GOD AND THE WESTERN WORLD VIEW
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A Serious Look at the Failings of the Western Church
Deborah J.Burton
© 2009 Eaglebigpicture
Available for hardcopy publishing
And he (Jesus) commanded us to preach to the people,
and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of the quick and dead.
To him all the prophets give witness, that through his name
whoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins. Acts 10:42-43
I believe that the mix of Christianity under a Western World View
has created incredible difficulties for the Church to be an expression of God's Kingdom.
INDEX:
This is not a "read through" book - look at whatever you are interested in, although the main two pages are Figure 1. and The Gospel Applied
INTRODUCTION - WHAT IS A WORLD VIEW?
How do you see the world?
- I'm not meaning 'with your eyes', I mean, what is real to you about the world you live in?
This is your "worldview".
DIAGRAM OF CULTURAL ASPECTS *
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It is how you see the world - what you think is real, the way things are... But you may be surprised to know that all over the world, other nations and people have vastly different ideas of what is fundamentally real! This article is an attempt to open this subject up, and to say how deeply this matters to us.
A world view begins to form in our earliest moments. A Hindu will learn the world is full of spirit beings needing appeasement for temporal and eternal gain. Westerners (with roots based in the Greco-Roman cultures, mostly learn the need to compete; and that the fortune, power and glory we value is up to us to gain. Daily life is ordered around these things, spiritual beliefs rarely affect us. We assume we can create our own destiny, and are expected to be good, assuming that problems are a result of wrong influences, rather than an inbuilt malaise. It is a non-spiritual reality, and largely self-focused. I firmly believe it allows evil influences to control our lives, illustrated by the characteristics shown in Figure 1. in the next chapter.
And I believe that Western Christians, and those that seek to imitate our ways, will recognize some of these behaviors in ourselves - because we live by the same world view, which does not allow a thorough application of the full Gospel of Christ. This means we do not fully repent - or change how we think completely - to seeing things how God sees them.
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The key diagram - Figure 1. in the next chapter - is like the skeleton of the whole picture - a lot of ideas come together in it, which help to show that the church of the west, without realising, is in many ways working against itself!
The diagram shows two opposing forces, God and Satan/ or evil, and the means used to achieve the goal of kingdom, power and glory. That the Creator of the universe is the obvious owner is not in doubt. What is in doubt, is what side the church is on - perhaps I should say "churchianity", rather that Christianity... The pharisees of old had a similar problem, and received the condemnation.
I would wish that all followers of Jesus Christ, Lord and Messiah, would not make this same mistake!
And in saying this, I'm remembering the preacher always preaches to him/herself first, I need this material as much as anyone...
Deb Burton
Jesus is Lord!
Maranatha!
*Concept ideas and diagram from Understanding Culture by Lloyd E. Kwast "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement" Pg 363 c. Published 1981 The Institute of International Studies
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