In light of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, many people in America have found a new interest in exploring spiritual things. While Charlie’s assassin may have intended to squash his witness for Christ, the opposite has occurred. All over the world, people are watching video clips of Charlie engage with college students and, in the process, share not only his political and social views but also his views on the Bible and Jesus Christ. Many people have already come to faith in Christ as a result. Charlie effectively merged his political and religious views into compelling presentations that demonstrated the Bible’s relevance to the issues that people, especially young people, are facing today. How did he do that?
At the core of Charlie’s presentations was his biblical worldview. Charlie (and evangelists and apologists like him) didn’t simply merge political and religious views; rather, his political views and views on society and culture sprang from his understanding of the Bible. The Bible was the first “go to” for Charlie to discover and disseminate key principles of behavior, culture, and life. Charlie had a biblical worldview.
Do you have a biblical worldview?
What is a worldview? It is a set or system of beliefs about key truths of life that guide all of our perspectives on society, culture, politics, and religion. Ideally, a worldview should stem from a set of core principles that guide our perspectives in each of these areas. Everyone has a worldview of some kind. Sometimes it is a hodgepodge of beliefs or principles not logically connected to one another, which leads to an inconsistent worldview.
Ultimately, worldviews emerge from our religious beliefs. What we believe about God, man, and spiritual things informs all of our other views. As an example, most people on the political left tend toward an atheistic or agnostic belief system, or perhaps a collection of superstitions that inform their perspective. Conservatives tend toward a more traditional view of God and the spiritual. Even if they are not Christians, they often hold a general respect for spiritual things that are espoused in the Bible. This does not mean that all conservatives have a biblical worldview. And it doesn’t mean that all atheists or agnostics are always leftists. There are plenty of politically conservative atheists. But, in general, a belief in traditional Judeo-Christian principles tends to guide the conservative.
What are some of the basics of a biblical worldview? What principles does the Bible espouse that should guide our views on culture, society, and politics? As a brief example, let me present six areas to which the Bible speaks that should guide our views and behavior and be components of a biblical worldview. This is not a exhaustive list, but it can provide a beginning guideline for the person who wants to ensure that he has a biblical worldview.
The Sanctity of Life
Biblical Root: Life is sacred because humans are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 139:13–16). This means that every person is precious and valuable in God’s sight from conception to the grave. Every person deserves dignity, respect, and honor, as part of our honoring of God. This is why Christian conservatives have such a strong stance on the issues of abortion and euthanasia.
Marriage and Family
Biblical Root: Marriage is defined as a covenant between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4–6). Because the Bible presents marriage in a religious context, the biblical conservative sees marriage as something sacred and holy. It is not simply a partnership between two people to live together. It is a unity of every area of life that requires intimacy and faithfulness beyond simply “being together.” Marriage is one of the means that a husband and wife seek to glorify God in their relationship and pursue a life that privately and publicly gives God honor and pleasure.
This is also why biblical conservatives oppose same-sex relationships and marriage as they are outside of the biblical injunction for a man and a wife to be united. In addition, a biblical view of marriage and the family influences the conservatives’ views on gender roles, parental rights, school choice, and traditional values in education. Family is seen as a sacred duty and not simply procreation. Children are given to parents to raise and not the state; thus, biblical conservatives also see their family role as a sacred trust.
Religious Freedom
Biblical Root: Believers must obey God above man (Acts 5:29), and the gospel must be freely proclaimed. The point of religious freedom is not simply to attend the church of your choice and perform acts of Sunday worship. Religious freedom goes well beyond this. What is the point of religion?
At the heart of biblical Christianity is the Great Commission, the charge by Jesus to his followers to make disciples of every nation. Call it proselytizing if you wish. The act of telling other people what you believe about spiritual things, with the purpose of seeing others convert to your religious perspective, is foundational to religious freedom. In fact, religious freedom is the most basic, most important freedom of all. It encompasses freedom of speech and is its very point and purpose. Without the freedom of religious belief and to share that belief with others, then all other freedoms become transitory.
Biblical conservatives have been at the forefront of promoting the idea of the “free marketplace of ideas.” Charlie Kirk exemplified this. He openly engaged those who disagreed with him on religious and cultural issues so that he could share with them the truth as he saw it from the scriptures. In fact, this is what missionaries do every day, even in countries where there is no religious freedom. They act as if they have that freedom anyway and tell others about the life of Jesus Christ.
Our religious views are determinative. If our understanding of the Bible doesn’t inform all of our other views of society, culture, politics, and life, then we cannot have a biblical worldview.
Justice and Personal Responsibility
Biblical Root: Justice is rooted in God’s law (Micah 6:8; Romans 13:1–4), but individuals are also responsible for their choices (Galatians 6:5).
There tend to be two political perspectives on justice. There is justice as in a preference for limited government, and believing families, churches, and communities should meet many social needs. There is also an emphasis on personal responsibility, a work ethic, and self-governance. The second view is commonly called, Social Justice, and usually entails government oversight of justice issues related to minority status and rights, income equality, racial issues, gender issues, and others.
The biblical conservative view takes the previous perspective because in the Bible, there seem to be no provisions for governments to insert themselves into social issues that the left normally champions. For instance, there is no welfare system set up by the Mosaic Law or enacted by Israeli kings. The biblical norm is personal responsibility and family responsibility.
Biblical conservatives and leftists sometimes disagree on justice issues when determining the best way to express God’s love for people through government action. Should government have a role to play? At issue is the simple matter of what works and what enables bad behavior and poor choices. Regardless of potential government roles, the Bible would seem to emphasize personal responsibility alongside political justice and is an important part of a biblical worldview.
Human Dignity and Equality
Biblical Root: All people are equal before God (Genesis 1:27; Galatians 3:28). This also touches on social justice issues. Human dignity and equality speak to issues of support for civil rights and opposition to racial discrimination. This includes protection of freedoms (speech, association, property rights) as extensions of human dignity. Another issue at stake is what has come to be known as the right to work.
In the biblical view, work is a noble and honorable task. In fact, the first way that God introduces himself to humanity is by what he does. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Notice, God creates. He is the Creator. It is foundational to his being. Because we are created in God’s image, he has also designed us to be creators as well. We create goods and services. We create things and wealth. We create children. Creation is at the very heart of what it means to be human. When we discourage honest work through public policy, we demean what it means to be human. We take away people’s dignity.
Moral Absolutes
Biblical Root: Truth and morality are not relative but grounded in God’s Word (John 17:17). Conservatives have hard stands on issues like sexual ethics, drug use, and education. This includes resistance to cultural relativism and secular ideologies that deny biblical morality.
The Bible speaks on moral issues usually from a black and white perspective. There are certain behaviors that are always wrong and always right. In fact, in the Bible, there is never an instance where a wrong behavior in the Old Testament was ever changed to become a right behavior in the New Testament. Even though the emphasis in the Bible is on loving relationships, the Bible also teaches that right moral behavior is an expression of that love. One cannot love others and treat them badly at the same time. This includes how we treat our society.
Without moral absolutes, there is no way to determine what is wrong or right in society or law. If there are no moral absolutes, then how do we know murder is wrong? There is no healthy society without moral absolutes.
Conclusion
This is not an exhaustive look at biblical principles that make up a biblical worldview. Hopefully, this can act as a guide to help you determine if you have one. If the Bible is not foundational to all you believe in every area of life, then you do not have a biblical worldview. If you do not interpret the Bible from how it presents itself, then your biblical worldview may be skewed away from its original intentions. Having and living according to a biblical worldview helps ensure that we approach the important issues of life from a godly perspective. Ultimately, we must come into agreement with God about these issues and seek to honor him in every area where we express ourselves in relationships, society, culture, and yes, even politics.
