The World View
Materialism
The View—What I accumulate is all that matters, for I am what I own.
Its Effect—Affluence, preoccupation with material objects and comforts, consumer mentality, neglect of spiritual values.
Activism
The View—I must fill my life with activity for what I do and produce is what I am.
Its Effect—All-consuming focus on tasks to achieve goals, seeks significance from work rather than from the Lord.
Individualism
The View—I am the source and center of my own existence.
Its Effect—Loneliness, egoism, selfishness, resistance to authority, inability to work on a team, lacks respect for others.
Conformism
The View—It is vital that others value me, for I am who others recognize me to be.
Its Effect—Dependence upon praise, seeks significance from the approval of others, adapts to the current prevailing standards or norms.
Relativism
The View—It does not matter what I believe as long as I believe something; truth is whatever I believe it to be.
Its Effect—Subjective approach to life, experience oriented, uncertain faith, easily swayed.
Secularism
The View—I have no need of religion; I am capable of handling my life on my own.
Its Effect—Fails to integrate God into all areas of life or rejects God completely, accepts worldly values, engages in temporal pleasures and pursuits.
Religionism
The View—I am okay because of my religious works and good deeds; I can create my own way to God.
Its Effect—Has some facts or head knowledge about God, may engage in religious activity but lacks inner reality.
The Biblical View
Materialism
The View—Spiritual treasures and eternal values are what really matter.
Its Effect—A desire to follow God, effective ministry, lays up eternal treasures, trusts in God rather than in material objects and comforts.
Activism
The View—All efforts should be Christ-directed and undertaken at His initiative and for His glory.
Its Effect—Peace, spiritual fruitfulness, rest, absence of burnout, finds significance based on personal relationship to God.
Individualism
The View—God is the center and source of my existence.
Its Effect—Edification of the Body of Christ, good team member, submissive spirit, shows respect and love for others, puts others ahead of self.
Conformism
The View—I live to please God and strive to conform my life to His will and purpose.
Its Effect—Possesses a Biblical understanding of identity in Christ, has a sense of acceptance and belonging, contented, relaxed attitude toward life.
Relativism
The View—The Bible is the only source of absolute truth.
Its Effect—Has confidence, experiences divine guidance, enjoys the freedom that comes from knowing truth.
Secularism
The View—I depend on God in all areas of my life, reflecting the Biblical view of the relationship between God and man.
Its Effect—Experiences God in all areas of life, focuses on spiritual values, engages in godly pleasures and pursuits.
Religionism
The View—My religion is based on salvation through Christ and ongoing obedience to Him.
Its Effect—Enjoyment of knowing and truly loving God, experiences rest in Christ’s atonement for sin, honest, open, worshipful, possesses working faith.
“One reason sin flourishes is that it is treated like a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake.” – Billy Sunday
When we become like the world, we lose all our power to influence the world. The story is told of a boy who had a cage full of sparrows. Thinking it would be nice to teach these little birds to sing like canaries, he bought a canary and put it in the cage with the sparrows. After a couple of weeks, he came running to his mother and said, “Mother! The sparrows are not singing like the canary. The canary is now chirping like the sparrows!” That is the inevitable outcome of becoming like the world in order to reach the world.
Ask God to examine your life and reveal any area where you need to shore up your defenses to keep the world from infiltrating. Write down three actions you will take to help make this happen.
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