STEPHANIE HUBACH | CONTRIBUTOR

About twenty years ago (I just realized that phrase can only be casually tossed out when one is over age sixty) Capital One created a series of commercials that ended with the question, “What’s in your wallet?” Each commercial envisioned an admittedly outrageous scenario (read: Vikings vacationing in the Grand Canyon) which ended up having some serious financial ramifications. In other words, as crazy as the storyline was, in the end—all that really mattered was, “What’s in your wallet?” The implication being: “If you don’t have a Capital One card—you are in deep, deep trouble.”

We live in a world of increasingly outrageous story lines. Only they are not the stuff of funny commercials. They are the stuff of real life in our current cultural moment. More than ever, the question before us is not “What’s in your wallet?” but, instead, “What’s in your worldview?” As disciples of Jesus, if we do not carry a Christian worldview, we are in deep, deep trouble. Now, I can already guess what some of you are thinking…

“Ugh. I’ve heard this worldview thing to death!”

Or maybe, “I already have a Christian worldview. Next topic, please!”

In either case, I’d like to encourage you to stop and take a deep breath and a second look at this subject. Let me explain by telling you a bit about my youngest son Tim, who has Down syndrome.

Tim loves the Lord.

Tim loves life.

And he loves the Disney channel.

When Tim was in high school the movie High School Musical was released. As he often does, he watched the DVD over and over again. Ultimately, he decided that he didn’t want to just be like Troy Bolton (the basketball star in the film) he wanted to be Troy Bolton.

So, one day he confidently marched into the Athletic Director’s office at the high school and asked to sign up for the basketball team. Soon, I got a call from the Athletic Director’s office, and Tim was on the line. He could hardly contain his joy! “I have GREAT NEWS! I made the team!”

Now, happy as I was to hear his elation, I also knew that Tim was 5’2” tall, weighted 170lbs. and had never played on a basketball team in his life. So, I knew there had to be more to the story. At this point, the Athletic Director got on the line and explained to me that he had invited Tim to be the manager. As Tim’s mom, I knew this would be a great fit for him. And I expressed my gratitude, even as I thought to myself, “And I am sure this is not what Tim is thinking!”

I knew I’d have a lot of explaining to do when Tim got home. So, I met him at the bus stop.

Tim practically floated off of the steps of the bus! He was still ecstatic that his dream of being Troy Bolton was actually coming to fruition. I affirmed that it was great that he was on the team, and then gently tried to explain the role of the manager, as opposed to a player.

Tim: “Is that the same as the captain?”

Me: “Well, not exactly.”

Once I explained how the manager role was a great fit for his gifts—in both organization and encouragement—Tim’s tears started to flow. He relayed to me the conversation he had in the Athletic Director’s office, and remarked, “When he said I could be the manager, frankly, I was shocked.”  Tim saw life through the lens of the Disney channel, and it caused him to see his situation, others, and himself inaccurately.

Honestly, we’re all a lot like Tim.  We may not see life through the Disney channel, but all of us see life through a lens, akin to a pair of glasses—a worldview—and sometimes that causes us to see our situations, others and ourselves inaccurately. If we are Christians, we will often default to assuming that we are seeing through the correct set of lenses, when, in fact, we may not be. How can we tell if we are developing a Christian worldview?

• A Christian worldview requires looking at all of life through the lens of Scripture. To do this, we must accurately discern the over-arching themes of Scripture, the context of individual passages, and the meaning of the passages we are reading. I recently saw a phrase on a coffee mug that stated, “I can do all things through a verse taken out of context.” A Christian worldview is built soundly on Scripture that is Spirit-led by careful and honest study, not agenda-driven by deftly manipulating God’s Word.

• A Christian Worldview requires remembering that Scripture is the very Word of God—who is a Person. A Christian worldview has its deepest roots in the Person of God himself, not in particular positions we may hold. It is easy for us to (wrongly) start with positions we hold dear, and build a worldview around them. It takes more humility, thought, and discernment to start with the Person of God himself, who communicates to us through his Word about his will for his world and for his people—and allow a worldview to genuinely develop from there. This caution holds true in any topic area we can imagine: politics, education, gender, identity, family dynamics, international relations, race relations, and the list goes on.

• A supposedly “Christian worldview” that promotes behaviors that are inconsistent with the character of Christ and the message of the gospel cannot genuinely be a Christian worldview. In John 1:14, we are reminded: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Do we claim to have a Christian worldview, but encourage toxic, hostile, or degrading engagement with those who hold different positions than we do? If we are not engaging fellow image-bearers from a Christ-like posture of being “full of grace and truth” we fail to accurately represent Christ, his Word, or his gospel. It’s not a Christian worldview if it doesn’t encourage fruit in keeping with the Spirit or engage with others in a way that looks like Jesus.

 Maybe this is a good time to stop and ask, “What’s in your worldview?”

• Is it developed through the humble and thoughtful Spirit-led study of God’s Word?
• Is it rooted, most deeply and centrally, in the Person of God himself—as he communicates to us through his Word who he is, what he requires of us, and how he invites us—through saving faith in Christ—to walk in repentance and faith?
• Is it promoting actions that accurately represent Jesus and his gospel to the world around us?

Just like Tim, it is possible for any of us to love the Lord, love life, and—at the same time—to  be donning a distorted set of lenses through which we see the world. What do you and I love that distorts our vision of ourselves and the world around us? It can be an endless range of things. . .

• A commitment to a particular political party that supersedes our commitment to the Person of God and his Word.
• A love for a certain model of education that becomes our centering point, more than our love of the Person of God and his Word.
• A passion for a social group or a social philosophy that is elevated above our passion for the Person of God and his Word.
• An allegiance to a particular denomination that overrides our allegiance to the Person of God and his Word.

Let’s ask the Spirit to illuminate what the “Disney channel of distortion” might be in each of our lives, by praying through Psalm 119: 32-34:

“I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding. Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart.”