“Worldview” is definitely one of popular buzzwords today. It is not uncommon to hear worldview talk in the news, in the market place, and in classrooms. As I began working with my Clearwater board members and academic colleagues I sensed a strong desire to do something with a biblical worldview. The worldview desire found expression in meetings and action steps that yielded a plan to be intentional about worldview at Clearwater. The most rewording part of this conversation for me was watching how it tied our campus together. Faculty and staff across the organizational chart had some level of interest in shaping the worldview conversation. However, the most challenging thing for me in this conversation has been trying to articulate in everyday market place language our worldview niche. What are we doing? Why are we doing it? How is our passion similar to but different from other worldview projects and centers? One thing is certain, since we are not becoming a stronger Christian nation there is a more urgent need to speak about God’s true view of things. What follows is a brief summary of our venture into addressing worldview.
Addressing Worldview: Faith2Life Biblical Worldview Center
The young person entering college today is characterized by a unique set of values and a distinctive thought process. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism teaches that the God who created the world and who watches over it wants people to be good and nice just like the Bible and other religious documents teach. God is there, but not involved unless he is needed in times of difficulty. The be-good feel happy goal of life culminates in a heavenly existence.
Church or any form of organized religion has little or no place in the life of today’s young person. Basically, they do not see or understand how a community of believers can help them with their careers, family, or life in general.
These distinctive values and perceptions of God and biblical authority have infiltrated the fabric of society to such an extent that basic historic Christian assumptions are no longer accepted starting points in a conversation. The beliefs of other world religions and naturalism are much more prevalent and tolerated.
In light of this, Clearwater Christian College is launching the Faith2Life Biblical Worldview Center that is committed to integrating a robust, theologically sound biblical worldview into all our teaching and living. This worldview is summarized as a conceptual framework of reality grounded in God’s true view of things through which Christ-followers fulfill their calling in this world.
The Worldview Center of the College facilitates a thorough integration of a gospel driven worldview across the academic programs so each student can face the challenging philosophies prevalent in the market place. In addition, the Faith2Life Center allows the College to serve the church, advance great commission initiatives, and contribute to the community with its academic resources.