A Virus

It finally happened to me. I had been smug for far too long; the smugness is gone.  A virus mimicking Microsoft Security Essentials invaded and took control of my computer. It got me. My friend Brucie said, “Bobby, that’s a bad one.” Since Brucie is an IT guy I took those words pretty hard. 

            “Is there anyway I could have known it was a fake?” I asked. “It looked just like Microsoft Security Essentials.” 

            “No, you couldn’t have known. As a matter of fact most of the anti-virus products are still looking for a solution to it.”

            Brucie has my laptop and he’s going to clean it and put some high-grade protection on it. I had a few blog postings in “draft” on the laptop, not to mention other writing; he should be able to save my documents.

            My virus experience got me thinking about viruses we download into our thinking that look like the “real thing” but which aren’t. Just as the computer virus took over my laptop computer, so bad thinking masquerading as good thinking can take over our inner person. I was quick to realize I had a computer virus; how quick am I to recognize internal viruses in my thought life? 

            One of the viruses that I think we’ve downloaded is a preoccupation with the idea of a “worldview”. There are entire ministries and organizations built around the mission of articulating a Christian worldview. This looks good, it sounds good, but is it healthy? Is it healthy when it occupies center stage?

            I’m pretty sure I’m going to be misunderstood on this, and because of the limitations of a “blog” or even an extended article there is only so much I can do about being misunderstood, but I’m going to give this a try.

            In my last post I wrote about being in Detox vis-à-vis 24-hour news and talk radio; now I want to suggest that we should consider Detoxification from a preoccupation on worldviews, even from a Christian worldview. Sounds pretty bad doesn’t it? Is there hope for me?

            I think that instead of first asking, “What is a Christian worldview?” that we ought to be asking, “What is the Biblical view of the world?” and “What is our view of the Kingdom of God?”

            As to the latter, it seems to me that we have substituted the idea of a Christian worldview for the Kingdom of God. We are more tuned into current events and ideas than we are to the eternal Kingdom of our Father and Lord Jesus. I enjoy philosophy, but a philosophical view of the world should not take precedence over a Biblical view of the world; a Biblical view of the world should be the foundation of our philosophical view of the world – and both should be informed by our view of the Kingdom of God. 

            What is a Biblical view of the world? 

            Love not the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.          1 John 2:15-17.

            We know that…the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 1 John 5:19

            Elsewhere in his first letter John writes about us overcoming the world – not transforming it. Jesus speaks about His overcoming the world. Therefore, while I am all for transformation whenever possible, I recognize that overcoming the world-system is clearly a facet of the Biblical view of the world and that the world-system, which is opposed to the Kingdom of God, is passing away.

To be continued…