For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
—ROMANS 11:36
The number one is meaningful. It implies uniqueness, solidarity, and supremacy. There is only one true north.
When I was a child, I lived in South Korea. The Koreans are a very competitive people and passionate about sports. Back then, when you watched any sport, you immediately knew which player was the best on each team, because that player wore the number 1. In that context, one meant best. In reference to God, one means only. It is exclusive.
When the writers of Scripture tell us that God is jealous, as they do many times, they have this sense of exclusiveness in mind. God even says His name is Jealous in EXODUS 34:14. Just as marriage is intended to be exclusive, so we are to belong exclusively to Him. No one else is to be worshiped, trusted, relied on, loved, served, or glorified. God does not share well with others, because there are no others. Nothing can be compared with Him in any sense. God thinks He is worthy of 100 percent of our worship, and He is not willing to share.
I am the Lord, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images. (ISAIAH 42:8)
Relying on God alone pleases Him as much as worshiping Him alone. Whatever we desire, praise, serve, admire, or love that is other than Him is something to repent of. Our thinking is warped or blinded if He is not the sole object of our lives.
In physics, scientists are earnestly seeking a Grand Unified Theory that will tie together all the branches of physics into a consistent and connected whole. God has already revealed Himself as the Grand Unified Reality. In COLOSSIANS 1:15–20, Jesus is presented as the source, maintainer, and redeemer of everything in all creation, both visible and invisible.
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (COLOSSIANS 1:16–17)
Note what this passage says: All things were created by, through, and for Christ. He is, quite literally, the source and purpose of everything.
In DEUTERONOMY, in the passage that Jews call the Shema, God tells His people that He alone is God and commands them to love Him with all their being (DEUTERONOMY 6:4–9). They are told to use physical reminders to keep God at the forefront of their minds—when they are at home or away from home, for themselves and for others, publicly and privately, when rising and when retiring for the night. His worthiness and greatness are to be their constant meditation, the sea they swim in.
In the 1600s, the monk Brother Lawrence spoke of “practicing the presence of God,” by which he meant a constant awareness of the Lord’s presence and conversation with Him. For me, this constant relationship means seeing all of life from His perspective. Rather than imagining myself sitting across from Him, I visualize sitting in His lap, facing out. I hear His voice bringing to my attention whatever He desires to bring it to.
This exclusive focus on God affects my relations to other people. I view it like a pair of eyeglasses with two lenses. The first lens focuses on those with whom I have ongoing relationships (family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, classmates). The second relates to those who are outside my routine relational patterns.
With this first lens, God focuses me on my close relationships. God has positioned each of us in our own families, friendships, and social circles for a reason. He wants to use us to glorify Him to them. Our long-term interactions with these people are to be stewarded every bit as much as our money, time, energy, or any other resource. Many of these people may not now seem open to God. But because God has put them close to me, my job with them is to persist in prayer, in demonstrating God’s love to them, and in sharing the truth about God. With them, I can never give up.
For those outside my normal network, I rely heavily on God’s guidance as to where and when to focus. This lens is tinted to highlight the last, the least, and the lost. Those are, after all, God’s favorites. Scripture is full of evidence of God’s special concern for the despised, forsaken, downtrodden, forgotten, disadvantaged, and powerless. But God is often unpredictable, so I need to be sensitive to His prompting to interact with anyone.
In this arena, I generally find that the Lord directs me toward those in whom He is already working to draw them toward Him. So outside my circle of close relationships, I am listening carefully to God’s voice to hear how He will direct me to help the disadvantaged and show me those in whom He is already working.
To increase people’s sensitivity to their stewardship of their relationships, I ask believers whom I am discipling to make a list of one hundred people they know. They then divide them into three categories: Christian, non-Christian, and unknown. Their next steps will vary, depending on which category each person falls into. For unknowns, the first task is to discover where they are spiritually; for non-Christians, to evangelize; for Christians, to train and encourage.
Many people think about spirituality in terms of two distinct groups. To them, every individual is either in the Kingdom of God or outside it. The first diagram illustrates this bounded-set thinking; the second depicts centered-set thinking.
There is nothing wrong with bounded-set thinking. It is helpful and relevant. It is indeed true that every person is either in or outside the Kingdom of God. Bounded-set thinking helps to emphasize the priority of making sure that people enter the Kingdom. This value is illustrated by Jesus’ story of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep to seek the one lost sheep (LUKE 15:4–7).
Nonetheless, centered-set thinking is a helpful supplement. In the diagram of the centered set, the allegiance of a particular person is denoted by the direction of the arrow. Arrows pointing toward the cross signify people who have committed their lives to Jesus. But the arrows vary in length, and the length of the arrow indicates the degree of their passion. Some people are radically pursuing a different goal in life, whereas others are doing so only mildly. Some who follow Christ do so passionately, others only tepidly.
God’s desire (and hopefully ours as well) is to redirect all the arrows so they point toward the cross. God does not delight in the death of any person (EZEKIEL 18:23, 32; 33:11). He is not wishing that any should perish (2 PETER 3:9), and He desires that all may come to faith (1 TIMOTHY 2:3–4). These truths should guide our interactions with everyone who does not yet know God.
God also wants to lengthen the arrows that already point toward the cross. Those who are already committed to Christ need to increase the level of their commitment. This is true for all of us. None of us love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, twenty-four hours per day, 365 days per year. Hopefully we are progressing toward that goal, though for many believers the trend is in the opposite direction.
This means that whenever we interact with people who already love and serve the Lord, our intention should be to increase their love for Him. We should think carefully and conscientiously about how best to do this. “Consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (HEBREWS 10:24). We all need that sort of encouragement from others, whether those others are ahead of us or behind us in their own commitment.
With regard to those who don’t know the Lord, centered-set thinking is still helpful. It helps us understand that the arrow can be gradually turned, step by step, until it points toward the cross, and that different individuals have different levels of resistance or responsiveness to God.
The following chart helps to portray this principle. The attitude, is depicted by the y-axis, with knowledge as the x-axis. So, for sake of illustration, Satan would be far to the right (high knowledge) and very low (bad attitude, extremely opposed to God). Normally, an unbeliever starts out with very little knowledge and a negative attitude or view of God. But the multiple contacts illustrated in the chart produce gradual change in knowledge and attitude, moving the person toward the cross. In centered-set thinking, this would be shown by a gradual rotation of the arrow to point toward the cross, along with increasing intensity (length).
For individuals with whom you have repeated contact, this is a helpful way to visualize the process of drawing them to the Lord. Typically, people have numerous encounters with Christians, which move them closer and closer, before they finally decide to follow Christ.
For individuals with whom you do not have repeated contact, this serves as a reminder to be alert for people who are nearing a point of submission to the Lord and for opportunities to nudge them closer to that point. It also reduces the sense of pressure to seek to bring every person to that position in every interaction. It highlights that your interaction with them is likely one in a series of events that God will use to draw them to Himself.
Having God’s perspective goes far beyond personal interactions with people, however. It involves all of life. As the Creator, God is concerned for and engaged with all that exists. He is redeeming not only humans but all creation (ROMANS 8:18–23). He can guide us in stewarding and making proper, creative use of creation. He also reveals Himself in the patterns of nature. If we listen to God, we can learn about Him from all things He created and can make contributions to every branch of learning.
We have the privilege of living inquisitive lives, constantly posing questions about what we see. I frequently ask the Lord what I can learn from one thing or another. Some of these questions have led to specific insights and breakthroughs in my thinking. I have inquired about the Coca-Cola Company, the U.S. Marine Corps, bicycles, farming, photography, waves, rappelling, kayaks, musical instruments, and scuba diving. I ask questions about elephants, rabbits, horses, mules, lizards, frogs, starfish, octopuses, dolphins, geese, ducks, and other animals. I ask about communication technologies, business practices, economics, government, transportation, educational principles, and much more.
Many of the disciple making, church planting, and missiological insights I have gleaned over the years have come from these disparate sources rather than from seminary classes or theological books. There is no limit to God’s knowledge about every topic. Why not ask Him?
We can also contribute to all fields of learning from the insights God gives us. George Washington Carver had this habit of asking God about things. He worked in Alabama, near where I currently live. His life and legacy as a follower of Christ, a scientist, and an educator are remarkable. While president of the Tuskegee Institute, he made a world-changing discovery in a most unlikely setting. In his book Sanctuary of the Soul: Journey into Meditative Prayer, Richard Foster tells the story:
George Washington Carver was one of our great scientists, and he often prayed, addressing God as “Mr. Creator.” One night he walked out into the woods and prayed, “Mr. Creator, why did you make the universe?” He listened, and this is what he heard: “Little man, that question is too big for you. Try another!” The next night he walked into the woods and prayed, “Mr. Creator, why did you make man [meaning, the human race]?” He listened and he heard this: “Little man, that question is still too big for you. Try another!” The third night he went into the woods and prayed, “Mr. Creator, why did you make the peanut?” This is what he heard: “Little man, that question is just your size. You listen and I will teach you.”
The rest is history, as Carver developed hundreds of uses for the peanut and changed the economy of the American South.
No matter what field of work you are engaged in, God knows far more about it than you or anyone else ever will. He can give you insights if you simply ask Him. As St. Augustine said, “All truth is God’s truth.”
Recognizing God’s concern for and involvement with all aspects of life is part of developing spiritual sensitivity. ZEPHANIAH 1:12 speaks of those who do not discern God’s activity in the world as being “stagnant in spirit.” This is clearly something that displeases the Lord.
Every person has a worldview—a way of interpreting our world—though many have never reflected consciously on their worldview or evaluated it in any formal way. There are seven main aspects of a worldview:
1. Epistemology: What is true?
2. Metaphysics: What is real?
3. Cosmology: What is the nature and purpose of the universe?
4. Teleology: What is the purpose and destiny of everything?
5. Theology: What is the nature and purpose of God (or gods)?
6. Anthropology: What is the nature and purpose of humankind?
7. Axiology: What is meaningful, valuable, and beautiful?
Obviously, in this book I cannot begin to thoroughly explore the dimensions of worldviews in general or the Christian worldview in particular. But for Christians, God must be the center and source of truth regarding all aspects of our worldview. He alone is the arbiter of truth. He has created and determined what is real. The universe exists for His pleasure and purpose. He is infinitely good and great. He made us and gives us purpose. He alone determines meaning, value, and beauty.
For this reason, knowing and understanding Him to the best of our ability matters greatly. That is the only way to rightly understand the world or anything else that exists. Consequently, Theopraxy—living a life centered on and based in God—is the very essence of a Christian worldview.
If you want to pursue this topic in depth, numerous books and even careers have been devoted to pursuing a thorough understanding of the Christian worldview and its implications. A good place to see a list of people who have studied and written about Christian worldview from a range of perspectives is christianworldview.net. You can then go to other resources to pursue greater detail about their views. I believe Francis Schaeffer’s writings offer an excellent starting point. His approach is accessible but not watered down, and he works from a solid set of assumptions.
HEBREWS 11 stands as an example of a Christian worldview at work. One of the most common questions that skeptics ask Christians is “If God is so good and powerful, why do bad things happen to good people?” HEBREWS 11 answers that question. This chapter expounds on the theme of faith. Initially, it describes the lives of the famous heroes of the Christian faith: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets (HEBREWS 11:4–35). These are the famous “winners” of the life of faith, people to whom God granted victory and fame. But the passage goes on to describe others who were not nearly so famous or victorious—at least, not from a worldly point of view:
Others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. (HEBREWS 11:35B–38)
Who were these people who suffered so? I don’t know. I don’t recognize those stories. But God knows. And God says about all of them, the famous and the obscure, life’s winners and life’s losers:
And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. (HEBREWS 11:39–40)
In verses 32–35A, the “good guys” win after a struggle. But in verses 35B–38, the good guys are defeated and suffer torture and violent death. Why are these individuals cited as models of faith?
Evidently, from a heavenly perspective, the earthly outcome or results of faith have nothing to do with how things turn out for the faithful person. Rather, the identifying characteristic of faithful people is their readiness to trust God absolutely, so as to bring Him glory. Sometimes He is glorified through a dramatic rescue; sometimes He is glorified by the faithful willingness of His people to suffer and die in obscurity for His sake. God is glorified when His people are willing to risk everything and sacrifice anything for the privilege of serving Him. What could possibly demonstrate His worthiness more than that?
As this passage demonstrates, a Christian worldview accounts for suffering by recognizing that this fallen world is not the end of the story and that a life of faith glorifies God no matter what the earthly outcome. In the final analysis, we who trust in Christ will win and receive our eternal reward. The story ends well for those who live lives of faith on earth.
A Christian worldview will be at variance with virtually any competing worldview, because it makes God the only criterion for determining meaning, truth, purpose, value, or destiny. We need to strive for this eternal perspective as we seek to follow Paul’s admonition: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (ROMANS 12:2).
Lord, renew my mind. Help me to view every aspect of life in the light of You. Help me to see every interaction with others in terms of how You can be more greatly appreciated and acknowledged in their lives. Teach me eternal truths from what I experience in this temporal existence. Show me how to be Your instrument of blessing to others in all I say and do.
Read the following questions, then pray and ask God what He wants you to learn and do. Listen quietly.
Review your journal. Are there any past commitments you have not completed? If needed, schedule revised completion dates.
1. Do I see my relationship with God as one aspect of my life or as the defining foundation of every aspect of my life? How can I keep daily constant reminders of His presence and perspective before in front of me?
2. Are there specific aspects of my worldview (epistemology, metaphysics, cosmology, teleology, theology, anthropology, and axiology) that I need to bring more into God-focus?
3. How effectively am I stewarding the ongoing relationships in my life? How can I be more intentional in helping those people who already love God to continue to grow in Him? How can I be more intentional in helping draw those who do not know God into a loving relationship with Him?
4. Do I consistently seek to be a blessing to every person with whom I come in contact? How can I increase my frequency of doing so?
5. Do I have a habit of asking God for spiritual insight from the situations I encounter day by day? How can I develop this habit?
6. Do I regularly ask the Lord for wisdom in matters related to my work and life? How can I develop this habit?
7. What specific actions does God want me to take in response to this chapter? (Note them in your journal and schedule them in your calendar.)
8. With whom (at least one name) does God want me to share what I have learned?
Ask the Lord to enable you to follow through on these commitments and to prepare the hearts of those with whom you intend to share insights.