Your View Can Make All the Difference

Who doesn’t like a room with a view? When traveling and staying in a hotel, it’s ideal to be assigned a room with a spectacular view of the city you happen to be in. I’ve enjoyed this on a couple of occasions, but most of the time my rooms have had windows that looked out upon boring rooftops, a highway – or even a wall. The best thing to do with views like that is to keep the curtains closed.

In the world of work, one of the indicators of status within a company or firm is having a corner office, one with windows that provide a grand vista to inspire productivity, as well as a brief diversion to reduce the stress of responsibilities and deadlines.

 

Then there are those folks fortunate enough to have hilltop homes that present exciting panoramas of natural beauty, even glorious sunrises or sunsets. Views like those can have a powerful impact on our moods and overall perspectives on life.

 

But we don’t have to travel, earn picturesque work surroundings, or afford picture-perfect homes to possess a very specific view, our own window to the world. Because whether we’re aware of it or not, we all have a worldview that shapes our thinking, attitudes and actions. The difference is that unlike a hotel room, we choose the view; it’s not chosen for us.

 

Worldviews can be shaped by countless factors: family environments, education, vocation, economics, ethnicity, traditions, political leanings, religious and spiritual beliefs – or the lack of them. They can be influenced parents, teachers, professors, people we associate with, books we read, news media and social media. Regardless of how they’re formed, worldviews serve as the lens or filter through which we perceive and understand the world around us.

 

If you’re at the gym, a restaurant, church or even at the mall and hear people engaged in conversation, it’s likely you can soon get a sense of what their worldview is. It’s not a question of whether we have a worldview – it’s a matter of what it is and how it affects how we approach life every day.

 

Sadly, many churches, pastors and even some Christian colleges and universities have allowed social and cultural shifts to impact their beliefs about God, the Bible, Jesus Christ, and how we relate to the world around us. John G. West’s book, Stockholm Syndrome Christianity, offers surprising, even shocking insights about this.

 

So, as followers of Christ, what does this mean for us? There’s a temptation to let what we see in the news, opinions of commentators, posts we read on social media, and the perspectives of folks we spend time with to become our worldview-shapers. But I’m convinced the Bible – as the Lord guides us to understand it through the Holy Spirit – should be the primary factor for developing and maintaining a worldview through which we can honor and serve Him.

 

To prepare Joshua to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land, God gave him these instructions: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8). 

 

Granted, at the time Joshua did not have the Bible as we have it today – 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books. All he had were the writings of Moses, now referred to by theologians as the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Even in those holy writings, however, Joshua had a clear understanding of God’s purpose and plans, His character, and His expectations for the people who were made “in His own image” (Genesis 1:27). The Lord had provided everything Joshua needed to serve as the new leader of the headstrong, often rebellious Israelites.

 

Exhorting his young protégé, Timothy, the apostle Paul also emphasized the importance and centrality of the Scriptures both for everyday life and for the life to come. He stated, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 

Timothy also didn’t have the entire Bible as we have it today, but he had the Old Testament, what Jews call the Torah, along with Paul’s God-inspired correspondence.

 

If the Scriptures were so valuable to Christ followers centuries ago, and God’s people thousands of years ago, shouldn’t they be equally prized by us today? I’m reminded of the famous quote by C.S. Lewis, a one-time atheist who eventually found faith in God irresistible and indispensable. He said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

 

In essence Lewis was saying that his “worldview” was founded upon Christianity as revealed in the Scriptures, helping him to interpret practical aspects of life as well as spiritual realities, being able to see God and His hand in everything he encountered.

 

We have an important question to ask ourselves: What has defined – and continues to define – our worldview? Do God and His Word have any role in that? Do we make it a practice to read, study, meditate on and memorize the Scriptures, or do we possess what one contemporary Christian song calls “a dusty Bible,” neglected and even forgotten on a shelf somewhere?

 

If our worldview is shaped by what we see on the evening news, what some agnostic professor taught us years ago, the latest bestseller, or “The View,” maybe it’s time to reassess what we truly believe and why we believe it. Our only certain source for seeing the world as God sees it is the Bible. As King David observed, drawing from a storehouse of experience, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Spending Our Time with the Wrong ‘Book’?

Have you ever thought about how much communication has changed over recent decades? Long ago in a land far away – or so it seems – families would gather around dinner tables nightly to review the day. Neighbors sitting on front porches would greet each other as dusk drew near. They’d also enjoy friendly impromptu visits across an adjoining fence.

 

These days, if families gather at all, it’s usually around the big-screen TV. Or accompanied by their ever-present smartphones. Many homes don’t have front porches; instead, we huddle inside, enjoying the air conditioning during the warm months and the heat when it’s cold. Sadly, in many instances we don’t even know our neighbors, let alone call them friends.

 

Speaking of friends, increasingly folks can’t identify more than a few. We have “friends” at work, but those friendships typically don’t extend beyond the workplace. Even in church settings, most relationships go no deeper than, “Hi, how are ya? I’m fine. Good to see you.” 

 

We connect with “friends” via social media, but they’re people we wouldn’t recognize if we passed them on the street, the grocery store or the mall. And yet, we spend countless hours keeping up with social media friends. If we’re not online for very long, we may start to suffer from FOMO – fear of missing out. We don’t want to be the last to know when someone’s on vacation, what they had to eat, a joke they shared, or the emotional rant they posted.

 

If only we possessed the same enthusiasm for communicating with God. In a recent message, our pastor made this sage observation: “These days everyone is on Facebook, when their face needs to be in THE book, the Bible.”

In homes where people profess to be Christians, it would be unusual not to find at least one Bible. Often, there are more than one, even in different translations. But if we were to compare their time in the Word of God with time spent on social media, the difference might be startling.

 

My desire isn’t to shame anyone. I get it. I’m sometimes guilty of it, too. Things happen so quickly these days. The tidbits of information we can gather on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Parler – whatever your medium of choice happens to be – come at lightning speed. There’s always the temptation to check out the latest. On the other hand, the Bible has pretty much been the same for hundreds of years, except for the occasional “new and improved” translation or paraphrase.

 

But how often have you heard about someone whose life was changed, even transformed, by what they read on social media? On the other hand, I know thousands of people, many that I’ve written about in one way or another, whose lives were turned upside-down after encountering Jesus Christ in the Scriptures.

 

I’d be lying if I said I don’t let a day pass without spending time in the Bible. Sometimes the tyranny of the urgent gets in the way of the important. But I can tell a difference when I haven’t spent time in God’s Word. And it probably shows.

 

Any relationship grows stronger with the more time and energy you put into it, including with the Lord. I used to think spending an hour or so in church on Sunday was sufficient, but that’s no more true than eating one meal a week is enough. Just as we need physical food daily, we also need spiritual food – time with God in the Scriptures, in prayer and meditation.

 

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). And the psalmist tells us, “Blessed is the man [whose] delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2). We’re promised that by spending time with God, we will be blessed.

 

Whether we’re going to work, to school, or trying to manage a household, we all want to be successful. Spending time in the Scriptures with our best Friend of all is a big step in that direction. In Joshua 1:8 we’re assured, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Seems like good advice to me.

 

We’re blessed if we have even a handful of good friends, folks we can trust and rely on when needed. The friends we find on Facebook and other social media might be fun to interact with. However, what better friend can we find than the Lord?

 

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). And that’s exactly what He did for us, willingly giving up His life on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, to redeem us, and to provide the way for an eternal relationship with God.

So, as we’re spending time communicating with friends we encounter each day, as well as those pseudo-friends we’ve met on Facebook and other social media, it would be wise to make a point of communing with the greatest Friend of all – and His Book. 

Tried and True Tip for Not Falling Apart

The leather binding was wrinkled and torn, and the pages were tattered and faded, all signs of a Bible lovingly and well read for many years. A friend brought this with her to our small group recently, a family treasure she’d inherited from her grandmother. Reminding me of the “show and tell” presentations we did in elementary school years ago, she used the old Bible as a visual aid in telling her spiritual journey.

 

This copy of the Scriptures, practically an antique, was a visible testament to the departed matriarch’s steadfast faith. It served as tangible evidence of how her devotion to the Lord continues to shine many years after her passing.

 

Have you ever seen someone carrying a tattered, extremely worn Bible? If so, what was your reaction? Did you think, “That guy (or gal) needs a new Bible”? Perhaps. But on the rare occasions I see this, the adage comes to mind that says, “When you see someone with a Bible that’s falling apart, it’s usually being carried by someone who isn’t.” Because in most cases, that’s the truth.

 

Since I like to highlight key passages and make notes in margins, I prefer to start fresh with new Bibles once they’ve reached a certain stage of use. Fortunately, during the 17 years I served as a magazine editor for a parachurch ministry, I occasionally received review copies of Bibles. So, I’ve had the luxury of being able to study an assortment of translations and editions of the Bible.

 

However, I still have my very first King James Version Bible, which I received as a confirmation gift at the church I attended during my youth. I literally read it cover to cover during my senior year of high school as a personal goal, even though I must admit to not understanding much of it at the time. I also have the first modern translation Bible I ever purchased, in the New American Standard translation.

 

I’ve since learned that the front-to-back approach isn’t necessarily the best. Genesis and Exodus, with their rich narratives about God’s chosen but very flawed people, offer engaging reading. But for me, trying to wade through Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy often felt like I was wandering in the wilderness with the Israelites. It helped when I discovered the practice of reading from both the Old and the New Testaments concurrently. When the going seemed to bog down in an Old Testament passage, shifting to the New Testament for a while felt like coming up for air.

 

Getting back to the idea of someone not falling apart that possesses a Bible that is, I’ve encountered a number of such folks through the years. Maybe they weren’t so dedicated to making notations while they were reading, or just regarded their well-used Bibles as old friends – and how can you discard old friends who have spent so much time with you?

 

In any case, the common denominator for them all was they had a solid grasp on the Word of God – and more importantly, God had a solid grasp on them.

 

This isn’t to suggest that possessing a worn-out Bible is a guarantee that a person is godly, a devout follower of Christ. But if someone’s only copy of the Scriptures is still in mint condition, with its pages still stuck together, it sure wouldn’t hurt for them to crack it open from time to time. God might just have something interesting to tell them.

 

When we encounter the people in the Bible God had chosen to lead His people, they were always people who spent a lot of time with Him and His Word. Three times in the first nine verses of the book of Joshua, God tells the book’s namesake, “Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:6,7,9). How was he to do that? Nestled in the midst of those verses is this admonition: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8).

 

To meditate on God’s Word requires becoming very familiar with it, thinking about it and reflecting on it often. Even though King David was known as “a man after God’s heart,” that didn’t mean he was perfect by any means. But he wisely observed, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:9-11).

 

I think of one other passage that serves as a reminder that if our Bible is the worse for wear, we’re all the better for it. Challenging his protégé Timothy as a young man in ministry, the apostle Paul wrote, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

A car with the tread worn down on its tires might not be a good thing, but a Bible showing signs it’s traveled many miles along someone’s spiritual journey is almost always a good thing.