So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please Him. . . He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
— 2 Corinthians 5:9,15
Charles Colson and Dr. R.C. Sproul are two of my favorite writers. Both have gone on to be with the Lord but their writings linger with me, especially when they speak of things that help us live a righteous life in Christ. They both majored in the subject of “worldview,” by asking tough questions as to what kind of view of our world do we hold? When it comes to viewing our world, what do we see?
Dr. Sproul taught that there are only two views: man-centered or God-centered. Our free will allows us to act like the world centers around us—our desires, our dreams, our goals, our well-being, our future, our family, our job, our health, our education, our finances—or we can believe and act like everything we do in life centers around God and what He desires.
Charles Colson amplified this same theme, especially in his signature work, How Now Shall We Live? His thesis was that we also have two choices which he called: secular or biblical. By secular, he meant living your life without the benefit of any spiritual foundation. Our free will allows us to conduct our lives according to God’s word or without God and His commands. He gives us that choice.
Jesus said it like this: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of (Luke 6:45).
Colson maintained that our worldview will lead either to the ills of society which he calls crime (sin), or the lack thereof, which he calls righteousness. Moral failures are not the result of social and economic forces of people responding to their environmental conditions (income, education, upbringing), as some suggest but predominately by decisions we make in our hearts. He writes:
“Crime is a matter of people choosing to do wrong. It is the individual’s moral failure . . . The moral dimension transcends social forces. People are genuine moral agents, and they make real moral choices. Sin begins in the heart, where it battles for control of our very being. And when the darker side of our nature prevails, we do wrong things. This is the source of crime.”*
Because sin is a matter of the heart, only a change of heart can make the difference. And there is only One who can change the human heart. His Name is Jesus (John 3:3, 7-8). Maranatha!
*Colson, How Now Shall We Live, pp. 28-29
To help us walk closer with God and to know Him better
