CIM Briefing Papers

C.I.M. Outline #35 
 
 
                   Developing a Christian Mind 
 
I.  Introduction 
 
    A.  It is our duty as Christians to develop a Christian 
        world and life-view which will serve to guide all our 
        thought and action.  This is a life-long process.  This 
        is taught in several passages of Scripture: 
 
        1.  Rom. 12:2.  "Do not conform any longer to the 
            pattern of this world, but be transformed by the 
            renewing of your mind. ..." 
 
        2.  I Cor.  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a 
            new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  
            (That includes the old non-christian worldview) 
 
        3.  II Cor. 10:5.  "We demolish arguments and every 
            pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge 
            of God, and we take captive every thought to make it 
            obedient to Christ." 
 
    B.  Current problem:  Very few Christians in the church 
        today have undergone a thorough conversion in thinking.  
        They still think as the pagan world around them.  This 
        was shown in a recent study by George Barna.  Two-thirds 
        of the population do not believe there is such a thing 
        as absolute truth.  What was even more startling: 53% of 
        those claiming to be Bible-believing Christians agreed 
        that absolute truth did not exist! 
 
    C.  Some reasons why professing Christians do not have the 
        Mind of Christ:  Lack of discipleship, lack of 
        knowledge, worldliness, spurious conversion(?), the 
        influence of existentialism which views the mind and 
        rational thinking as an enemy, i.e. amusement as opposed 
        to musement. 
 
    D.  The results of this lack of mental conversion in our 
        time have been recounted eloquently in books by Francis 
        Schaeffer, Charles Colson and Carl Henry.  Some of the 
        results are: 
 
        1.  A lack of unity.  The Church therefore, cannot set 
            the agenda for the culture because it is not united 
            against the world.  According to polls, over 60 
            million people in the U.S. claim to be born-again 
            Christians.  Imagine the impact they could have if 
            they presented a united front on moral issues! 
 
        2.  Compartmentalization of truth.  Some things are 
            sacred and others are secular, or holy as opposed to 
            profane.  This is a false dichotomy that is foreign 
            to Scripture.  This attitude might lead a professing 
            Christian judicial candidate to say "I'm personally 
            opposed to abortion but I will not allow my 
            spiritual beliefs to influence my decisions."  
            Caesar would have had absolutely no concern about a 
            movement that thought this way! 
 
        3.  Eschatological determinism.  Some say, "The Bible 
            predicts that things will get worse and worse before 
            Christ returns, therefore, the tendency is to 
            withdraw and concede crucial areas to satan's 
            kingdom. 
 
II.  Developing a Christian Mind 
 
     A.  The Goal:  To think God's thoughts after him.  To have a 
         Christian mind is to have the mind of Christ; to have 
         His view of things, His worldview.  We must see all 
         things theologically, having a Biblically informed view 
         of life. 
 
         Further explanation:  God is the inventor and creator 
         of all things.  Therefore, the ultimate meaning of life 
         is what He says it is.  That's why Jesus could say "I 
         am truth".  Without a Creator-God who has revealed 
         Himself in time and space there can be no truth or 
         ultimate meaning in life. 
 
     B.  The Beginning:  to know the mind of God we must know 
         God!  How can we know God?   
 
         Man cannot know God unless God first takes the 
         initiative in making Himself known.  The Good Shepherd 
         seeks after His sheep (Lk. 15; Jn. 10).  No man seeks 
         after God and no one comes to God except that he is 
         drawn by the Spirit of God (Rom. 3).  That is why we 
         say Christianity is a religion of grace.  The 
         revelation He gives, and salvation He bestows, is by 
         grace.  In otherwords, Christianity is not a worldview 
         thought out by men; rather it has been revealed.  Those 
         who believe it, and live by it, do so by the grace of 
         God.  The non-Christian is enjoined in Scripture to 
         turn(repent) from his non-Christian view of things and 
         trust in the Lord Jesus.  
 
         There is a Biblical analogy which we believe 
         illustrates how men come to Christ.  It is found in the 
         story in which Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (Jn. 
         11).  When Jesus called:  "Lazarus, come forth", 
         Lazarus was dead and could neither hear nor respond to 
         the command.  But, he did respond, because at the 
         moment Jesus gave the command He simultaneously raised 
         him from the dead enabling him to respond.  When God 
         calls a sinner He simultaneously gives him spiritual 
         life enabling him to respond in faith.  Note:  this 
         analogy alone is not sufficient to build the doctrine 
         of grace.  See also Eph. 2. 
 
         (Note:  There is much controversy today centered around 
         the meaning and content of the Gospel message.  For 
         example, see the treatment by John MacArthur, The 
         Gospel According to Jesus.  This is a healthy and 
         absolutely necessary debate!  We must be assiduous in 
         clearly discerning what the word of God says.  Part of 
         the debate centers around the meaning of the Greek word 
         "pistuo" which is commonly translated by the english 
         word "believe".  The greek and the english are not 
         exact equivalents.  "Pistuo" does not mean mere mental 
         assent as the english sometimes does.  While it does 
         include mental assenting to facts, it does not stop 
         there; it also includes the idea of acting on the 
         facts, i.e. commitment to them.  You "believe" the 
         chair will hold you up, but Biblical faith means you 
         also rest your weight on it! 
 
     C.  The Beginning Assumption of the Christian Worldview 
 
          1.  Definition:  An assumption (or presupposition) is 
              something you cannot ultimately prove.  It is your 
              starting point and that which all thought is 
              based.  All worldviews have a beginning 
              assumption.  They are held in faith or by 
              conviction.  Note:  Atheistic worldviews also 
              begin by faith. 
 
          2.  The Christian's beginning assumption stated: 
 
              "Human beings and the universe in which they 
               reside are the creation of the God who has 
               revealed Himself in Scripture (the 66 books of the 
               Bible)".  This is of course not inspired but it 
               says it clearly in the fewest words.  It is found 
               in Worldviews in Conflict by Ronald H. Nash. 
 
               Note:  Some might say (and they do!): How do I 
               know God exists, or that the Bible is true?  Do we 
               not have to prove these two assertions first?  Our 
               answer to this is no.  The criteria by which you 
               would determine the truthfulness of the above 
               would then become your basic assumption or 
               ultimate authority.  (What can be more ultimate 
               than the God of the Bible?)  You see, if God does 
               not exist, then neither does truth.  To the 
               Christian, the triune God of the Scripture is the 
               ultimate authority; beyond that you cannot go.  
               For this reason, we believe it is a mistake to try 
               to prove God's existence or the veracity of 
               Scripture from evidence (which is evaluated by 
               fallible humans) to the pagan mind.  You prove 
               God's existence to the pagan by showing him that 
               without the Christian deity nothing is provable 
               because absolute truth would not exist, leaving 
               the nonchristian himself with no significance and 
               in  a lost state.  If you do not begin with the 
               Christian God you are a humanist.  What else is 
               there? 
 
     D.  The Major Contours of the Christian Worldview 
 
         The following is derived from a systematic study of 
         Scripture.  Another name for a full-blown Christian 
         worldview is a systematic theology. 
 
         1.  An eternal, infinite, triune God exists.  He is 
             personal, transcendent, immanent, sovereign and 
             good.  This God has revealed Himself 
             propositionally in space and time.  Each word used 
             here is important and essential (but certainly not 
             exhaustive). 
 
         2.  God created the cosmos (all that is) ex nihilo to 
             operate with a uniformity of natural causes in an 
             open system.  The "uniformity of natural causes" 
             makes science possible.  "An open system" makes 
             miracles possible. 
 
         3.  Human beings were created in the image of God in 
             order to commune with God and to rule for God.  
             They therefore, possess attributes analogous to 
             God's own, i.e.,  personality, self-transcendence, 
             intelligence, morality, gregariousness and 
             creativity. 
 
         4.  The state of the creation and man as they now are, 
             are not as they were originally created.  Man and 
             the cosmos are deeply affected by the Fall. 
 
         5.  For each person death is either the gate to life 
             with God and His people or the gate to eternal 
             separation from the only One who can ultimately 
             fulfill human aspirations. 
 
         6.  Redemption is provided by God for the elect and 
             ultimately will affect the whole cosmos.  When a 
             person is redeemed he is reinstated as God's 
             theocratic representative on earth. 
 
         7.  Ethics is transcendent and is based on the 
             character of God as good (holy and loving).  
             Because this is true, moral absolutes exist.  If 
             God does not exist, then neither does right and 
             wrong, only personal preference. 
 
         8.  History is purposeful(teleological), a meaningful 
             sequence of events leading to the fulfillment of 
             God's plan.  History is literally His story. 
 
III.  Summary:  To the Christian, Theology is still the queen of 
                the Sciences! 
 
      "The Christian cannot be satisfied so long as any human  
      activity is either opposed to Christianity or out of all  
      connection with Christianity.  Christianity must pervade 
      not merely all nations, but also all of human thought.  
      The Christian, therefore, cannot be indifferent to any 
      branch of earnest human endeavour.  It must all be brought 
      into some relation to the gospel.  It must be studied 
      either in order to be demonstrated as false, or else in 
      order to be made useful in advancing the Kingdom of God.  
      The Kingdom must be advanced not merely, extensively, but 
      also intensively.  The church must seek to conquer not 
      merely every man for Christ, but also the whole of man."  
      J. Gresham Machen
    
 
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