What’s in a Worldview?

We’re coming up on the seventh anniversary of BreakPoint’s ministry on the air. Many of you listening today have come aboard in recent years and you’ve never heard me explain what BreakPoint is all about. Everywhere I travel, I meet BreakPoint listeners who tell me they listen regularly to the program. They’re using BreakPoint to illustrate sermons, to teach Sunday school, to write letters to the editor. One mother said her 10-year-old son refuses to leave for school in the morning until he’s heard that day’s commentary. A construction worker schedules his break for broadcast time, and sits in his pickup truck to hear BreakPoint. The most astonishing response came from a harassed father in a hospital delivery room, whose wife was listening to BreakPoint while in labor she insisted, between contractions, that her husband call for a transcript of that day’s broadcast. Why are all these people listening to BreakPoint? Why do you listen? I think it's because Christians and right-thinking citizens are looking for ways to understand what they see in the news, to make sense of cultural trends, to answer the questions their children bring home from school. Which is to say, they know Christianity is a comprehensive worldview—a way of seeing all of reality. It isn't just salvation and a relationship with Jesus, vital though that is. It is a life system: God created the world and everything in it; therefore everything finds its ultimate meaning in relationship to Him. Christianity gives a framework for interpreting politics and science, economics and the arts, education and ethics. And that's what we do on BreakPoint: articulate a Christian worldview. Too often we treat our faith as one more item on our "To Do" list. But if Christianity is true, it must be the central framework for everything we do. It is a grid that overlays all of life. Why is it so important to grasp Christianity as a worldview? Because Christianity gives us a map to reality, an outline of what the world is really like: God's moral and physical order. If we want to make our way effectively in the world—to live in accord with reality—then we have to follow the map. A Christian worldview also helps us defend our faith. It gives us the language to explain why Christian ethics are good for society, for example, or why a Biblical view of human nature underlies a sound public policy. Finally, a Christian worldview helps us to evangelize effectively. It gives us the tools to analyze the ideas that shape our culture and to respond to those key ideas. These are crucial tasks for Christians living in a post-Christian world, and that’s why I hear from so many of you who listen to the program regularly. Christians need to be equipped. If you have not called yet, why not call today and let us know how you’re benefiting from the program. We need to know how it's being received, and what materials are most important. BreakPoint is a ministry, and it depends on listeners for support to stay on the air. Tell us how you use BreakPoint in your daily life. Who knows—maybe next time, you’ll hear your story told on the air—as a model of the Christian worldview in action.

05/21/98