Institution Contrasted to Worldview

• The issue of separation of church & state is a complex one.
• Distinguishing the Church institution from the Christian worldview helps clarify.
• First, we will examine church & state & then we will explore worldview & state.

• The mission of the Christian church focuses on the relationships & ministries of:

Christ:  worship, sacraments, prayer & teaching
Believers:  leadership & fellowship
The World:  evangelism
 

• Figure: "Gifts, Ministries & Effects."
• The state focuses on common defense, social order & economic systems.
• Church & state functions radically differ & should not be mixed as institutions.

• The Roman Empire first tolerated Christianity then institutionalized it.
• Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 & made it the state religion in 381.
• Church-state authority was added to Biblical revelation allowing corruption.
• Typical of a state, salvation by force was pursued in the late medieval crusades.
• Mixing Church & state confuses God's sovereignty & man's choice in salvation.
• Other corruption included selling indulgences to raise money.
• The "new wine skin" approach to ceremony, hierarchy & facility was abandoned.
• Figure: "New Wine Skins."
• Mixing these institutions did much harm to the Church & Western culture.
• The Renaissance & Reformation helped correct these abuses.
• Figure: "Historical Overview of Western Culture."

• The Christian worldview is readily distinguished from the Church institution.
• The worldview & principles undergirding the Church are more general in nature.
• Figure: "God & His Works, The Building Blocks of Life."
• Figure: "The Progression of Relationships."
• The Christian worldview has a much larger focus encompassing all of life.
• Its underlying principles are far more comprehensive than the Church's mission.

• Mixing worldview & state differs significantly from mixing Church & state.
• All worldviews, whether personal or political, rest on a set of assumptions.
• Every worldview contains assumptions about values, freewill, responsibility, etc.
• An aggregate of these assumptions form the basis of government systems.
• Both religious & non-religious worldviews affect the formation of governments.
• Judeo-Christian principles were foundational to the United States government.
• Atheistic Marxism undergirded the old Communist-block countries.

• Governments tolerate religious worldviews & practices to varying degrees.
• The United State's democratic republic upholds freedom of religion.
• The old Communist-block countries regulated religious practices significantly.
• Tolerant & open governments closely parallel God's post-fall world.
• While God did not desire a pluralism of beliefs, He allowed it in the garden.
• Figure: "Broken People in a Broken World."
• God now tolerates pluralism of religious & non-religious systems (Rom 9:14-24).
• Figure: "The Progressive Nature of Revelation."
• He also knows that few will follow the narrow path of Christianity (Mt 7:13-14).
• God judges, of course, when behavior becomes too extreme (Jude 1:9).
• In this respect, tolerant & open governments mimic God's world.

• Like God, the Christian should be tolerant of other worldviews (Rom 9:22).
• Like God, the Christian should even love those holding other worldviews.
• We are to love those unlike us (Lk 10:25-37) & even our enemies (Mt 5:43-48).
• We should value humans, regardless of worldview, as made in God's image.
• Figure: "Identity: Who Am I?
• The Christian should love others because Jesus died for them (Jn 3:16).