By Tim Cantrell
The early church faced a world blanketed by paganism. Christianity was birthed in a small, insignificant Roman outpost at the time (Israel). Yet within three centuries, this so-called ‘new’ religion had spread across the Mediterranean and would soon conquer the Roman empire itself. The spread of Christianity against impossible odds has shocked historians, even the famous agnostic author, Edward Gibbons, in his renowned Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.[1] T.R. Glover of Cambridge said of this unlikely victory: ‘The early Christians out-lived, out-thought and out-died their pagan contemporaries.’[2]
Why Worldview Matters
Glover’s words sum up exactly why our church (where I pastor) in Johannesburg, Antioch Bible Church, is committed to equipping our people with a biblical worldview. Because we know the only way our world will be impacted for Christ is if we live better. And we can’t live better unless we think better, and are willing to die for our faith. To do this, we must “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Rom. 12:2).
Every believer and every church is given this worldview mandate: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).
Do we believe what the Apostle Paul said about our ascended, exalted Christ, that “He put all things in subjection under His feet…” (Eph. 1:22)? As the Dutch theologian, politician and worldview trailblazer, Abraham Kuyper, once said, “There is not one square inch in the universe over which the Lord Christ cannot say, ‘That is mine.’”[3]
What a thought: That those feet which were once weak, pierced and bleeding on a cross are now strong, glorified and exalted on a throne, with everything placed under the rule of a sovereign, all-powerful Christ! Every atom and molecule in the universe, every crystal and every chromosome, every tragedy and every triumph in history, serving His purposes for the good of His Church, in the sure and certain fulfilment of His Great Commission (Eph. 1:23).
Christ imposes His laws on all creation. There is no corner of the universe where He does not enforce His will. His truth in Scripture is the standard by which we must measure all truth claims (Jn. 17:17). One day, when King Jesus returns to this earth, He will put His foot on the neck of every last enemy and set up His visible, earthly kingdom. Only then will we fully realise what He meant when He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Me” (Matt. 28:18).
However, in this Church age, for a season Christ has ordained that Satan be allowed a competing kingdom under which most of the world is subjected. This worldly realm brings with it ways of thinking and acting that are in stark contrast to Christ’s kingdom – thus the clash of worldviews. This Satanic dominion is not passive; it actively and aggressively seeks to educate and disciple our people. That is why we must seize every opportunity to help believers to un-learn the ways of Satan’s kingdom and to learn the ways of Christ’s kingdom.