Forming a Christian Heart: The Dream

One of the most popular worldview storylines is the story of the Dream (i.e., the American dream, the European dream, the Canadian dream). These dreams tell of a place where you can start with nothing, and, by your own hard work and determination, rise out of poverty and obscurity to become a successful person. Or perhaps a story of individuals finding security not through connectivity, kindness, sustainable development, and respect for human rights.

Our major institutions—education, business, even family—distribute this story to us in various forms. The media (esp. advertising) take this story and then reinforce it with alarming effectiveness to every component of our lives.

Jon Tyson (2011) in his article “Breaking the Mold” says the result of buying into this worldview holds “massive sway over the actual practices of our lives. Afraid of being left behind or missing out, we shop, browse, sit, watch, work, and spend, all in pursuit of this dream story. These practices set the pace for what we actually value, and these values often determine the major choices and habits that define our lifestyle. Here lies the tension we all feel: Our theology is defined by Jesus, but our lives are defined by some other lord.”

Reflect on this image as you read this quote from Tyson’s article:

Imagine yourself in first-century Rome, walking to attend one of the local house-church gatherings. You walk past the Palatine Hill, where the elites of Rome watch over the world's most powerful city and where Christian martyrs had been set on fire in order to light up Nero's drunken parties. You walk past the local theater, and hear the crowds roar at the retelling of the stories of Rome's history. You pass a group of Roman soldiers, taking a break from enforcing peace in the world—the kind of peace that had crucified a Jewish rabbi named Jesus about 25 years earlier. You continue on past the Circus Maximus, a giant chariot-racing stadium and gladiatorial complex, and you realize other believers had been martyred there for disloyalty to the empire.

You walk past dozens of temples to Roman gods, houses of prostitution, images of the emperor on buildings, temples, coins, and benches, and then enter a house where believers are meeting to worship Jesus as Lord and seek first his kingdom. There one of the elders announces that Paul has written a letter to your church. As you listen to teachings about…Then he reads: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Rom. 12:2, NIV)

You, a first-century Christian, would not have thought of one immediate social or political issue when hearing these words. Instead, you would have been overwhelmed with the reality that everything in your life—the story, institutions, practices, values, entertainment, and lifestyle of the empire—was working in unity to conform you into a good Roman citizen.

It was not one thing in particular, but everything in general, that was pressing you into its mold. The goal of a good Roman citizen was to embody Rome's values, to be an icon (a small image) of the empire as a whole.

Now reflect on this image as you read this:

Look around your lives today. You drive past hundreds of billboards everyday, all kinds of stores and services that want to convince you to spend your money with them so you can have possessions and symbols of success designed to produce envy in others.

You log on to your computer and can socialize with friends anywhere; some take on a second identity and form dangerous relationships that can get them into deep trouble.

You turn on the TV and can easily find images of violence you would never want to invade your real life – yet it’s entertainment to most of us.

Then you turn to read Romans 12:2 in your Bible: “Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (The Message)

Now you too realize that everything in your life—the story, institutions, advertisements, practices, values, entertainment, and lifestyle of the culture—is all working in unity to conform you into an icon of a good secular citizen.

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Encouraging people to think Christianly about worldviews requires teaching approaches that raise awareness of an array of influences and processes by which people determines the pursuits of their lives. A worldview emerges from both the activities individuals engage in and the beliefs they maintain.

Many people in our congregations  interact daily with institutions, businesses, and schools that promote worldliness for our time. Any serious discipling work here has to take into account not just the sinful nature and tendencies of the flesh, but the realities of the world that powerfully and discreetly pull us into its story and mode.

How do these everyday worldviews play out in real life? Consider that if my identity – my heart – is invested in financial security rather than relationships then I may not think twice about long-distance relocating to pursue that dream opportunity with the big salary, even if it means leaving long-term relationships. Or, if my heart is invested in drawing my worth from what I own, then I will be much more vulnerable to using credit (money I don’t have) and go into debt to gain the possessions I don’t need to impress people I don’t even like.

Our worldviews form in us like a story we buy in to. They are built on our desires (sinful or pure), they play off of our fears and drive us toward the things that make us feel validated. Because of this, we are attached to them, we feel deeply about them, and in some cases, we are neither fully aware of them nor able to explain them.

These series of posts have not been about forming an infallible way of thinking because forming the heart is about more than ideas. It takes into account the things we believe about what is real vs. what is not, how we respond to injustice, human need or evil, how we come to value work or play, our attitudes toward people who mistreat us, the relationships we choose to enter into, how we understand our identity, and what we do with our money.

The point of all this is not to develop an abundant intellect but to live an abundant life (cf. John 10:10). Let me close with this prayer from Paul:

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14–19, TNIV)

References

Tyson, J. (2011). “Breaking the Mold”, Leadership Journal, June 13, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2011/spring/breakingmould.html