![\"Fox.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/imgs\/Fox.jpg\")
<\/span>Brand new book, and one you will want to read. Steve Wilkens and Mark Sanford examine eight cultural stories that shape our lives and they are eight stories that we don\u2019t want shaping our lives, and they are eight little foxes that can spoil the church\u2019s vines. The book is called: Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0830838546\")
\n<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
The eight scripts at work in our culture, and in our church to one degree or another, are:<\/div>\n
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Individualism, consumerism, nationalism, moral relativism, scientific naturalism, new age, postmodern tribalism, and salvation by therapy.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What is the clearest sign of individualism in your world? your church? your ministry?<\/b><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Join us in this conversation; better yet, get this book and read it with others and get more and more Christians aware of what is going on all around us. This is a worldview book, but not an apologetics one; nor do the authors think most folks are battling atheistic materialism or existentialism so much as \u2026 well, cultural worldviews that we inhabit. They call these \u201clived worldviews.\u201d They are not supported by intellectuals so much as by practitioners.<\/div>\n
\nThis shift in the way \u201cworldview\u201d is used is about heart, about a story we inhabit, and about how we act \u2014 identity formation is inherent to this. What matters for this blog is the cultural worldviews themselves, and we\u2019ll leave it to the philosophers to discuss the ins and outs of \u201cworldview\u201d language.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
Big question for today: Who gets to be God? Who tells you what to do? Who constrains you? What constrains you?<\/b>\n
<\/div>\n
Individualism<\/b>: \u201cI am the center of the universe.\u201d That is, \u201cthe belief that the individual is the primary reality and that our understanding of the universe and lifestyle should be centered in oneself\u201d (27). There is the utilitarian individualist who sees his own pursuits for happiness and success as contributing to society and there is the expressive individualist who pursues what he or she wants against the constraints of convention. The first conforms; the second one doesn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
We see this in a variety of ways, including: \u201cMy faith is between me and God.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t need church to believe in God or be a Christian.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Self-centered interests are more pervasive than we care to admit. The authors think individualism today, which is more prominent than in the past, is a defensive action against large corporations. It is a way of guarding ourselves from economic and ecclesial powers, and a way of rebelling against mass culture.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What are the characteristics of individualism?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
1. My end justifies my means.<\/div>\n
2. I am my own moral conscience.<\/div>\n
3. Freedom and fulfillment are rights for me.<\/div>\n
4. Performance defines my value.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But, the authors know the values of individualism: it acknowledges our freedom and responsibility, affirms our need to make a difference, and recognizes the strength of what we choose to believe.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But\u2026. there are potential problems: it is a flawed view of reality (self-sufficiency is not true; control is not true \u2014 we need others and God); it has a flawed view of human nature (we need to love); and it has a flawed view of freedom and achievement (too much of the performance doctrine is tied to what others think).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"8 Little Foxes that Spoil the Church's Vines 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Brand new book, and one you will want to read. 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Brand new book, and one you will want to read. Steve Wilkens and Mark Sanford examine eight cultural stories that shape our lives and they are eight stories that we don\u2019t want shaping our lives, and they are eight little foxes that can spoil the church\u2019s vines. The book is called: Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture"],"yoast_head":"\n