A Clash of Worldviews

But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. 

2 Peter 2:12-13a

In proper context, the above portion of scripture is distinguishing false teachers and preachers from those who are true to the call of Christ.  Peter's second epistle, a book of teaching specifically for the church and not the world, gives believers pertinent information on how to prevent being "unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:8)."  It also gives clear warnings on how to spot false doctrine and false teachers.  A bit of this was discussed in the previous post The True and the False.  Furthermore, both of the letters of Simon Peter specifically relate to the last days of the church age, the coming Day of the Lord, and the final disposition of this world in judgment.  Another example of this eschatological teaching is found in a post from last year called Following the Instruction Manual.  The overall question is, did the apostle portend the clash of opposing worldviews that is currently found universally?  

Briefly, a worldview is the lens by which a person chooses to view the world around them.  A Christian, then, should seek to maintain a biblical worldview.  Certain elements of this viewpoint would permeate all of their thinking and action seeing that they feel they will be accountable to God for their walk with Christ.  A Christian worldview would contain the following doctrinal concepts:

• The belief in absolute moral truth
• The inerrant nature of scripture
• The truth that the Creator of the universe is all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present, unchanging, and eternal
• That God still controls the universe today and that He will hold all mankind accountable to His standards
• That God has spoken to man repeatedly and most profoundly in the person and work of Jesus Christ
• That Jesus Christ, the 2nd person of the Trinity, is the Redeemer and only available means for salvation by His shed blood at Calvary's cross
• That Heaven is given as a gift by faith in Christ's atonement and not the result of an individuals good works
• That Satan is real and actively engaged in warfare with believers in a effort to thwart their work of sharing the gospel, and that he is seeking to hide the cross as God's only means of salvation
• That Christ, whose death and resurrection purchased and secured salvation, will return again

As basic as these ideas seem to be to anyone seriously reading the Bible, repeated studies confirm that only a small majority of "Christians" actually have a biblical worldview.  Research by the the Barna Group continually emphasizes this sad fact.

The Holy Spirit, through the pen of the Apostle Peter, revealed that men would arise in the church that acted more like  natural brute beasts than like men and women of God.  In essence, they would be "instinct" driven much like an animal is.  Ironically, this idea is at the very core of today's anti-supernaturalist, evolutionary driven, non-biblical worldview.  Is this the idea that the Lord intended for us to see near the last days?  This idea will be explored more at a later date.  Until then, keep looking up--Jesus Christ is Soon2Come!