The Spider's Web

At the heart of all our thinking, of the way we view everything, is a set of core beliefs. Do you know what yours are? Some I have met can articulate their core beliefs well, others cannot. And just because you can articulate them well, doesn't mean that they are well thought out. More on that shortly.

We can think of all our beliefs like a giant spider web. The web a spider weaves is interesting and very durable. Portions of the web can be knocked down or even cut up with no significant effect to the web as a whole. That's the way it is with our worldview, with the way we view life and make decisions. Assume we believe in infant baptism, and someone comes along and tells us that the only valid form of baptism is baptism of believers and not baptism of infants, and they are able to prove it. This will presumably change your belief. But since its not one of your core or fundamental beliefs, life will go on without much significant change.

But what if someone came along and told you that Jesus sinned while he was on this earth, and was able to prove it. If this were the case, then Jesus' death for you wouldn't pay the price for your sins and you'd still be dead in your sins and transgressions. This would strike at your most core beliefs and begin to tear down your whole worldview. Nothing would be the same again.

Just like the spider web has just a few key strands that hold it up and has many other strands that aren't vital, so our worldview has a few core fundamental strands that we are unwilling to let go lest it require us to change our whole lives. That's why it often takes a significant event in persons life before they "see the light" and realize their need for salvation. God calls them into his Kingdom and often uses a significant event to do so.

What is one of the most core strands of your worldview? Whether Christian or not, it seems autonomy is at the center, or one of the most core of all strands. Think about it, if God is sovereign over all and we are accountable to him, then we are not autonomous. The unbeliever holds to the belief, in one fashion or another that they are autonomous, that they are the decider of right and wrong, the determiner of truth.

For the believer, though, God is the determiner of truth, the standard of right and wrong and we submit to him, understanding that we are not autonomous. Remember the First Commandment? "You shall have no other gods before Me." We are to put nothing before God. If we become the decider of right and wrong, then we are the judge, we are autonomous, and what God says becomes irrelevant ... if we so choose.

I'm afraid that the sad truth is that most Christians have found a place for God in their lives but have hung on to their need for autonomy in one or more areas. In so doing they have denied God. Let us examine our hearts. Have we really yielded to the Lord every area of our life? Have we submitted every area of life and all our choices to his written word? Paul told us in Philippians that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. It is of the utmost importance. Won't you look into your heart today and see which area's you are holding on to. Let them go. Satan used the desire for autonomy to lure Eve into sin that fateful day. Let's not make the same mistake today.