Recreator's Workshop
Deborah J.Burton
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I believe that the mixture of Christianity with a Western World View
has created incredible difficulties for the western church
to be an expression of God's Kingdom on earth.
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And he (Jesus) commanded us to preach to the people,
and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of the quick and dead.
To him all the prophets give witness, that through his name
whoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins. Acts 10:42-43
2009 Eaglebigpicture
Copyright waived.
Contact Deb to discuss, improve and add to the material. It should never have been a 'one woman' task!
INTRODUCTION:
My name is Deb Burton, from New Zealand. Back in 1991 I did a life-changing course called PERSPECTIVES ON THE WORLD CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT.
I was also attending a city-wide prayer meeting at the time. The course taught about worldviews - how different cultures see reality differently, but think it's the truth. I asked God "What is the Western World view?"
and three words came to mind with such force and impact that it was like great building piles being driven into the ground. These words tied so many of my thoughts together, it was like the corner pieces of a great jigsaw puzzle. The picture is actually so big that I feel I only have the framework.
I offer this book freely, and hope that others will see the shape, and add to the picture.
It is 2025, and I've been sharing bits on my Facebook page deborahthebee for a while - it has been great to have an outlet! Today had a good response, and is a good summary, so here it is!
"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. *Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven*." Matthew 5, verses 16 to 18.
You are the Message and the Messenger! Let the Light of God shine through!!
There are reasons this has become harder, that we Christians sometimes don't look so much different to the rest of the world! The West has had a huge shift in culture since the sixties. It was a Baptist magazine that described these - the 60's sexual revolution, the 70's 'me' generation (about 'finding yourself') and the 80's yuppies (young up and coming professionals) - as a 50's child, I was in the middle of the swinging sixties as a teen... It was also the establishment of TV which had so much influence on us in these areas.
We shifted from a barrel shaped economy of only a few rich or poor in those times - now we look like a mushroom cloud, with much instability between the two...
We are much more materialistic, wanting the best and plenty of it, prepared to go into debt. People's opinions mean more, and we expect a perfect performance of ourselves. Our reliance on God has lessened a lot, so we don't look so much like Him!
How do I say it? Church life has a lot of fighting and posturing over consumerist, perfomance related, and perfectionist behaviour, as we fight for our own kingdoms, power and glory!
People, God showed me these words in 1991 - we need to shift back to Jesus, to relying on the Holy Spirit to fulfil God's Word in us! We need to see where our self-reliance and self-focused goals have got us! We need God to be bigger in our lives, to live hand in hand with Him!! We need to want to come back to living for His kingdom, His power and His glory!! And we need to come back to Love, for God is love, and love is all we need for us and for others!
INDEX:
It does not need to be a "read through" book - look at whatever you are interested in, however the main two pages are Figure 1. and The Gospel Applied... Nor will it be completed until the end of time, as readers and world events continually add to the picture
EXPLANATION - WHAT IS A WORLD VIEW?
How do you see the world?
- I'm not meaning 'with your eyes', I mean, what is real to you about the world you live in?
This is your "worldview".
DIAGRAM OF CULTURAL ASPECTS *
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It is how you see the world - what you think is real, the way things are... But you may be surprised to know that all over the world, other nations and people have vastly different ideas of what is fundamentally real! This article is an attempt to open this subject up, and to say how deeply this matters to us.
A world view begins to form in our earliest moments. A Hindu will learn the world is full of spirit beings needing appeasement for temporal and eternal gain. Westerners (with roots based in the Greco-Roman cultures), mostly learn the need to compete; and that the fortune, power and glory we value is up to us to gain. Daily life is ordered around these things, spiritual beliefs rarely affect us. We assume we can create our own destiny, and are expected to be good, assuming that problems are a result of wrong influences, rather than an inbuilt malaise. It is a non-spiritual reality, and largely self-focused. I firmly believe it allows evil influences to control our lives, illustrated by the characteristics shown in Figure 1. in the next chapter.
And I believe that Western Christians, and those that seek to imitate Western ways, will recognize some of these behaviors in ourselves - because we live by the same world view, which does not allow a thorough application of the full Gospel of Christ. This means we do not fully repent - or change how we think completely - to seeing things how God sees them.
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The key diagram - Figure 1. in the next chapter - is like the skeleton of the whole picture - a lot of ideas come together in it, which help to show that the church of the west, without realising, is in many ways working against itself!
The diagram shows two opposing forces, God and Satan, and the means used to achieve the goal of kingdom, power and glory. That the Creator of the universe is the obvious owner is not in doubt. What is in doubt, is which side the church is on - or perhaps I should say "churchianity", rather than Christianity... And like the Pharisees of old who had similar problems, they will also receive the condemnation.
I pray that all who truly desire to follow Jesus Christ, Lord and Messiah, will not make this same mistake!
And in saying this, I'm remembering the preacher always preaches to him/herself first, I need this material as much as anyone...
Deb Burton
Jesus is Lord!
Maranatha!
*Concept ideas and diagram adapted from Understanding Culture by Lloyd E. Kwast "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement" Pg 363 c. Published 1981 The Institute of International Studies
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