12
Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. (Philippians 1:12-14 NIV)
How do you view life? This is an important and fundamental question. So many people never really think about this question. They really should. You see, your view of life makes a big difference in how you live life and whether you enjoy the life you live.
How you view life is called your worldview. A worldview is a lens through which life is viewed. It is your understanding of life. And everything you see, you see from that perspective. It is your understanding other how life works and why it works that way. This is your worldview. This is your perspective.
We get our worldview from many sources of information. It is the result of all of our life experiences. These experiences are those that are common to everyone and those that are unique to us. Our worldview also comes as a result of our analysis of our life experiences. As we look at those experiences and ask questions about them, we gain important insight about those experiences. And then, the conclusions we draw goes into the mix that will ultimately be our worldview.
Our worldview is really a life-view. It is our perspective on life. And, as we have said before, this perspective on life makes a huge difference in how we react emotionally to the situations we encounter and how we behave practically. This explains why so many people react differently to the very same circumstances and problems.
Life is both similar and different for everybody. It is similar in that all kinds of stuff happens to everybody. Good stuff happens and bad stuff happens. All of us can testify that we, as humans, share a commonality of life experiences. Life is different, however, in that the stuff that happens to you is unique to your situation. It is unique to your history and personality. But, the real question is not whether stuff will happen to you, but how you will respond to the stuff that does happen. And how you respond will be based on your worldview–– your perspective on life. Belief determines behavior. What you believe about life, the fundamental assumptions you make, will determine the way you respond to life situations.
This makes the choices we make so vital. Our choices shape our worldview. We choose what we believe and why we believe. Based on the evidence, we make decisions that can help or hinder us in facing life effectively.
As we have noted, our choices concerning what we believe will directly impact our worldview. In fact, it is possible for you to choose a worldview. Did you realize that? Most people don’t think about it from this perspective. Most people never think about their view of life in any systematic way whatsoever. While they have some fundamental assumptions concerning life, if you were to ask them what those fundamental assumptions were, they would not be able to tell you. And it is simply because they haven’t thought about it much. Instead of choosing a worldview because it makes sense, they are simply handed the default worldview that happens to be popular and well publicized. Whatever the media is pushing becomes the dominant view. Whatever the talk-show gurus are telling you to believe becomes the popular view. But we choose what we buy into.
We make choices all the time–– big choices, some of which change our very lives. Think about those choices. We choose our major in college. That can determine what kind of work we will be able to do. We choose our career. We choose our spouse. Is that a big choice? Absolutely! We choose whether or not to have children and how many. Having children will change your life forever. We choose between the job offers that may take us and our family to another part of the country. We make financial choices in terms of the size and cost of the house we buy. We do the same with our automobiles. Financial choices can drive our lives. They can turn up the stress levels and make us into workaholics. Some of the choices our major in some are minor, but all impact us in some significant ways.
Of course, one choice is the most important choice we will ever make. Our decision to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ is paramount. No one can avoid it. Joshua drew a proverbial line in the sand when he said this to the Israelites: "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…" (Joshua 24:15 NIV). Bob Dylan wrote a song years ago entitled You Gotta Serve Somebody. In it he said that "you gotta serve somebody–– it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody." He is simply saying what Joshua was saying. You have to make a choice. And that choice will determine how you look at and live life.
There are two choices concerning life that we can make. I should say that these are two ways of looking at life. These are two perspectives on life. These are two worldviews. The first says that life is arbitrary–– stuff just happens. In other words, life is random, capricious, where nothing has any overarching purpose. Stuff just happens. We don’t know why it happens. Sometimes it just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Solomon reflected this view of life in the opening of the book of Ecclesiastes. "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "utterly meaningless!" (Ecclesiastes 1:2 NLT) This is one view of life–– that life is meaningless.
This view of life does not include room for the activity of God. Indeed, they are many today who do not believe that God plays any role in our lives in any practical way. The apostle Peter wrote about these scoffers in 2 Peter 3:4 (NIV): They will say, "Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." In other words, this view of life says that nothing changes. This is the view of people who find themselves caught in the rut of the routine. This worldview says that God is not doing anything special. God is not at work in any practical way. Since God is not at work, don’t expect anything from God. Often, this view passes for realism. It is a common perspective in our society today. It is decidedly anti-supernaturalistic.
Another way of looking at life is quite in the opposite. This view declares that life is purposeful–– that God works in the stuff. We find this view in Romans 8:28 (NIV): And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Life isn’t capricious. Life isn’t meaningless. Quite the opposite, life is purposeful. God is at work. Stuff just doesn’t happen. God is at work in the stuff that happens for your good and for his glory.
This is the worldview of the Christian. This is the perspective that we must choose. And we see that it was Paul’s perspective. He told the Philippians, in verse 12, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. Paul saw that his imprisonment, which on the surface seemed to be a bad thing, was in fact turning out to be a good thing because God was at work in it. The message of the gospel was being spread.
This is the perspective we should have. God is in control. God is at work. God can take even the bad things that happen in our lives and turn them into something good. Do you see that God is at work behind the scenes? Do you really believe that God is in control? If you see this truth, it will change your life. It will change the way you see life. It will change the way you respond in difficult situations. It will bring a sense of meaning to all that happens to you.
Your worldview counts. It counts not only for you but also for others. Let’s look at the results of the worldview you choose to adopt and to live by.
The first thing we need to see is that choices have consequences. Listen to what Proverbs 1:29-31 (NLT) records: For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the Lord. They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them. That is why they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way. They must experience the full terror of the path they have chosen.
If we choose to pick the bitter fruit, we will have to eat it. If we choose the path of terror, we will have to walk it. Choices have consequences. They have consequences for us, and they impact others as well.
Proverbs 22:6 (NLT) says: Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it. Our lives, our choices, our example influences others.
Let’s look at to results of our choice to adopt the worldview that says God is in control. When we adopt that worldview, by the way, we will begin to respond to difficulties by trusting God, not freaking out. We will begin to exhibit faith. And that will do two things.
It will be a witness to non-Christians. This is what happened to Paul. He was in prison. Prison in that day was no easy thing. But Paul saw God’s hand in it. He put his faith in Christ. And he goes on to say that as a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ (v. 13). Those soldiers guarding Paul saw that Christ was in his life. They saw evidence of Christ in his life.
Remember, a guard would be chained to Paul. They served in four-hour shifts. One after another, Paul witnessed to them. They had to listen–– they were chained to him. You might say, they had a "chain" reaction. What God had done by putting Paul in prison was to put him in a strategic place so that he could witness to the elite Roman guards. In this position he was able to infiltrate the palace itself. He was able to reach people precisely because of his situation. And so are you. You have experienced the things you have experienced for a reason. You can touch people because of your experience that no one else can touch. You can share with them, in their pain, what you discovered in your pain. You can share how God came through for you.
I remember the great black preacher from Watts, E. V. Hill, once saying that they classified people in his church by their former sinful lifestyle. He said they had ex-prostitutes, and ex-drug addicts, and ex-drug dealers, and ex-alcoholics, and whenever someone needed to receive Christ from one of these sinful lifestyles, they put them together. People can relate to other people who have gone through what they are going through. If you choose to see God in your circumstances, you can help others see him in theirs. Your faith will be a witness to non-Christians.
Also, it will be an encouragement to Christians. Paul said, in verse 14, that because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
When you’re courageous, others are inspired by your courage. When you choose to trust God in a trying circumstance, others see your faith and are encouraged by it. Faith can be caught. Your example can be more encouraging than anything you say. People do not want to hear pious plenitudes anyway. They want to see someone living out the Christian life.
Paul responded to his adverse situation by looking to God in faith. He did not fall apart and blame God for letting this happen to him. Rather, he saw that God was using this situation for the advancement of the message of the good news. And that was what Paul’s life was dedicated to anyway. Paul’s response was based on the perspective he had chosen. It enabled him to show courage in a hard situation. People saw that and were encouraged themselves.
You need to be a living example of the difference that Jesus can make in a human life. People desperately need to see evidence of true Christianity in today’s culture. Christians need to see evidence of true Christianity as well. They need to see other Christians living out what they profess to believe. And when they see it, they are encouraged that they can live it out as well. They become bold, because you are bold. You can be an encouragement to Christians as well as a witness to non-Christians.
Of course, all of this depends upon your perspective. What is it. Is it something that has been gained through the influence of the worldly media? Is it the popular view perpetrated by the psycho-babble of the pseudo-experts on the talk shows? Is it something you made up? Or is it God’s perspective, based on the truth of his word? We need God’s perspective to become our perspective, if we are to make a real difference in this world. We need to have God’s perspective if we are going to enjoy life to the full. And we need God’s perspective to enable us to deal with the difficulties of life without being overwhelmed by them.
The good news is that we can have God’s perspective. It is available to each of us. It is revealed in the Bible. We can believe it. We can trust it. We can live by it. It works. So look at your assumptions. Test them by comparing them to what God’s word says. See if they are true. You may find yourself changing your mind based on what the Bible teaches. But it will not only change your mind, it will change your life!
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