How can one say that there is danger in a Christian Worldview? Shouldn't we as followers of Christ have a view of the world that is compatible with His view? My thought is that what we really need is a Biblical Worldview more than a Christian one. The question asked is, "What is the difference?"A cursory look with a web search will demonstrate that, for most, there is no difference. However, a closer look shows, with a few exceptions, that they are viewed the same because both focus on the New Testament and the instruction given primarily in the Epistles. The focus is on how the "Church" should live in this present world. The instruction and discussion is on how to implement Christ's teaching in a world hostile to and in opposition to the teachings of Jesus. There is some reference to the core of the Torah, usually the Ten Commandments, but by and large the focus is on the Church and how we should live in the Church age. Little thought is given to the need for an integrated approach to the Testaments. The Old is simply a document to help support the New with some illustrations and applications. What is understood as New Testament teaching only has some overlap with the Old, for it is assumed that the New Testament has updated information and a clear understanding of Grace and redemption in Jesus that the Old Testament lacks. Lacking an integrated view of the Revelation God has given us of Himself leads us into misunderstanding, and even error, as we have lost the foundation of what is given us in the Gospels and the letters. We end up with a skewed view of what we are to do, for we are told that the Law or Old Testament has been done away with and we now live in the Age of Grace. We forget that the early church was predominately Jewish. That Jesus and all the Apostles were Jewish. That they were trained to be Jewish Rabbis, and that Jesus never violated any Old Testament Commandment; that was also the goal of His disciples, even Paul who did "nothing against our people (the Jews) or the customs of our fathers" (Acts 28:17). The New Testament is a thoroughly Jewish document, and unless we accept that to be true, we will draw mistaken conclusions.
For example, look at the translation of Mark 7:19. Following a discussion over ceremonial washing of hands, which Jesus turns into a discussion of obedience from the heart, Jesus makes the point that food does not make you impure; it is behavior that makes you impure. He uses Commandment Number Five, "Honor your father and mother", to make the point that finding ways around Torah is to violate God's Word. He tells the disciples, "It [food] does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, purging all foods". Jesus is simply speaking of the obvious digestive process. He goes on to list a variety of activities that defile people. It is not eating with ceremonially unclean hands which would have made the food ceremonially unclean. But our "Christian" worldview is not content with that simple illustration. The New American Standard Version translates the end of the verse "(Thus He declared all foods clean)". The New International Version is even more explicit, "(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean)". This is their translation even though the word Jesus isn't in the text. The "Christian" Worldview believes that all dietary laws have been done away with as we are "free from the Law", so they read that into the text. But if we consider the Bible as a whole, we know that Jesus is a Jew speaking to Jews and is a young Rabbi, who, we are told, never sinned and so never violated Torah. That being true, Jesus would never have suggested to the Jews that the Law of Moses no longer applied. Dietary laws were and are what it is to be Jewish. Jesus would have lost all credibility if He were telling the Pharisees that Mosaic Law, Torah, no longer was valid for the Jews. The reference Jesus makes to the Fifth Commandment becomes meaningless if He then states that this part of the Mosaic Law no longer applies. All the Jewish Law would then be suspect. So looking at the text, even in translating the text, the Christian Worldview imposes an end to dietary regulations that is not there and does not need to be. We miss the point that a follower of Yahweh lives a life that is different from the world and flows from the heart of obedience rather than fear. We have done what the Pharisees had done, changed the rules so they do not need to apply. We tell Jews that to accept that Jesus, Yeshua, as their Messiah they must stop being Jewish. Give up the Torah that instructed them in what to eat and when to rest. To convert to a Christian Worldview and give up their Biblical Worldview that would integrate both Testaments as one revelation of God.
As we are less that a week away from Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday let me drop another challenge for you to consider. In Matthew 27:46, and Mark 15:34, the Gospel writers record Jesus quoting the first phrase of Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?", which, in our Christian Worldview, has led to the development of an entire theological teaching on the separation of Jesus from the Father, ideas on God and sin and a plethora of pages in commentaries to try to explain what in the world this could mean. Yet if we apply a Biblical Worldview, seeing scripture as integrated with a bit of a Hebraic thought, we might remember that there are no verse breaks at this time and that the Chief priests, the Pharisees, the Scribes and members of the Sanhedrin, were well familiar with the Psalms and with Psalm 22. They would have done what we do with passages we know. If I said to you, "For God so loved the world........." most would be able to complete it with "that He gave His only...". Those at the cross would have done the same thing we do. They would have completed Psalm 22. If this is true, then the cry of Jesus is one of anguish, but also of victory, perhaps even a bit of taunting, for the Psalm ends in great victory. Even in His death Jesus wins. "A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the LORD to the next generation, they will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born that He has done this" (Psalm 22:30-31). Take a minute and read the whole Psalm and see what I mean. Maybe in trying to fit the event into a Christian Worldview we have missed the Biblical Worldview that put Messiah Jesus in charge even in the horrific events of His crucifixion. Maybe there is some obvious victory in the cry we have misunderstood to fit our Christian Worldview.
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