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An Encapsulated View of the Best from Christian Publishers

Volume 3 . Issue 9

by Nancy Pearcey Crossway

ISBN: 1-58134-458-9

The Book's Purpose Prove that Christianity is the

total truth of all reality Explore the notion of separation between “sacred” and “secular” Show how believers can unify fragmented lives and recover spiritual power Investigate the long war between materialism and Christianity Challenge readers to live out true spirituality and the Christian worldview

The Book’s Message “When matters of public policy are debated, no religions should have a seat at the table,” Christopher Reeve told a student group in 2003. Reeve’s assertion reflects our society’s belief that religion is a private matter and should have no bearing on the culture at large. The result: Christianity is trapped within a sphere of privatized values, preventing it from having any effect on public culture.

There is a growing desire among evangelical Christians to apply their faith to all areas of their lives: at home, at work, in business, and in politics. Biblical truths should influence every aspect of the indi- vidual’s and even a culture’s life. Here are

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COUNCIL OF REFERENCE

Dr. Richard Averbeck

Rev. D. Stuart Briscoe

Dr. Paul Cedar

Mr. Dave Coleman

Dr. & Mrs. Larry Crabb

Mr. Roger Cross

Rev. Samuel Farina

Dr. Kenneth O. Gangel

Rev. & Mrs. Lud Golz

Dr. Howard G. Hendricks

Mr. Olan Hendrix

Dr. David Jeremiah

Rev. Knute Larson

Dr. John C. Maxwell

Dr. Bruce McNicol

Mr. Dean Merrill

Mrs. Elisa Morgan

Dr. Ray Ortlund

Dr. Luis Palau

Dr. Gilbert A. Peterson

Rev. Wes Roberts

Rev. & Mrs. Jamie Rassmussen

Mr. Jim Warren

Dr. Rick Warren

Publisher David A. Martin

Editors Michael & Cheryl

Chiapperino

A Quick Focus

IIIWhat’s In a Worldview? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .How We Lost Our Minds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Living it Out: True Spirituality and Christian Worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Three Main Points

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8

5

Total Truth: Total Truth:

Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity

Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity

“practical, workable steps for crafting a Christian worldview . . . to liberate Chris- tianity from its cultural captivity, unleash- ing its power to transform the world.”

and to pay a price for being faithful to God’s calling. Believers should also guard against triumph, pride, and self-righteousness. Christians must show in all areas of their lives the love and humility that God teaches us to share with one another.

The best way to drive out a bad worldview is to offer a good one.

“Christians need to move beyond criticizing culture to creating culture.”

Analyzing the worldviews em- bedded in the great works of hu- man culture can teach us a great deal about our own culture and about how to more effectively address the modern mind. We should celebrate the great works of art, literature, and music as re- flections of God’s own creativity (Man, after all, is created in God’s image.) When we analyze where these works go wrong, we should do so in a spirit of love. Too often we are aptly portrayed as scolders and scalawags continually condemn- ing the culture around us.

Francis Schaeffer, describing the pessimism and nihilism ex- pressed in so many contemporary movies, novels, and popular songs, writes that these works of art “are the expression of men who are struggling with their appalling lostness. Dare we laugh at such things? Dare we feel superior when we view their tortured expressions in their art?” These men and women “are dying while they live; yet where is our compassion for them?”

Finally, in everything we do, whether we work with our brains or our hands, whether we work with people or things, whether we

continued on page 3

God communicates not only “by his voice to us in the Scrip- tures” but also in creation and in historical events. “The whole crea- tion of God preaches.” As Chris- tians, our calling is much more than just getting into heaven~we are to cultivate the earth; we are called to do more than save souls~ we are to serve God through our work.

Many secularists and Christians reject the concept of a “Christian worldview,” fearing that such a worldview means trying to take over the world and impose Chris- tian beliefs on everyone else. It is incumbent upon Christians, then, to remember that God’s means of salvation was on the cross. Christ came to the world in humility and human weakness, submitting even to death at the hands of sinners. Those who follow Christ should be willing to follow His example

?WORLDVIEWWORLDVIEW What’s In AWhat’s In A

Breaking Out of the Grid

Many believers have absorbed and accepted the sacred/secular dualism which mandates a fact/ value, public/private dichotomy and, accordingly, restricts their faith to the religious sphere while adopting whatever views are cur- rent in their professional or social circles. Secularists reinforce this duality when they insist that their own theories do not reflect any particular faith or creed, but are simply the way “all reasonable people think.” They promote their own views as “unbiased” and “ra- tional” while denouncing religious views as “biased,” “prejudiced,” and “value-laden.”

Christians have accepted this “two-story”(compartmentalized) way of thinking: the ordinary work of one’s job is merely a means of supporting one’s family and is not connected in any direct way to religion, while “church” work is elevated as a higher calling (i.e. the only way to truly serve God is in full-time Christian service either in church or mission work). Believers must “break out of the grid” and begin thinking Christianly.

“Thinking Christianly means understanding that Christianity gives the truth about the whole of reality,

a perspective for interpreting every subject matter. All creation must be interpreted in light of its relationship to God.”

“Christianity is not merely

religious truth~ it is total truth~

truth about the whole of reality.”

Plato had a tremendous impact on Christian thinkers up through the Middle Ages. A truly commit- ted Christian during that time was a person who completely rejected ordinary work and family life and withdrew to a monastery to live an ascetic life of prayer and contem- plation. These ideas were derived not from the Bible, however, but from Greek philosophy. Plato’s Philosophy of the Forms deeply influenced Medieval church fathers. Even though every aspect of crea- tion comes from the hand of God and bears the stamp of His handi- work, in practice most of them ac- cepted the Greeks’ negative atti- tude toward the material world.

The church reformers (Calvin and Luther) attempted to overcome this dualism and recover the unity of life and knowledge under the authority of God’s Word. They rejected monasticism: “the Christian life is not a summons to a state of life separate from our participation in the creation order of family and work, but is

embedded within the creation order.”

The Bible calls us not from the world, but into the world. Calvin’s view of ordi- nary work later be- came known as the Protestant work ethic: every believer has a vocation to serve God in the world, in every sphere of human existence.

We, too, can free ourselves from a pervasive secular/sacred division by adopting a new understanding of the cosmic scope of Creation, Fall, and Redemption, thereby bringing healing and wholeness to our lives.

Creation: The Bible teaches that nothing is pre-existing or eternal except God. Everything in all creation comes from God and “bears the stamp of its Maker.” The Book of Genesis tells us repeatedly that as God created the world, “He saw that it was good.” Thus, we may

“We need to understand why Western Christians

lost sight of the comprehensive call God

makes on our lives.”

WHAT’S IN A WORLDVIEW? continued from page 2

are analytical or artistic, we are culture-creators. We are offering up our work as a service to God. Those who are in close relationship with our Creator should be the most creative of all. By developing a biblical approach to a specific subject area, believers can even transform an entire discipline.

Rediscovering Joy Historically, religion has not been a separate activity set apart from the rest of life. In most cul- tures religion is the whole world- view of the people within that so- ciety. The secular/sacred dichoto- my is an anomaly distinctive of the West. Christians need, therefore, to become bilingual in a sense. They must be able to translate the perspective of the gospel into a language understood by our cul- ture. And, before we can craft a Christian worldview, we need to identify the barriers that prevent us from apply-ing our faith to all areas of work, business, and politics.

From the beginning, the Chris- tian church was surrounded by alien cultures with firmly established beliefs, traditions, and civic institu- tions. The early church’s encounter with Greek thought presented great challenges. Greek thinkers were pagans and many of their doc- trines were incompatible with bib- lical truth. But the church founders couldn’t help absorbing a good bit of Classical thought and melding it with their own. Greek philoso- phers drew a sharp dividing line be- tween material and spiritual worlds. The material realm was considered inferior to the spiritual realm, and “salvation” was achieved through ascetic exercises aimed at freeing the spirit from the material so that it could ascend to God.

infer that nothing is inherently evil or bad~being spiritual cannot mean roping off and avoiding certain parts of creation. Christians need not come across as negative kill- joys. While we hate sin, we should exhibit a deep love for the world as God’s handiwork and see through its brokenness and sin to its original goodness.

The Fall: Evil and disorder are not in- trinsic in the material world. Dis- order is caused by human sin which distorts the goodness of God’s crea- tion and uses it for evil purposes. Adam’s fall was the result of a re- bellious will, not his human body. That’s why Paul tells us, “Nothing is unclean in itself.” It becomes unclean when sinners use it to ex- press their rebellion against God. For example, science is a vocation from God though it can be used to undermine belief in a Creator. Art is a gift from God, but it can be used to portray unbiblical world- views and encourage decadent be- havior.

Redemption: As all creation was originally good, and all was affected by Man’s Fall, so all will be redeemed. God’s ultimate promise is a new heaven and a new earth. Earthly life will not simply end; it will be sanctified. Scripture tells us not that life in eternity will be a negation of our life on earth, but that we will live there with glorified physical bodies in a new “earth.”

This holistic vision of Christian- ity is wonderfully liberating. All of our lives, no matter how ordi- nary or seemingly mundane, are somehow a part of God’s plan even if we are not yet able to fully com- prehend that plan. This three-part grid of Creation-Fall-Redemption, however, has been thrown out of balance by various groups who have seized upon one of these three elements and overemphasized its importance, to the detriment of the other two. For example, the typical evangelistic message is, “You’re a sinner; you need to be saved.” continued on page 4

WHAT’S IN A WORLDVIEW? continued from page 3

Of course this is true, but the mes- sage begins with the Fall instead of Creation. Thus, the implication is that our essential identity consists of our sinfulness, deserving of divine punishment.

This negative view of humanity is not biblical. The Bible begins with Creation, not the Fall: “Our value and dignity are rooted in the fact that we are created in the image of God, with the high calling of being His representatives on earth. In fact, it is only because humans have such high value that sin is so tragic. If we were worthless to begin with, then the Fall would be a tri- vial event.”

In our secularized society, if we start our message with the Fall, the rest of our message is incoherent. We won’t be able to explain Re- demption~because the goal of redemption is to restore us to our original, created status of innate goodness.

Surviving the Spiritual Wasteland A recent advertisement featuring a rumpled, tweedy college professor looking out at the reader read, “Meet your son’s first college professor. He is a Marxist, Atheist English professor who eats Christian fresh- men for lunch.” All Christian parents should keep that image in mind as they prepare their teens to go off to secular universities. Understand- ing and articulating Christian apolo- getics has become a crucial survival skill on today’s secular college cam- puses.

At the very least we need to strip the mystique of forbidden ideas from the various “isms” that young believers will be facing. They will encounter everything from Marxism to Darwinism to postmodernism in the wider culture. Rather than pro- tect our children from competing ideas, we need to ensure that they first hear these concepts from trusted parents, pastors, and youth leaders. We also need to arm them with strategies for analyzing other ideo- logies. Young Christians need intel- lectual tools for defending the notion that there is genuine, objective truth~that we can be sure Christian- ity is true.

The way to construct a Christian worldview perspective in any field is to ask three sets of questions based on our holistic vision: 1. CREATION: How was this aspect of the world originally created? What was its original nature and purpose? 2. FALL: How has it been twisted and distorted by the Fall? How has it been corrupted by sin and false worldviews? Cut off from

God, creation tends to be divin- ized or demonized~made into either an idol or an evil. 3. REDEMPTION: How can we bring this aspect of the world under the Lord- ship of Christ, restoring it to its original, created purpose?

Application: To Education~

Creation, according to the Bible, tells us that humans are created in the image of God. This means that children are born with the dignity of being creatures with a capacity for love, morality, rationality, artistic creation, and all other uniquely human qualities. Education, therefore, should address all aspects of the child. Christianity provides a higher view of human nature than any alternative ideo- logy that begins with material or nonpersonal forces (i.e. Darwin- ism, Marxism) operating by chance. We cannot treat students

simply as complex stimulus-response machines or as organisms adapting to their environment.

Christianity also takes a solidly realistic view of human nature. The doctrine of the Fall teaches us that humans are prone to sin and need moral and intellectual direction. After the Fall God provided us with timeless and universal truths to give order to our lives that would not otherwise be available to fallen, finite creatures.

The optimism of the Enlighten- ment era taught that unaided rea- son alone is capable of achieving a “God’s-eye” view of the world. The Romantics believed that chil- dren came to earth naturally inno- cent. Both philosophies denied the reality of the Fall and led to progres- sive ideas of education which now neglect teaching right from wrong or true from false and, instead, ex- pect children to discover their own “truths.”

Redemption means that the goal of education is to equip students to take up their vocation, whatever it may be, in obedience to God’s Cul- tural Mandate. In Genesis God tells Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and sub- due it.” “Be fruitful and multiply” means to develop the social world: families, churches, cities, govern- ments, laws. “Subdue the earth” means we are to harness the natural world: plant crops, build homes and bridges, compose music, design computers.

This Cultural Mandate tells us that our purpose is to build cultures and civilizations. Education should teach every child that God has given him or her special gifts to make a unique contribution to the world. Humanity’s task is to reverse the effects of the Fall and extend the Lordship of Christ into all the world. John Milton wrote that the goal of learning “is to repair the ruins of our first parents.”

continued on page 5

“We need to make sure our own children leave home with conviction [of their faith] burned

deeply into their minds~ that Christianity is capable

of holding its own when challlenged in

the marketplace of ideas.”

WHAT’S IN A WORLDVIEW? continued from page 4

To The Family~

Western political and social thought has been somewhat hostile to the role of the family in some proposed visions of the ideal soci- ety. Intellectuals from Plato, to Rousseau, to B.F. Skinner, and even Hilary Clinton have advocated putting children directly under the care of the state instead of the family. If we begin with Creation, however, biblical doctrine tells us that the family is the original social pattern and is inherent in human nature itself. Utopian schemes which attempt to do away with the family unit will find themselves working against human nature. Human nature cannot be remod- eled at will.

Secularists and utopians who reject Creation also deny the Fall, discarding the idea that human nature is corrupt and prone to evil. Instead, they redefine all social ills as temporary disorders that can be eliminated through education and social engineering.

Sin and corruption are real and can’t simply be engineered out of human nature. States that at- tempt to do so end up having to force people into fulfilling

utopian schemes. To defend the institution of the family against government or statist agendas, Christians need to make the case that the biblical doctrine of Creation, Fall, and Redemp- tion gives the only realistic and humane account of our intrinsic nature and of the structure and purpose of the family in society.

To Social Theory~

The Trinity provides a model for human social life that resolves the opposition between collectivism and individualism, between the indi- vidual and the state. In the classic theological formula, humans were created in the image of God~God who is one in being and three in person. The very nature of a triune God consists of reciprocal love and communication among Persons of the Trinity. We are unique individuals created to live in community with other human beings.

What’s so good about evangelicalism? There is both good news and bad news regarding evangelicalism in American culture. The good news is that the evangelical movement has been remarkably effective in “Christianizing” American society. Research shows that religious adherence has actually increased in the United States since the colonial period. After America attained its independence many churches went into decline, but the evangelical ones that participated in the First and Second Great Awakenings grew exponentially.

The older, established churches (Congregationalists in New England and Episcopalians in New York and the southern colonies) were the “elites” and, as such, were associated with the higher, educated, and ruling class. This elitism was abhorrent to the revivalist leaders of the Great Awakening movements. Evangelical preachers sought to “popularize” religion by asserting that even the most ordinary citizens had a right to investigate religion for themselves.

continued on page 6

CBS

“Every subject area should be taught from a solidly biblical perspective so that students grasp the interconnections among

the disciplines, discovering for themselves

that all truth is God’s truth.”

“Ironically, virtually every actual historical attempt to improve on Genesis has ended

in a coercive, totalitarian state.”

“Individuals cannot fully develop their true nature unless they parti- cipate in social relationships, such as marriage, family, and the church.”

Without the Fall there would be no conflict between individuals and the common good. Since the Fall, societies have swayed either toward individualism or collectivism. In modern culture, family bonds are threatened by the “needs” of personal autonomy. In politics, the opposition is between totalitarianism and total anarchy. In economics, the extremes are communism and laissez-faire individualism. A con- sistent worldview must offer a way to reconcile the extremes within a consistent system. The Trinity, as the foundation of human society, gives the only coherent basis for social theory.

Redemption calls believers to demonstrate to the world “a bal- anced interplay of the One and the Many, of unity and individuality.” We are called to reproduce on earth the mystery of mutual love that the Trinity enjoys in heaven. Just as we practice unity-in-diversity in our churches, we can bring that balance to our families, our schools, and our neighborhoods.

OUR MINDSOUR MINDS How We LostHow We Lost

Further, they gave up the idea that Christianity provides a com- prehensive framework for interpre- ting all of life and scholarship. And, they abandoned the entire range of cognitive and intellectual inquiry to the “lower story,” giving in to demands that the academic disci- plines of religion and philosophy be completely autonomous. Al- though evangelicalism reminded us to love God with all our hearts, the movement neglected the call to love God with all our minds, as well.

How Women Started the Culture War

The Industrial Revolution dra- matically changed the traditional roles of men, women, and families. During the Colonial Era, husbands and wives worked side by side on a daily basis. Marriage, for a colonial woman, meant she became a co-worker beside her husband, learning whatever skills her hus- band’s work required. The couple’s livelihood, whether it be farming, butchering, printing, or tailoring, took place in the home, allowing mothers to combine economically productive work with childrearing. Fathers, also, were much more in- volved in raising children since everyone was working together throughout the day~work and family were an integral part of a man’s daily routine.

During this period a man was considered the head of his house- hold. This headship had a specific, divinely sanctioned definition: a man’s duty was to represent not his own individual desires, but rather the interests of the entire house- hold. A man was expected to rank duty to his household above per- sonal ambition.

Later, the Industrial Revolution took work out of the home, there- by drastically altering the roles of both men and women. Work went from being “task-oriented,” struc- tured by human need and seasonal requirements, to being “time-ori- ented,” structured by the clock and the regularity of the machine. Before long, a great social outcry was raised against the dehumanizing

continued on page 7

HOW WE LOST OUR MINDS continued from page 5

John Wesley, seeking to preach the “plain truth for plain people,” used simple language in sermons full of emotion and spontaneity. More importantly, “ordinary people were no longer regarded as passive recipients, as they were under the old hierarchical model, but as active participants.” Overall, the evangelical groups which ignited the Great Awakenings were largely responsible for America becoming one of the most religious of the industrialized nations.

The bad news of evangelicalism ironically lies in many of the factors that made the movement so successful. The focus on an intense emotional conversion experience was highly effective in bringing people to faith. Yet the emphasis on religion as an emotional experience, in turn, led to a neglect of theology and doctrine and the whole cognitive element of belief. The use of the vernacular and simple folk music reached many ordinary, uneducated people, but revivalists tended to go even further, taking great pride in their ignorance while making fun of the “highly educated, but spiritually dead” clergy “back east.”

Secondly, the individualism preached by the revivalists led to a radically individualistic view of the church. This perspective rejected the intellectual riches developed over the centuries by the great minds throughout church history. Finally, the revivalist movement led to a new model of leadership: the pastor was no longer a teacher who instructed his covenanted con- gregation. His new role became that of a celebrity who could inspire mass audiences: “an actor/preacher” as opposed to a “scholar/preacher.”

It may seem as though the evangelical revivalists were simply carrying on the tradition passed on by the Reformation. However, while the Re- formers insisted that the Bible was plain to anyone and that Scripture was the final authority, they did not dismiss history or corporate statements of faith. They maintained an allegiance to the ecumenical creeds and councils of the Church’s first five centuries when the fundamental doc- trines of the Trinity and the deity of Christ were deliberated and defined.

Evangelicalism did not overcome the age-old “two-story division” of knowledge. In fact, it intensified the split by contributing to the idea that religion is a private and emotional experience, effectively moving it from the public realm to a completely private one. Evangelical churches and seminaries voluntarily withdrew from intellectual confrontation with the secular world.

“The idea that a single generation can reject wholesale

all of Christian history and start over again is doomed to theological shallowness... Instead of seeing farther

by standing on the shoulders of giants, they are limited to

what they are able to see from their own narrow perspective within a tiny slice of history.”

HOW WE LOST OUR MINDS continued from page 6

conditions of this new work style. The home became an outpost for all the “old” personal and ethical values, a safe haven from the harsh, competitive, modern outside world. The result for society was what historians call the “doctrine of separate spheres.”

These social changes affected women more than men. The home had ceased to be the locus for pro- duction and became a locus for con- sumption. Women at home were gradually reduced from the role of producers to the role of consumers.

Men inhabited the sphere of politics and commerce. As men went forth to do battle in the “outside world,” masculinity was redefined as morally hardened, competitive, aggressive, and self- interested. Women were to live in another realm: the home. They were called upon to cultivate and nurture the softer “feminine” vir- tues of community, morality, reli- gion, self-sacrifice, and affection. Whereas, in an earlier time hus- bands and fathers were called to function as the moral and spiritual leaders of the household, they were now told that they were naturally crude, insensitive, and brutish. Wives would help teach them virtue.

Initially, it appeared that wo- men were empowered in a culture where they had been accorded the status of enforcers of virtue. In actuality, women and their influence were undermined. Society was re- leasing men from the responsibility

of being virtuous. Moral and spiri- tual leadership suddenly became women’s work, while men were freed to pursue self-interest. The church, instead of challenging the growing secularism of men, gave in and happily turned to women, relieved that, in at least one sphere, religion still dominated.

The ultimate effect of making women the moral reformers of men was self-defeating. “When virtue is defined as a feminine quality instead of a human quality, then requiring men to be virtuous is seen as the imposition of a

feminine standard~a stan- dard that is alien to the

masculine nature.” Being virtuous became synony- mous with being soft and effeminate instead of being strong and masculine.

Moreover, the home (hence, the woman) was cut off from the “real” work of society and be- came isolated from intellec- tual, economic, and politi- cal life~at exactly the same

time the church experienced separation from the culture

at large.

CBS

“Instead of enjoying a sense of economic indispensability,

women were reduced to dependents, living off the wages of their husbands...women were

shut off in a world of private ‘retirement.’ Instead of working with other adults throughout

the day...women became socially isolated with young children

all day.”

Re-moralizing America and its men will happen only when men are convinced that being a good husband and father is a manly thing to do, that parental duty and self-sacrifice are masculine virtues, and that marital love and fidelity are not female standards imposed upon men externally. These moral responsibilities are inherent and original parts of the male character, created by God.

The feminist solution to the problem has been to encourage women to leave the isolation of the home and follow men into the workplace. The problem with this solution: Who will take care of the children? The best course would be to challenge this trend of emp- tying the home of the family and its traditional values. We need Christian economists to rethink the modern economy from the ground up, to creatively craft a biblically inspired philosophy of economics.

Christians need to challenge the “ideal worker” standard in American corporate culture that demands an employee’s full atten- tion to his job without letting his personal and family life “interfere” with his work. Christian or- ganizations should be at the forefront in offering practical alternatives for reintegrating family responsibilities with income-producing work. Finally, Christians must re- fute the prevailing definition of success by insisting that individuals are most fulfilled when they follow a sense of calling or vocation whether in paid, or unpaid work. All of us want to feel that we are contributing to some- thing larger than ourselves, to a greater good, to God’s purposes in the world.

“I suggest that just as it is not good for religion to be

compartmentalized in the private

realm, it is not good for women

either.”

The first step we must take in aligning our intellect with God’s truth is to die to our vanity, pride, and desire for respect from colleagues and the public.

The next step is to look to Christ and use Him as the model for our lives. There was no resurrection until after Christ was crucified. Therefore, we cannot share in the resurrection until after we share His death. We need to learn to say no to sin, worldly motivations, and material gains. Only after we have turned away from the “idols of the heart” and we are willing to die for God, will we be equipped to influence others toward repentance and renewal.

Martin Luther taught that Christians embrace a theology of the cross, not a theology of glory. Jesus descended to earth and brought about our salvation not as a conquering hero, but as a suffering servant. This is the example he provided for us. Experiencing spiritual death and rejecting worldly systems does not mean a life of asceticism or a monastic flight from the world. “It is choosing to obey God’s commands across the whole of life even when it is painful or costly.”

Another vital step is to pray for spiritual deliverance. “There is no neutral ground in the spiritual battle between the forces of God and the forces of the devil. If some area of our lives is not fully submitted in obedience to God, then in practice we are under the control of Satan in that area~giving him the allegiance that belongs to God alone.” We may talk about a God of love, but unless nonbelievers observe visible love within our ministries, churches, and Christian organizations, we undermine that message. When people see the way we live, are they drawn closer to God? Do people find the gospel more credible when they observe how we treat others? That is the standard by which we should measure our actions.

Developing a worldview message means following biblical principles in both the personal and practical arenas of life. A study conducted by the Best Christian Workplaces Institute in 2003 identified several organi- zations and businesses that demonstrate that “servant leadership” is not merely an abstract ideal. Employees of the top groups consistently de- scribed their leaders as “humble,” “approachable,” “caring,” and “godly.”

CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEWCHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW True Spirituality andTrue Spirituality and

LIVING IT OUT:

One leader is known for asking his employees, “How can I help you? How can I help you succeed?” A college president tries to “lead from amongst” (a reference to John 1:14: “the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us”). He often wanders through the student din- ing hall unannounced to sit down with students and ask what they think of the college.

Even some secular businesses recognize these principles. Another study of business leaders who turned good businesses into great ones revealed that, contrary to common stereotypes, these leaders were not charismatic, nor were they celebrities or hard-charging bosses who felt they needed to whip up employees to perform. They are humble, modest, even self-effacing people who share decision-making with their staffs.

The operative principle in these workplaces is that there are no little people. Each member in the Body of Christ has been given unique gifts.

continued on page 9

“We must let go of the worldly motivations that drive us, praying

to be motivated solely by genuine desire to submit our minds

to God’s Word~and then to use that knowledge in service to others.”

“The best organizations

regard the nurturing of their own employees as a spiritual mandate.”

“The body as a whole functions best when each is recognized, honored, and allowed to flourish. A Christian organization

should aim to cultivate each worker’s gifts, not stifle them

or build up leaders at the expense of others.”

CBS

Volume 3, Number 9 Publisher

David A. Martin Editors

Michael & Cheryl Chiapperino

Published on the World Wide Web at ChristianBookSummaries.com.

The mission of Christian Book Summaries is to enhance the ministry of thinking Christians by providing thorough and readable summaries

of noteworthy books from Christian publishers.

The opinions expressed are those of the original writers and are not necessarily those

of Christian Book Summaries or its Council of Reference.

Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey, 2004 by Nancy R. Pearcey. Summa- rized by permission of the publisher, Cross- way Books, a division of Good News Pub- lishers, Wheaton, Illinois. 472 pages. ISBN: 1-58134-458-9. The author: Nancy Randolph Pearcey is the Francis A. Schaeffer Scholar at the World Journalism Institute. A former ag- nostic, Pearcey studied violin in Heidelberg, Germany, in the early 1970s and then tra- veled to Switzerland to study Christian worldview under Francis Schaeffer at L’Abri Fellowship. She earned a master’s degree in Biblical Studies from Covenant Theolo- gical Seminary in St. Louis. Pearcey is cur- rently a senior fellow at the Discovery In- stitute. A frequent public lecturer, she has spoken to actors and screenwriters in Holly- wood; students and faculty at universities such as Dartmouth, Stanford, USC, and Princeton; scientists at national labs such as Sandia and Los Alamos; staffers at Con- gress and the White House; and various activist and church groups around the country, including the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. She resides in Virginia with her husband and two sons.

Summarized by: Debbie Bonde holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from Bowling Green State University. She teaches Human- ities at St. Ambrose Christian High School in Boise, Idaho, where she lives with her husband and two sons.

C

LIVING IT OUT: TRUE SPIRITUALITY AND CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW continued from page 8

Seminary professor Jerram Barrs says to his students, “When I come to visit your church some- day, I will not ask people about what a great preacher or leader you are. I will talk to the secretaries, the office staff, the janitors and cleaners and ask them what it is like to work with you. That will tell me far more about the kind of ministry taking place in the church, and whether you are the kind of leader Christ desires for His church.”

A servant leader lets go of command-and-control methods. Instead, he creates and nurtures

a culture that allows everyone to grow into leaders and stretches people to develop their God-given talents.

The postmodern generation is searching for something real and authentic. Christianity and the Christian worldview offer the total truth this generation so desperately craves. But they will not take us seriously unless our churches, organizations, and workplaces de- monstrate an authentic way of life, and exhibit the character of God in all their relationships and modes of living.

“The gospel is not meant to be a disembodied message.

It is meant to be fleshed out in a congregation of men and women

who believe it and live by it~who exhibit in their relationships the beauty

of God’s character.”

“God charges His shepherds to feed the sheep,

not fleece them.”