As we begin our Fall 2014 ministry season with the theme of story (specifically God’s and ours wrapped up in His) I want to remind us why we run the Foundations class.
Foundations is a class that (briefly) explores the primary worldviews held by people in our city and provides an introduction to the Christian worldview. Worldviews are stories. But the difference between them is important. A story only becomes a worldview when someone sees him or herself as a part of that story and it begins to affect the way he/she actually lives their life.
What’s interesting about the relationship between worldviews and stories is that it’s entirely possible to profess belief in any story and yet live out a worldview that denies your stated belief.
We do this all the time. Christians do it when they claim Jesus as Lord but give their lives to pursuing other things. Those outside of Jesus do it when they claim that human beings are merely a product of random chance with no purpose and yet give their lives to the “greater good” of humanity.
The problem for us in this is that when we live in ways that deny what we say we believe, we not only live without our integrity in tact, but we become dangerous to ourselves and those around us. Our thinking becomes shallow and our lives become confused. We no longer have a sense of where we came from or where we’re going, one day simply runs into another and before we know it our time’s up. That is no way to live.
The solution for all of us, those of us who profess to believe the Christian story and also those who don’t, is to challenge our beliefs. There’s no point saying you’re a Christian simply because your parents were, or because you prayed to Jesus once years ago. There’s no point saying you’re an atheist simply because your High School teacher convinced you when you were 15 that God doesn’t exist.
It’s very easy to say what story we believe but what we need to do is dig down deep in an effort to discover what worldview we’re actually living out.
Do you know what Christians believe? Do you know how those beliefs change the lives of those who hold them? Do you know what you believe? Have you thought about it? And do your beliefs make sense of what you know to be true based on the life you’ve lived?
Our Foundations class exists to help all of us begin the extremely important journey of answering those questions and others just like them.
Our next round runs for five consecutive Tuesday nights beginning on September 30th.
Sign up for Foundations HERE.
Matt Menzel is the Lead Pastor at Westside Church. Matt is married to Melissa.