While waiting for my flight home in a Virginia airport I heard a father reading a book to his young son in another language. Intrigued, I walked up and asked the man where he was from and what his language was. He responded that he and his family were from India, and he was reading in Hindi. I interacted with them about India, mentioning some other languages I knew Indian people speak, some areas of the country, and that I have had some interactions with other Indians over the last year through my connection with the Third Education Revolution.
They expressed surprise, noting that most Americans don’t know about India at all and don’t speak any languages but English (I had told them I speak Spanish and study Russian). We conversed about a variety of subjects as we waited for our flight to Florida. The wife made me smile inwardly as she shared that when they’d first gone to Florida, they’d expected the people, since many were Republicans, to be rather crude, hostile, and unscientific, but she said, they were actually nice people and quite “open.” Imagine that!
I had asked if they were Hindus, since so many Indians are, and I said I’d studied the various world religions. The wife expressed surprise and asked what I did “professionally.” When I told them I’d been a pastor and missionary teacher, they said, “Oh? And yet, you’re open to other views? Most religious people are very narrow and think only their way is right.” “Well,” I said, “I want to learn about other views, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think mine is the right one. I believe Christianity is the truth and the best way to live. But I want to know the various alternatives and how they think.”
I went on to explain this way: I said, you know, there are different economic theories, such as capitalism, socialism, and different variations of each. There are different political theories, libertarianism, the idea that the best scenario would be no government intervention in much of anything, liberalism, the idea that the government should interfere and control everything, (especially the economy, to redistribute wealth), and a republican (commonly called conservative) view that’s in between and says government should intervene in certain areas only for certain commonly accepted goals. Different schools of thought exist regarding all aspects of life. Some say this is the way to go, others say no, that is, etc.
The same is true when it comes to what we call religion. Some see the world in the pantheistic way, where all is part of God, others say there is no god, only the material universe. There are others who hold to an Islamic view of the world, saying the best way to live would be under Allah’s Sharia, His law. Christians say Christ is God, He created all there is, and we’re to live for Him and under His rule. Many others feel that man is basically his own god and should be free to decide to live however he wants.
My Indian friends seemed to appreciate what I was saying, yet, at the same time, their facial expressions indicated they might not have thought of things in this way before. The conversation ended on a pleasant note, as their little son asked if I was his father’s friend, and we all smiled and said yes, we were all great friends. Then it was time to board the flight and we didn’t see each other again.
But I have continued to ponder the conversation, because it’s important to recognize that there truly are different ways to live our lives, but not all are aware of this. There are many different theories of what life’s about and what would be the best way to live it. This is what we call worldview. It’s our view or theory of the world and life. Everyone has a worldview, and everyone is entitled to work out their own theories of life. But are we aware that we have such a theory or worldview? Do we know what it is? And perhaps more importantly, are all theories equal? Are some better and others worse? Is there any sort of standard by which we could measure such things? Sadly, I’m afraid that many or most haven’t thought these things out as well as they should. A little focused thought can remedy that situation.
It’s easy to see, for example, that a lifestyle of self-control in regard to eating, drinking (use of alcohol), and exercise is better than one of total indulgence without restraint. The reality of human physiology demonstrates this clearly. Likewise, lots of studies have shown that sexual restraint, so that unbridled sex outside of marriage is frowned upon and restricted, actually produces happier people and societies than all manner of sexual indulgence. There are charts of relative happiness and prosperity among nations, and these consistently show that certain practices of life and government, certain principles and policies, produce happier and more prosperous nations and other policies and ways produce the opposite.
During the recent Covid pandemic, lots of data was collected that showed that societies which practiced total lockdowns didn’t have lower Covid rates yet suffered more economic and social harm than countries which didn’t. Florida was more open than other states during Covid, as was the nation of Sweden. Though the media made it seem that these places were going to suffer all sorts of devastation because of such policies, it turned out they were provably wrong.
As a Christian, I have studied the results of the spread of the Christian Church and Gospel in the world and have come to understand that wherever biblical truth has been accepted and has had a strong influence, those areas and nations have prospered more than areas without this influence. America itself is the best example. Most of our founders were heavily influenced by biblical thinking. The result was that they set up this country using principles that align with the biblical worldview, and those principles produced the strongest, most prosperous, and freest country in all of human history. This is provable by all sorts of measures. Was it just accidental? Of course not! There are principles which align with reality, and produce better results and there are others which do not. Look at a satellite picture of North and South Korea at night, and you can see this right away!
The Kingdom of God is the rule of God (kingdom is the combination of the words king and domain, it’s where a king rules). God created the heavens and the earth, and they operate by His principles and truth. Those who submit and align themselves with God enjoy better lives than those who don’t. This is a generalization of course. Sometimes, Christians have been persecuted by the world around them. In such cases, their lives in this world are worse than others’ lives. But barring such persecution, living God’s way is a better way, a wiser way of life, since it aligns with the wisdom of God, the Creator.
Since the first couple, humans have tended to rebel against that notion and to seek another way, their own way. Satan told Adam and Eve they would be like gods if they ate the forbidden fruit. But their decision to go another way didn’t produce the better results they expected. Instead, going another way from God’s brought them to misery and death.
During the Middle Ages, the Christian Church expanded and basically took over Europe, and that is what created Western Civilization, which is the most prosperous and happiest civilization. During the so-called Enlightenment in the 18th Century, many rebelled against the Church and Gospel. They said man could find his own way through reason alone. The bloodbath of the French Revolution was a direct result of that way of thinking. So, was that “way” better or worse? Was the American Revolution, which arose out of a spiritual awakening, and was based to a large degree upon the Bible better than the French Revolution, or worse?
Today we’re told America is and always has been racist, a bad place to live, a place filled with “white supremacy.” And yet, millions seek to emigrate to our shores, and by almost every measure, our country is better off than most other countries. Why then are some people so hostile to America and its founding principles?
It’s because our founders were white, Christian Europeans and they founded our country on biblical principles, so those hostile to us are against those principles. Their hostility is like the hostility of the Enlightenment. It’s actually hostility toward God! But it is disguised as antiracist. However, the truth is that our prosperity and freedom has nothing to do with whiteness or race at all. It’s God and His Word that produced the better results we’ve enjoyed. The adversary, Satan has always been opposed to that and has sought to lead human beings away from that path to alternate paths. But though there may exist alternate paths, the Bible says those paths lead to death (Prov. 14:12). There have always been better and worse paths, better and worse ways of life.
I started this blog talking about my encounter with an Indian couple. We think of India as Hindu and Muslim today, and certainly, the majority of Indians practice one or the other of those faiths. But Vishal Mangalwadi, an Indian, has written books on the impact of the Bible upon India, and he says the Bible actually made modern India. I’m sure most people are not aware of this impact. But it is there to see if one is willing to research it.
My point is just that, indeed, there are various paths one can choose, various worldviews, various theories about what would be best for mankind. The Christian worldview is one among them. I’ve spent time learning about the other theories. But I have found that the way of Christ is the one which produces life, human flourishing, better results in both this life and the one to come.
I wish more people would take a look at the world through such a lens, would make comparisons between the worldviews and “theories” of life, and would see that only in the Messiah Jesus can we find real life, life more abundant, life that will continue for eternity. He is indeed “the” way, the truth, and the life, so His way isn’t just better, it’s the best! In fact, Jesus is the Only Way!