What is Australia? What is our national identity? What does it mean to be human? It is very difficult to define something that is so broad, diverse, complex, far reaching and experienced by so many different people in different places from different backgrounds taught by different people or from different perspectives. It is very important to note though, that this does not mean that it cannot be defined; it just means that you cannot be narrow minded when you accept or reject what other people will include or exclude with their definitions. Definitions are hard things to come by, but very important things to have – they describe what and how we believe, grow and live.
Many people struggle with this concept for Christianity, and it seems like there are as many answers as there are people. Many will even say it is a figment of many people’s imaginations, though we are not going there this time – we will get into that debate later. Everyone has their own definition, ranging from “It’s a religion” to “It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship” to “it’s a system of beliefs” and everything in between. It’s actually the case that all three of these are true, but each one alone in insufficient to explain Christianity. Each one addresses only a portion of Christianity, not the whole.
I want to propose another idea, an extension of what we have been suggesting here, one that is much more expansive and inclusive: Christianity is a picture of reality. It’s a way we can view what the world is and how it works. In other words, it’s a worldview (an intellectual word to impress your friends, no wait, your teachers, that essential means a way to view the workings of the world – not that hard right?). Essentially what this means is that everything we see, do, feel and think is impacted, explained and made sense by looking at it through Christian eyes. As we progress in this course we will begin to assemble a Christian picture of reality; piece-by-piece, like a puzzle. But in order to get the end picture right we need to work with the right pieces – it is no good trying to incorporate puzzle pieces from other “pictures of the world” to try and make your own view of the world. My son has a puzzle book, a simple, clear book whereby on each page is a new puzzle. This is a great idea in theory, however the problem arises when he picks the book up; often the puzzles all fall out, so in order for him to begin to complete each puzzle again, he first sifts down to try and sort out which pieces go with which puzzle, otherwise he is going to get a very confusing picture at the end, one that definitely won’t lead to satisfaction or completion! So, initially we, as people on a quest to get a complete picture of our reality, need to separate out from our puzzle the pieces that come from the pictures of other worldviews; you simply can’t assemble a puzzle if you are using pieces from multiple puzzles. It is often the truth however, that we try to incorporate a little bit from many different worldviews into ours to try and make sense of what we see. People will often say to me, “but this idea from Buddhism, Karma, makes real sense, so I think I might live by that too, or this quote from evolution works because the world is clearly millions of years old, so I will keep that too.” What they are doing is actively mixing puzzles. Now I am not saying we should not look at other ways and evidences, but to include them in your puzzle can get messy and confusing. We will get into how to sort out our puzzle pieces in more depth later, so don’t despair just yet. We not only need the right pieces, but we also need to fit them together properly and that will take time and failed attempts, but that’s the nature of a worldview and understanding life, love and Christianity!
Unfortunately, for many Christians their picture of reality looks a lot like what you get when you just empty the puzzle box onto the table – all the pieces jumbled together! They don’t have the picture at all – just a bunch of pieces, and not always the right pieces. Many Christians have pieces of other worldviews mixed in with their Christian one, and most don’t even know it. Nor do they know how to put the picture together. They get a few pieces assembled, maybe the whole border, but unless they get the whole picture they don’t see how the pieces not only fit each other but fit the real world, and they can’t use it very well. Our goal is to help you sort out the pieces and assemble them into the true picture of reality.
Every worldview, if it claims to be an accurate picture of reality must address four things – creation, fall, redemption and restoration. These are religious terms, but they describe certain events in reality. Firstly, how things began – creation. Secondly, how things went wrong – the fall. Thirdly, the solution – redemption. And finally, the way things work themselves out in the end – restoration. You can assess every worldview by asking how that picture of reality addresses each of these issues because every single worldview has to answer them. It is our firm opinion and belief, having been assembling our own puzzle now for many years, and by no means completing it yet, that it is only the Christian picture that matches reality perfectly!
So, we ask that you come on our first Translated For Youth journey through some essential elements that constitute Truth – the Christian worldview. Ask questions, challenge motives and begin to sort out your own puzzle so that you too, can begin to see that there is a perfect picture for us to see that will enable us to not only meet the Creator of the puzzle, but to live a life of meaning, value and success (but not as you think of it now...).
