The Reality of the Spiritual Realm

Worldviews and Spiritual Warfare: How you view the world in which we live has a great impact on your understanding and response to the war in the spiritual realm.

1. What is a "worldview" and how does it impact our lives?

God created human beings to experience life -- with mind, emotion, will, body, and spirit (soul or spirit or inner being depending on your interpretation of New Testament references to soul and spirit). Our "worldview" is partly our assessment of reality through our five senses - sight, smell, taste, hear, and feel. Through our inner being, we digest and analyze the sensory facts. Then, we react to the world around us. Experiences become further facts that shape our understanding and opinion of the world. Our worldview also includes our reaction to spiritual influences. God gives the light of creation, conscience, and Christ to every human being. How we respond to the light given by God determines the non-sensory part of our world view. The worldview then becomes the basis or standard against which we analyze and react to all sensory and spiritual facts. What we believe largely drives our behavior in light of the facts we receive. Emotions and physical conditions can certainly play a part in our behavior. But, in the long run, beliefs win out. So what we believe about the world around us and what lies beyond the five senses plays a critical role in how we live.

For instance, this present course deals with spiritual warfare. If I believe there is no such thing as Satan or demons, then how will I react when confronted with demonic influence? I will most certainly brush it off as delusions, mental instability, or maybe just animal instincts. I will not pray, submit to God, and put on the full armor of God so that I can stand firm against his tactics. My worldview causes me to ignore a very real and dangerous enemy.

If I believe that life evolved from primordial slime, then there is no God and I am not accountable to him. I may live a completely amoral existence simply to please myself. Lying to gain favors or sympathy are no worse than murdering an enemy if I think I can get away with it. For some who traverse down this path, I do whatever pleases me even if I will surely get caught. The long-term effects of this worldview can be devasting to individuals and societies.

If I believe the Bible (and I do), then I must submit to the God who authored it. He alone has the right to determine right and wrong for my life. All of life, all sensory and spiritual input, will be subjected to the authority of God's word. What is right and true will be kept. What contradicts, compromises, or confuses the truth revealed by God in His word must be rejected. Thus, a biblical worldview has a dramatic impact on my perception and reaction to reality.

2. What are the different worldviews of the spiritual realm?

An individual daily perceives reality and draws certain conclusions about what is happening. With a world view, one still perceives reality as it happens but through the filter of that world view. Depending on one's world view, each person can come to vastly different conclusions. That conclusion impacts how one views God and how one lives his life in the world God created.

An animistic world view sees everything possessing the same spiritual power. Moreover, the spirits can be good or evil. The physical cannot be separated or distinguished from the spiritual. Such a view must see the world as a confusing conglomeration with no rhyme or reason. The world would not be seen as created by a loving and personal God but as an eternal reality where all is "god" with no concept of a Creator at all. Morality would be individually determined. Life may be viewed as a battle between good spirits and bad. But in such a worldview, no accounting for evil is possible because no ultimate standard of good exists. People would not be treated with love and respect, necessarily, because of the uncertain nature they represent. And in the end, there would be no one to whom an account is due anyway.

A western worldview, which Dr. Terry Wise sets forth as the prevailing worldview in our hemisphere,¹ is based on Deism -- the belief in a Supreme Being who got things started, possibly with a "big bang," and then left scientific laws in charge. In this world view, no supernatural events, exeriences, or interventions are permitted. All occurences must have a "scientific" or naturalistic explanation. Such an impersonal God would have no place in determining proper behavior. Intelligent, rational creatures are surely the best ones to determine how to live in peace and harmony. Again, no ultimate standard of right and wrong can exist in such a worldview since it is simply the conglomeration of different individuals' opinions. Evil then is a matter of cultural bias or group consensus. People would not be seen as special but as animals who arose to a higher plane of existence.

A biblical worldview looks at the world as created by God. It sees a spiritual realm beyond the five senses ability to measure. It sees a personal God who lovingly created all things for His glory including angels, this universe, animals, and human beings. It sees humans as precious, created in the image of Almighty God. People are treated with love and honor because that is how God treats them -- not because they deserve it. Life is lived in accord with our Creator's plan because it is His authority and privilege as Creator. Evil is viewed as a result of the sinful choices of humans and fallen angels.

Each of these views sees God, the spiritual realm, and the physical realm from greatly different perspectives. Each of them results in different behavior driven from these worldviews. Only one can adequately explain who we are, where we came from, and why we act the way we do -- the biblical worldview based on God's word.

3. How does a biblical worldview help believers cope with life?

A local church is a body of believers who each need a healthy worldview, a biblically-based worldview. This worldview is based on the belief in the "Divinely inspired, supernaturally authored, totally infallible word of God." The Bible is viewed as the source of objective truth. It is authoritative in all areas of our lives. From the Bible, the believer can draw application for living a godly life. From the Bible the believer understands who God is, what He does and has done, and how to have a personal relationship with Him through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It seems that a majority of believers take a very "light" view of Satan and his demons. They are viewed as "real -- but not my problem." This allows various deceptions to take place in individuals who might otherwise discern the attack of the enemy. This leads to quarreling, divisiveness, and bitterness over otherwise innocent activities. A sermon illustration may be taken personally causing disappointment and depression. Without taking Satan seriously, people can be led in many self-defeating and fellowship-depressing behaviors.

End Notes

Wise, Terry Dr. Spiritual Warfare. Trinity College and Seminary. Newburgh, Indiana. Course lecture. Copyright 1996.

Next article: "The Demonic and Demon-Possession"