Last week, I shared what I thought was Paul’s life key verse.
Acts 20:24 – 24However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
And for the remainder of Acts, we see how Paul lived out that verse to the hilt.
Can you think of other key verses for Paul and why?
Phil 2:21-26 – 21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
Phil 3:7-11 – 7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
What is the key verse or motto or mantra of your life, your worldview?
Ways to evaluate your worldview:
1) Does your worldview have a universal purpose for all humankind? In order for it to be universally applicable, it cannot be something that is a personal preference, but it needs to be something that you and the person next to you can agree upon as universally appealing. The purpose laid out in the Bible is to worship, glorify and love our Creator, God. If He is our Creator and He created meaning and absolutes in this universe, then there is such a thing as a right purpose and a wrong purpose.
2) Is it sustainable, or does it get old? Everything in the world gets old — the motorolla droid, the latest technologies, the greatest job. Only God and people are eternal and therefore can sustain our attention over a lifetime and beyond. The Bible says to love God and love your neighbor. To be rich toward God, to value Him, to treasure Him AND to invest in relationships, to be fishers of men.
3) Does it answer the problem of evil/present sufferings? In this life, without God, there is no equality. No two people are identical. We all have different backgrounds and inherent abilities and talents. Some are born the son of a king and others are born in abject poverty. If you suffer, if evil is done unto you, if you are born with a low IQ, or you are not pretty, life is clearly unfair and we are left with many questions. The Bible says, while the answers to these questions may not be readily available, one thing is for sure — rather than giving us an answer, a Person stands beside us. Jesus understands everything that we go through in this life because He, too, took on human form. Jesus is able to sympathize with our weaknesses and He urges us to stand firm because evil and suffering will one day end when He returns to set things right once and for all.
4) Does it answer the problem of death? If this life is all there is, then we should live for physical things and fame and fortune or whatever we deem worthwhile. If, however, there is such a thing as eternity, then those who live for earthly treasure will have a long, long time to regret their choices. This life is not the end. At the cross, there is redemption and when we, too, are resurrected one day, we will rise from our physical tents and live with God forever, free from all sickness, and disease and inferiority.
5) Does it give an accurate assessment of the condition of humanity? With all the advancement of society in terms of science and medicine and psychology, we are still sinners at the core. Even if you gave us ideal circumstances and a million years, we could not move even an inch closer to God on our own. We were not created initially as sinners according to the Bible, but through the Fall of Man, we all fell into sin and we are in desperate need for God’s touch. That is why God had to send Jesus who stooped down to our level because we were unable to save ourselves or find our way to God on our own. The Bible describes us as a good thing gone bad. This captures the nobility of our design and how sin marred God’s majestic creation.
Is there any worldview or religion that passes these tests? I submit to you that there is only one, Christianity.