The Alex McFarland Show-77-A Biblical vs. Secular Worldview

The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events, analyzed through the lens of Scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show.

The greatest threat is not the world, the flesh, and the devil, but the greatest threat to the church is discouragement. Hi, Alex McFarland here. That's a quote from Elmer Towns, Dr. E.L. Towns. He's 91 now.

He's a friend he's been on. Some of you may remember the name of Dr. E.L. Towns. He, along with Dr. Jerry Falwell, was the co-founder of Liberty University. Great scholar, amazing man of God, and it was my privilege to write two books with Dr.

Towns. But I think it's important to talk about discouragement, and I'm going to talk to you about worldview, some updated facts about worldview, and specifically biblical worldview, and I'm going to read a little bit from Proverbs 29. So if you've got a Bible, turn in the Word of God to Proverbs 29, but I want to welcome you to the program. And think about that, because if you look at the news, discouragement. I mean, there's so much going on, it just seems kind of unrelenting.

I've shared the story about I was on the road when the Columbine shootings happened very tragically over 20 years ago, and it was in the news for weeks and weeks and weeks, and rightly so, a very tragic shooting in 1999. But nowadays, it seems like things come at us so quickly, and there's just so much, and we can barely process one tragedy or one scandal or one problem, and moments later, the news feed will bring us some other cataclysmic news, and it's almost like we're kind of like numb. And if you're a Christian, and you love God and country as we do on this radio network, in our ministry, in all that we do, we care about people getting saved, we care about young people building their life on Christ, we care about America being a free, godly, constitutional republic, not a socialist, Marxist gulag. There's just this threshold that it seems like we're almost all overwhelmed. And so I agree with Dr. Towns that we do need to step back, maybe take a deep breath, and get a little bit of perspective, and not succumb to discouragement. Folks, I want you to be encouraged.

Almighty God is in control. You know, I do a lot of flying with my travel schedule, and it seems like for the last 25 years, I've seen the world from three vantage points, from church pulpits, from hotel rooms, and out airplane windows. And you know, very often I'll be on some show or some interview, and you know, maybe some leftist will be talking about the climate, and oh my goodness, human activity is going to destroy the climate and the ecosystem, it's oh so fragile, and we're about to die because of human activity. But then I'll be up on some airplane flying across America or across the ocean, you know, and I look out the window, and as far as the eye can see, there's ocean. Or as far as you can see to the end of the horizon, there's mountains and forests. And I'm reminded, and it really is calming, look, it's a big world.

I was coming into New York City the other day, and you know, I'm up in the sky above the clouds, and we began our descent, and you know, the pilot says, tray tables up, you know, seat belts on, put away your laptop and electronic devices because we're preparing to land. And there's the vast, the Big Apple, New York City, and from the air it looks so tiny. And all around are trees, and you know, New York State has a lot of forest, believe it or not. New Jersey, they call it the Garden State, and if you've only been to Newark, New Jersey, and you think, how is this the Garden State? But believe it or not, there's a lot of rural area in the state of New Jersey. There's a lot of rural area in upstate New York. And when you are able to step back, and maybe it's from 30,000 feet in the air, New York looks small.

The big cities, Chicago, even Atlanta, Atlanta's a huge city, but when you've stepped back and gotten perspective from about 35,000 feet, it looks kind of small. Now what am I saying here? Folks, Almighty God is in control. This vast universe, this noisy world is actually just a grain of sand in the palm of God's hand.

So I want to read some scripture, and I want to talk about worldview. Now the realistic position, we're in a battle of viewpoints. We're in a battle of ideas.

R.C. Sproul so many years ago said, ideas have consequences, and they do. And truth matters. What people claim about reality matters. But folks, don't be discouraged.

Don't be discouraged. God is in control, and God is able, and God still has the power, and God still answers the prayers of his people. And we the church, we might seem like a fledgling little band of feeble people without a lot of cultural cachet, marginalized, really don't have the megaphone of media like we once did.

But let's just be honest, in America, in Europe, in the Western world, Christendom doesn't have home court advantage to the degree that we once did. But I want to assure you, Almighty God is still in control. The Word of God is still eternally true.

Jesus Christ is still risen, the one and only Savior. Prayer. Let me tell you, more than Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg and the leaders of the world, Jeff Bezos, and the big power brokers of this world on Conference Call with each other, I want to tell you what eclipses all of that is a feeble Christian calling out, Lord, hear my prayer. Now, in Proverbs 28-28, I'm going to begin with Proverbs 28, and then read some verses in Proverbs 29, and I want to talk about world view. It says in Proverbs 28-28, when the wicked rise, men hide themselves. But when they perish, the righteous increase. And it goes on, and in Proverbs 29 verse 2, it says, when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when wicked bear rule, the people mourn. Verse 4 of Proverbs 29, the king by judgment establishes the land, but he that receives gifts overthrows it.

In other words, takes bribes. Let me read on just a little bit. Verse 8 of Proverbs 29, scornful men bring a city into a snare, but wise men turn away wrath. Verse 10, the bloodthirsty hate the upright, but the just seek his soul.

I'll explain that in a little bit. Verse 12 of Proverbs 29, if a ruler listens to lies, all his servants are wicked. Verse 15, the rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame. When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases, but the righteous shall see their fall. Verse 18 of Proverbs 29, now listen to this, and we'll unpack this verse just a bit, but it says, where there is no vision, the people perish.

But he that keeps the law happy as he. You know, one more thing, and then we've got to take a brief break. Proverbs 30, verse 5, we're in a battle of world view, and you might think that it's hopeless. You might think that we're too far gone, and we know Christ is coming back. The Bible says evil men will wax worse and worse, but we are to stand for good. Jude, verse 3, says we are to contend for truth, because Proverbs 30, verse 5, every word of God is pure.

God, he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Now we're going to come back. We've got a brief break. Alex McFarland here. We're talking about the importance of world view and building ours, as Proverbs 30, verse 5 says, on that pure, everlasting, infallible word of God.

We're back after this. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Christian author and speaker Alex McFarland is an advocate for Christian apologetics. Teaching in more than 2,200 churches around the world, schools, and college campuses, Alex is driven by a desire to help people grow in relationship with God. He arms his audiences with the tools they need to defend their faith, while also empowering the unchurched to find out the truth for themselves. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex is a sound voice who speaks timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. With 18 published books to his name, it's no surprise that CNN, Fox, the Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets have described Alex as a religion and culture expert. To learn more about Alex and to book him as a speaker at your next event, visit alexmcfarland.com or you can contact us directly by emailing booking at alexmcfarland.com.

He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here. We're talking about worldview. And you've probably been hearing people talk about worldview for a while now.

A decade ago, it was kind of a rare topic, a little bit. Dr. Dobson or Ravi Zacharias would talk about worldview, although we've been really discussing this for years and years and years. And the definition that I've given so many times is from the book by James Sire, The Universe Next Door. Now there are a lot of good books on worldview. Summit Ministries has produced Understanding the Times by David Noble.

Great book. Charist Bible College. We've done curriculum on worldview. But it's basically, what do you believe about some of the key questions of life? Your worldview, what do you believe about God?

Who is God? What is truth? Is there ultimate, objective truth? Is truth something you discover, or is truth something you define for yourself?

Okay, what about truth? What about creation? What about our origin? Did the world come about by evolutionary, undirected accident? Or is this world, and all individuals, are we the creation of God? What about humanity? What does it mean to be a human being? Is the nature of humanity fixed? You know, body, soul, spirit, as the Bible says? Or is a human something fluid, and we can change our gender? You know, this is a huge worldview issue, and this is where the battle rages right now.

Exactly what is a human being, male and female? What about morality? Worldview speaks to the issue, is there right and wrong?

You know, do I make it up? Is right or wrong whatever I might arbitrarily say it is? Or is there an objective moral code that deep down we all are accountable to? Now worldview speaks to something vitally important, the purpose of life. You know, what is my purpose in life? Is it just to, you know, exist? Just indulge myself?

You know, party, survive, and then die one day? Or is there a transcendent universal purpose, maybe perhaps to know God, my Creator? What about history? Is history just stuff that happened? Or is history something that is going somewhere? See, Eastern thought says history is cyclical.

There's this forever, you know, repeating dance of yin and yang. But really, the Christian worldview says history is linear. History is going somewhere. There was a beginning. There are some plot twists in the middle. But ultimately, according to a biblical worldview, history will coalesce in the return of the King.

Christ is coming back. Now part of history has been sin, evil, suffering. And this is under the big heading of the problem of pain.

Okay, people ask this question, and I suppose this is probably the most often repeated question. If God is good, and if God loves me, why do bad things happen? Why do people get cancer and disease and die? Why is there violence and murder and terrorism? Why are there, not only, listen to this, moral evils like violence and treachery and killing and things like that, but why are there natural evils? See, under the problem of suffering, I mean, there is man versus man. But then there is also man versus the elements.

There are tornadoes and tidal waves and earthquakes and storms and floods. So why is there pain and suffering in the world? Every worldview has an explanation about that. Maybe, you know, an evolutionary, secular, godless worldview says, hey, you know, suck it up, buttercup. It's just stuff that happens. That's what Richard Dawkins, the atheist from Britain, he said in this world there is, quote, blind, pitiless indifference.

That's not very encouraging, is it? But in a biblical worldview, it says God exists and sin has separated us from God. But God so loved the world that he sent his only son that we can be saved. Friend, if you've ever looked at the world, a world of pain and suffering, and you said, you know, it ought not be this way. Well, the good news is God agrees. God says, that's right, it ought not be this way. So behold, I make all things new.

We'll come back to that in just a moment. But let's revisit these scriptures and let's talk a little bit about worldview. The Bible says in Proverbs 28 when the wicked rise, men hide themselves. When people are in positions of leadership that are not moral and they do not have an objective moral compass and they're not governing or leading or speaking with truth and humility before God as their driving force, people do grieve and mourn. Now verse 2 of Proverbs 29, when the righteous are in authority, people rejoice.

They do. Now one of the beautiful things about righteous godly leadership, one of the beautiful things about a biblical worldview is people benefit from a biblical worldview even if they themselves don't necessarily hold a biblical worldview. Freedom, stability, prosperity. You know what? Christian America built a culture that people benefited from even though they weren't necessarily Christians.

Some were, some weren't. But let me say this. If you're listening to the program, and I know we have a lot of listeners that aren't Christians, we hear from them, and I enjoy that.

I really honestly do. We get correspondence from a lot of believers, but we get correspondence from atheists. We get correspondence from transgender people.

We get correspondence from people that are pretty militantly secular. But let me say this. Even if you're not a believer, hey, low interest rates benefit all of us. Affordable food prices, everybody likes that.

Crime being down. A nation that is stable. A nation that has a growing economy and good education and solid families.

A nation where children live under the same roof with their mom and dad. Folks, all of these things are an outflow of a biblical worldview. And even if you're not a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, though I wish all of you were, look, when the righteous lead and the favor of God is on the land, that benefits everybody.

Proverbs 29 says, though when the wicked rule, people mourn. You know, as I'm recording this show, there's a lot in the news about John Fetterman from Pennsylvania, the elected official, who a suit and tie in the Senate is not okay with him. He wants to wear his gym shorts and hoodie. So Chuck Schumer changed the rule and said, okay, he can do that. And you know what? A New York Times reporter just about four or five days ago put on John Fetterman attire and out of ten New York restaurants, like seven or eight, said, hey, you can't come in here dressed like that. If you're going to eat in our restaurant, you've got to dress like somebody.

Now Proverbs 29 says, scornful men bring a city into sneer. Here's the thing. I mean, to scorn the decorum and the august body that is American government. And I know our government has problems right now.

But you know what? I would think just out of respect, even if you have ridicule and contempt for the rule of law in the US Constitution. You know, Fetterman, if he had any maturity or any moral sensibilities or sense, would say, you know what? It's not about me. Bathing, hygiene, and proper attire is not my normal MO. But maybe, just maybe, out of respect for this America that allows a knucklehead like me to get elected to office, maybe I'll shave, bathe, and put on clean clothes.

But no. Rather than uphold the dress code that everybody had to adhere to. See, this is liberalism, selective tolerance, and for others, intolerance. But here's the thing. Scornful men, Proverbs 29, 8, scornful people, disrespectful people, people who don't recognize truth and don't believe that they're accountable to live by the same standards everybody else has to live by.

That brings a nation down. We've got to take a break. We're going to come back and talk about the battle of worldviews, but how we joyfully, confidently can stand strong for truth at a time when truth is so desperately needed. Alex McFarland here saying stay tuned. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert.

Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. In recent years, our nation has suffered greatly and we seem to be on a rapid moral decline. We've rejected God, morality, and we've almost completely lost our sense of patriotism. It's no wonder that many are asking the question, is this the end of America? Hi, Alex McFarland here and I want to make you aware of my book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late.

You know, our nation has seen politicians that are corrupted by greed and they've got a vested interest in power and many of our elected officials seem to care little about the country that they've been appointed to serve. Read my book, The Assault on America. We can stand up for our great nation and defend America before it's too late.

It's available everywhere. You can learn more on my own website, which is alexmcfarland.com. Read the book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here. So glad that you're listening and we're talking about worldview. We're going to resume some scriptures from Proverbs 29, but I do want to refer everybody, if you would, to my website, which is alexmcfarland.com. And if you would look at the calendar as this show is airing across the country, I'm headed to Dillon, South Carolina, First Baptist Church of Dillon, Pastor Jamie Arnett. I'm looking forward to being there to speak October 1 through 4. And of course, I'm on AFR in the afternoon every day, 2 to 3 central, 3 to 4 Eastern time, and then exploring the Word 4 to 5 Eastern. And you can listen to all the programming that we produce on afr.net, as in americanfamilyradio.net. Then a lot of dates, usually Tuesday nights I'm on the Truth and Liberty television program.

That website is truthandliberty.net. Oh my goodness, we have guests on like George Barna and Ken Ham and great guests about culture and truth. I'm going to be in Greensboro, North Carolina. I'm going to be in Lincolnton. I'm going to be in Woodland Park, Colorado. I'm going to be in Richmond, Virginia.

A lot of speaking engagements all around the country. So keep us in prayer. And folks, be encouraged. Everywhere I go, young people are coming to Christ. We did seven youth camps this past summer, and just a few days ago, I was at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Thomas Road Baptist Church, Liberty Christian Academy, hundreds of kids eagerly, I mean enthusiastically, asking questions. And I want to give you a little stat here, folks, about the importance of worldview. Some of the most recent research from the summer of 23, if a young person has a biblical worldview. Now, remember I said, biblical worldview, a scripturally informed position about truth, morals, priorities, and your personal relationship with God. Okay, truth, what is truth? Well, truth is that which corresponds to reality. In other words, truth, true truth, not anybody's opinion, but truth is the way things really are. Morals, right and wrong.

Do I make it up as I go? No. The moral code, the law of God, written on every heart, that's conscience. Everybody knows right from wrong. Now, we don't always do what's right, but deep down, we know what's right. And I know from probably hundreds, maybe thousands of conversations at university campuses, people talk about homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, right versus wrong.

And I'm like, I'll ask kids, I'll say, but what about you? Really, honestly, do you personally think a child should be killed before it has the chance to be born? And I've had hundreds of young people say, well, no, but I support a woman's right to choose, they'll say. But me personally, I'm not for abortion. See, here's the thing. We speak in generalities. We theorize about broad, amorphous, hypothetical situations, but people deep down, I've had atheists say this, people know right from wrong.

They very often lack the courage to take a stand and say, no, this is right, that is wrong. But let me tell you about some of the most recent statistics. When a young person graduates high school with a biblical worldview and enters young adulthood with a biblical worldview, listen to this, they are 11 times less likely to engage in adultery if they do marry. And by the way, marriage is beginning to come back, the idea of getting married. Even a year ago, the majority of young people were saying they weren't necessarily thinking about marriage or building a family, but that seems to be changing. As of fall of 23, now over 50% are at least open to the idea of marriage and family.

This is good. But listen, when a young person has a biblical worldview, they are 11 times less likely to be open to the idea of adultery. They're 15 times less likely to ever act on homosexual inclinations or even have same-sex attraction. If a young person has a biblical worldview, they are 18 times less likely than their peers to ever get drunk. They are 30 times less likely to engage in cohabitation before marriage.

Isn't that amazing? When so many people engage in sexual activity before marriage or even moving in together, if a young person has a biblical worldview, they're 30 times less likely to engage in cohabitation and 100 times less likely to ever have an abortion. So a biblical worldview matters. Now listen very carefully folks, because we have to be in this for the long haul. We've got to be committed to truth over the long pull. We've talked endlessly about how the secularists and the Marxists, 75 years ago, they believed that they could overtake the American classroom, the American newsroom, the American boardroom, and even the American pulpit.

Those four big Rubicons, that they would get into education, they would get into business, they would get into journalism, and they would get into politics. And the Marxist-Socialist, look from President Biden, who is a Marxist, AOC, they've done it. And the teachers union, the Department of Education, overwhelmingly secular. And most old school Christian denominations have succumbed, at least to some degree, to wokeness. And to a large degree, with the sexual revolution of the 60s, the feminist movement of the 70s, and just the redefinition of marriage and family and the loose morals that have plagued our nation for so long, they have undermined the home and the church. But folks, we've got to be in this for the long pull.

We really have to. And yet, 90% of families that are professed Christian still send their kids to public school. Look, it's no wonder that three-fourths of young people that make a decision for Christ, the very same kids that are in your youth group, and maybe even go on the mission trips, and they verbally make a profession of faith.

But three-fourths, by the time they go to college or enter into young adulthood, the post-high school years, three out of four will walk away from the church for at least a decade. Now, it's no surprise that after K-12 of secular indoctrination, that this happens. Adolf Hitler, folks, Adolf Hitler said, give me the schools and you'll give me the world.

Isn't that amazing? And yet President Biden wants children in public education by age three. And we all know, I mean we've been seeing the horror stories in the news, graphic sexual content in schools even as early as kindergarten. So, what we've got to do is be in this for the long haul. Now, Proverbs 29, 18 says, where there is no vision, the people perish. The word vision there is really the word revelation, as in the written revelation of God. We must get back to the authority of Scripture. In recent weeks, I've been talking about the three and four crises of our times.

A crisis of truth, a crisis of identity, a crisis of authority. Where there is no revelation, we are in danger of perishing. So we must get back to the written revelation of God, because as Proverbs 30 verse 5 says, every word of God is pure. God is a shield to them that put their trust in Him. The pure word of God, folks, we must rediscover it, we must stand upon it, build our viewpoints upon it, and live for it.

We're in a battle of world views, so whose side are you on? Be informed, be confident, be prayerful, be bold. The fear of man brings a snare, but if you trust in the Lord, you will be safe.

That's Proverbs 29, 25. In the meantime, may God bless you, stand strong for truth, because God's truth is forever. Alex McFarland Ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you. For over 20 years, this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at alexmcfarland.com. You may also reach us at Alex McFarland, P.O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404, or by calling 1-877-YES-GOD and the number 1.

That's 1-877-YES-GOD-1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarland Show.

Do you have a desire to deepen your faith, better understand Christian apologetics, or to get a biblical perspective on current events? Well, I've tried to make it simple for you to do just that. On my website, alexmcfarland.com, there's a new section called Ask Alex Online. It's simple, it's clean, and you can read my answers to common questions about God, faith, and the Bible. So visit the website alexmcfarland.com and look for the section that says Ask Alex Online.