “ministry of reconcilation” Christ gave us in this present life (II Cor. 5:17-20) is not limited to souls. His Kingdom isn’t just about “religious life” and “spiritual things.” His Kingdom is all-encompassing and as broad as creation is wide. The scope of Christ’s work of reconciliation goes far beyond the human soul.

Colossians 1:16-20 sums it up well: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”

To reconcile all things? Things on Earth? Does that include business things? Legal things? Artistic things? Civil things? Yes, "...that in all things He may have the preeminence...."

This is what The Kingdom is about, and that’s wholism 302.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Wholism 301

Last week I suggested that the “glory and honor of the kings of the earth” that will be brought into the New Jerusalem [Revelation 21] might be products of human culture, made by Earth-Rulers. Frankly, this is not a theological hill I'm going to die on.

Yet even if nothing produced by human hands were to survive the melting heat mentioned in II Peter 3, this should not make a difference in our attitude toward creating culture in this fallen, temporal world. That’s because it’s God’s world, even in its fallen condition. It’s God’s creation we’re surrounded by, and it's God's stuff we're taking into our hands when we form and shape anything.

Image-Bearers are to engage in ruling over matter even if what we create doesn’t survive past Wednesday. A good chef creates works of culinary art that don’t usually last more than a day. This glorifies God innately, because a good meal is an outworking of the chef’s image-bearing likeness as “Creator in Miniature,” ruling well over salmon, rice pilaf and blue cheese. In this act of imitation God is glorified, and chefs fulfill their God-designed glory and honor: to rule well over God's stuff. (Check out Psalm 8.)

Earth-Rulers fulfill God’s purpose for their own creation when they mow the lawn. Cut hair. Fix an automobile. Or negotiate the sale of a house. We fulfill God’s purpose for our creation when we create good legislation, or write something worth reading, or bake a loaf of bread. It's all God's stuff, and it's our God-given glory and honor to govern well over it. And in this imitation, He is glorified.

I have a definition of “work” taped to the top of my computer monitor that goes like this: “Work worth doing is any expenditure of energy, mental or physical, for pay or not, that rightly manages God’s stuff, and employs my God-given abilities to benefit others, or prepares me to do so.”

This definition covers a lot of ground. In fact, it covers the whole of God’s creation. It includes all legitimate forms of royal work done by Earth-Rulers. Making cars, light bulbs and computers. Building roads, skyscrapers and furniture. Playing the piano. Washing clothes. Feeding the kids...and the dog. Ruling well over matter. All to the glory of God. Today.

That’s wholism 301.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Wholism 203

Genesis 1:26-28 says the purpose God has in mind for humans is for us to rule over Planet Earth. But I can hear someone saying, “That command came before the Fall! The world has been messed up by sin, and God can’t possibly have the same purpose in mind for us that He had in the beginning! Why should we concern ourselves with ruling over a broken world, creating culture that’s destined to be burnt to a crisp? Our purpose now is to get as many souls saved as possible. For Heaven! There’s no sense polishing brass on a sinking ship. It’s going to be The Late Great Planet Earth someday. Didn’t you read that book?”

Indeed, I read that book. My wife and I were young married students attending the University of Washington when it came out. After reading it, we dropped out of school. There was no reason to pursue a degree, or to even look five years into the future. I spent my days reading the Bible, working just part-time to feed the two of us and to keep a cheap roof over our heads. That was 1970.

Later, in another Book, I read about a New Earth with a great city. I read about an Earth containing fruit trees, and pruning hooks. Lions and lambs. I read of a city having commerce. A city where God’s raw material is not all there is, but the “kings of the earth” will “bring their glory into it.” (Revelation 21:24)

What is this? Could the “glory and honor of the nations” brought into that city be cultural "goods" made by human Earth-Rulers in years prior? Could this “glory” be works of art? Technological wonders? Could such things pass through the fire Peter writes about? Could the fervent heat he described be a purging, cleansing fire, rather than a total crisp-job? Could the second great purge, with fire, be like the first great purge with water, that "destroyed the world" but did not wash the planet away? Read II Peter 3 again. Revelation 21 and Isaiah 65-66 give us cause for pause.

I look forward to a whole planet, purged wholly of rot and junk, and to a whole city containing “the glory and the honor of the nations.” If this is human culture, then let's add to it. Now.

That’s wholism 203.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Wholism 202

In Genesis 1:26-28, we see what God had in mind for human beings when He created us and placed us on the Blue Planet. Let me say that again, so you can savor the full weight of what Genesis 1:26-28 actually says: We see what God had in mind for humans when He made us.

What did God have in mind for us? “Let Us make man in Our likeness and image, and let them rule…over all the earth.”

Dr. Albert Wolters, in, “The Foundational Command: ‘Subdue the Earth,’” says it is “almost impossible to overemphasize the importance of this first and fundamental command of God to humans.” He calls it, “the first and fundamental law of history.”

This first mention of purpose, which Wolters says “all subsequent revelation presupposes,” is called, "The Cultural Mandate," or, "The Dominion Mandate." I call it, The First Commission.

What purpose did God have in mind for humans when He created Adam and Eve? What purpose did He have in mind for your parents? For you? For your children? Wonder no more! The Bible tells us human beings were created with this astounding purpose in mind: to rule [have dominion] over Planet Earth!

This is probably why Wolters says it is almost impossible to overemphasize the importance of this command. It has profound implications for all human work, and all human learning.

Dr. Wolters says: “…man is to be fruitful in order to multiply, he must multiply in order to fill the earth, and he must fill the earth in order to subdue it.” And then he adds that we were created in God’s likeness and image in order that we may have dominion.

Selah. Think about this! We were created to rule over all the Earth! This includes water (salty and fresh varieties), air, electricity, sound waves, light, lead, uranium, silver, rubber, maple trees, money, fish, birds, cows, carrots, copper, fingers, thumbs, feet, real estate, sweet potatoes, soybeans and every derivative thereof, including plastic and dyes [thank you Dr. Carver], as well as digital images, smart phones, e-books, ships, cars, airplanes, glue, paper, antifreeze, pencils, ice cream and cake!

We were made to rule over whole systems, too. Because without systems, rulership cannot happen: civil systems, domestic systems and economic systems. To be an Earth-Ruler includes city-making!

Wow. I'm in awe. We were made to rule over the whole Earth.

That’s wholism 202.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Wholism 201

Last week I mentioned God's rulership over all. The "King’s domain" [Christ's King-dom] knows no bounds or limitations. Christ is Lord of all, all the time, everywhere at once, both in Heaven and on Earth. But does this mean that everything that happens on Earth is His will?

When I hear Christians say “God is in control,” I have to ask myself what is meant by this. Do we mean to say God causes everything to happen that happens? Is everything that happens, God’s will? I can’t read my Bible and draw this conclusion.

So how do I reconcile the all-encompassing rule of God with the “stuff” that happens on Earth? This works for me: God is in absolute control, but He does not control all things absolutely.

What does this mean? It means God has the power and authority to do whatever He pleases, whenever He pleases, including causing whatever He wants to have happen on Planet Earth happen. He can make donkeys talk, if He wants. But I do not see the God of the Bible controlling all things absolutely all the time. People can and do violate His will. People can and do thumb their noses at His authority. We all disregard His Word at times, and we have all violated His commands. That’s what sin is about.

Yet, whether people acknowledge His authority or not, this does not change the fact that Christ is Lord of all, all the time, everywhere. We don’t make Christ Lord, He is Lord! It’s our place to acknowledge His authority, accept and embrace it.

Yet even if people don’t embrace it, Christ’s authority still applies to everyone, all the time. His authority is omnipresent and non-selective. It applies as much to personal life as to public life. It applies as much to what goes on in local churches as it does to what goes on in local civil governments. It applies as much to what goes on in families as it does to what goes on at workplaces. It applies to non-Christians as much as Christians. ("Thou shalt not steal," is not for believers only.)

The rule of God applies to the whole of human activity. There is no public/private split, no church/state difference, and no Christian/non-Christian distinction when it comes to the jurisdiction of Christ's authority. His jurisdiction covers the whole gamut.

That’s wholism 201.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Wholism 103

Last week, I said Satan doesn’t own Planet Earth or anything in it. But I wonder if some readers may have said to themselves, “Satan may not own it, but he sure does run it!”

Does he?

In John 14:30, Jesus refered to Satan as “the ruler of this world.” But what “world” was Christ talking about? Was He saying Satan is the ruler of Planet Earth?

The English word “world,” translated from the Greek, kosmos, has four meanings in Scripture. They are: 1) the physical realm of creation, as in John 1:10: “He [Christ] was in the world (kosmos), and the world (kosmos) was made through him …;” 2) populated regions, as in Romans 1:8: “…your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world (kosmos);” 3) the human race in general, as in John 3:16: “God so loved the world (kosmos), that he gave his only begotten Son…”

But kosmos ("world") may also mean 4) a system of thought and behavior that is contrary to the will and ways of God, as in I John 2:15: “Do not love the world (kosmos) or the things of the world (kosmos). If anyone loves the world (kosmos), the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world (kosmos)—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world (kosmos).”

Here John defines “the world” as a system of thought and action governed by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. It is this “world” we are not to love. It is this “world” Satan rules. This is not the world God "so loved" in John 3:16!

I humbly submit that Satan is not the ruler of Planet Earth. Yes, he is the ruler of the “world system" that is contrary to the will and ways of God, and he acts like he owns the place. But there is only one Lord.

The Devil is the “prince of the power of the air.” But this prince is no King! The universe has but one King, and that is Christ Jesus, Lord of all. There’s not room on the throne for two.

Christ’s authority rests over the whole of heaven and the whole of earth, all at once. Right now.

That’s Wholism 103.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Wholism 102

Another awesome aspect of wholism is that Christ, the Creator-Sustainer of the universe, owns the whole kit 'n caboodle. Always did, always will. It's all His.

The significance of this cannot be overstated. That's because if we get the issue of “ownership” wrong, it makes a huge difference in the way we view everything! My friend and mentor, Albert Greene, now with the Lord, touched on the problem when he wrote, “There is a subtle derailment which often occurs in Christian thought at the point of the Fall. We tend to think that when man sinned, God simply relinquished the whole creation as a botched job and left Satan to do what he wanted with it. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Did he say, “subtle derailment?” Al was never prone to overstating. The fact is, it’s a huge derailment!

The world and all it contains is as much God’s stuff after the Fall as it was before the Fall. The Fall did not change God’s ownership status. He not only made it in the beginning and holds it together as you read this post, but He owns it all, and this has enormous ramifications for human beings. When we mow the lawn, it’s His grass we’re cutting. When we pound a nail, it’s His metal we’re pounding. When we examine a drop of water under a microscope, it’s His stuff we're looking at.

In Psalm 50:10-12 God says, “For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all it contains.” (NASB) Even after the Fall, the earth and all it contains remains His. The whole lot of it! That’s wholism 102.

This is what makes the Fall such a tragic event. It is His creation that is fallen, and it remains His in its fallen condition. It is critically important to understand that the earth and all it contains does not belong to Satan. “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it.” (Psalm 24:1) Although the devil may act like he owns the place, he simply does not. Never did, never will. None of it is his.

For more of Albert Greene, click here, and here.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Wholism 101

There is no better place to start a discussion about wholism than Hebrews 1:3, which tells us Christ is “...upholding all things by the word of His power.” All things!

Creation [a much better word than “nature”] originally came into being through the premeditated act of God. Yet the very fact that all of creation continues to exist today is as much of a wonder as its first appearance. Creation is not a one-time act of the past, but a continuing deed of the present. It is not as though God made it all at some point in the past, and now it functions quite well all on its own, running according to so-called “natural” laws. Look out your window once again! The present is as magnificent as the beginning, the very continuing existence of the universe as awesome as its first appearance. And Christ perpetuates the whole show as we gaze and gawk.

If it were not for the continuing supernatural action of the creation-sustaining God holding it all together, “nature” would be no more. In terms of how most people think about the “natural” and the “supernatural,” the “natural” has come to mean “the normal operation of a self-governing system,” while the “supernatural” refers to “the interference of God in that system.” Yet Colossians 1:16-17 tells us: “For by Him [Christ] all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist [or, ‘hold together’].”

Sometimes the Lord does things in an out-of-the-ordinary way, such as raising Lazarus from the dead. We call this a “miracle.” But we must not draw the faulty conclusion that God is present in the miracle but stands on the sidelines during the ordinary times. He is equally present in both.

The fact that God created all matter in the beginning is just as awesome as the fact He is right now holding it all together. Right now! He is sustaining our very breath. Apart from His continuing to hold the very atoms of our bodies together, we would fall in a heap on the floor and disappear. In fact, we would disappear before we hit the floor. Both we and the floor are wholely dependent on Him.

That's wholism 101.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Gone From The Public Square

Biblical wholism is the “breath of life” for academics, sports, arts, and autoshop. Without this soul, formal education has little meaning beyond "a gateway to a good-paying job." And that notion is fading! So rather than expound upon why dualism is bad, I’d like to focus on why wholism is good, and show how truly meaningful education is dependent upon Biblical wholism for its very lifeblood.

As mentioned last week, the late Alan Bloom, a non-Christian University of Chicago professor, noted that the United States was once unified by a “vision for the order of the whole of things” which came from the “common culture” of the Bible. But this “vision for the order of the whole of things” is now gone from the public square, being confined to the four walls of certain churches, and private lives of certain individuals.

Why does this matter? Because we are all affected by its loss. People these days are shooting bystanders in shopping malls, strangers in movie theaters, and little kids in classrooms. Retirement savings have vanished because of toxic securities and shadowy dealings by graduates from Ivy League schools. On top of this, we live in a deeply divided nation. Could this possibly be related to the loss of a Biblical "vision for the order of the whole of things?”

There I go again, talking about the negative effects of dualism! But before I proceed with “why wholism is good," let me say a word about its spelling.

Last week I received an e-mail from someone informing me that the word wholistic is not spelled with a “w.” In the past, I was informed of this by my computer spellchecker, too. But I fixed this pesky problem by adding wholistic to my computer’s dictionary. Now it is spelled with a “w.”

Blame for its coining goes to Darrow Miller and Bob Moffitt co-founders of Disciple Nations Alliance. In Miller’s book, LifeWork, he states: “Wholism speaks of the whole of God’s Word to the whole man in the whole world. We [Miller and Moffitt] recognize that wholism is a coined word. But we prefer it to the word more commonly used, holism, which has been co-opted by the New Age movement…”

I'm following suit. We'll continue next week with why wholism is good.

To Link To The RenewaNation Website