By Staff
JEFFERSON CITY – Christianity must cease being the realm of “moralistic, therapeutic deists” and engage the world with the Truth, Don Hinkle, editor of The Pathway, told attendees of the Missouri Baptist Convention MBC) Worldview Conference Sept. 27 here.
“The disconnected experience of the two most recent generations of American adults has been thoroughly documented,” he said. “It is the rampant assumption of Generation X-ers and Millennials that life is a series of disconnected mini-episodes lacking any overarching direction or storyline.”
Hinkle said the Bible offers that “overarching direction, and without it an accurate worldview is impossible.
“The Bible is the meta-narrative of all meta-narratives,” he said. “Unfortunately, in too many cases our churches have failed to provide solid Bible teaching. I also fear that we too often pit evangelism against discipleship by over-emphasizing one over the other to the detriment of our ministries and culture at large. To be sure, many have learned Bible verses and stories. Sadly, some have gotten just enough to ‘apply to their lives’ only to have their souls yearn for something more.”
The Christian is uniquely positioned to have a “big enough” worldview that can confront other worldviews, Hinkle said.
“There is no place in the Christian worldview to hide from the world,” he said. “Rather, true Christianity takes us directly into the world. God created us in relationship with Him, ourselves, others and the world. Each of these relationships has been fractured by our sin. And each of these relationships is restored in Christ. The scope of our redeemed involvement in the world must be no less than the scope of our created involvement in the world.
“This is why Christians should apply the Scriptures to every facet of their lives and indeed all of reality – whether it be law, science, the arts, history, philosophy, sociology, ethics, theology, economics and yes, even politics,” he said.
“We should engage in public policy matters, not because we want a theocracy – that is not the Baptist way – but because it is a matter of obedience to God. He said be ‘salt and light,’ so let’s be just that Nov. 2.”