Tools for Monday: What is your ultimate value center??
From where or from whom do you derive your value? In other words, if you could envision your life revolving around a center, then who or what would be at that center point? Some theologians and philosophers refer to this point as a value center. A value center is that person or thing around which we revolve in order to make sense of the world and act accordingly.
In our current society, there is no shortage of voices who advertise and compete for the right to become our value centers. The noise from all these babbling voices can become overwhelming at times, even to the extent that many people throw their hands up in frustration and just live their lives without much of a sense of purpose.
The Christian disciple needs some tools for discerning these voices, while also ensuring that the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is at the very core center of life’s meaning. How, then, do we discern among all these voices out there and help others find their way to Christ? Without getting too detailed for this particular blog post, the discerning process basically comes down to understanding two broad traditions out of which come most of the loudest value center voices.
On the one hand, there is “Idealism,” which views humankind as fundamentally good, not particularly sinful, and sufficient to be his/her own value center. In this tradition, a person finds meaning and purpose by substituting the self for God. Life revolves around the self. Idealism is essentially a way of trying to become one’s own god. Many branches of Idealism vie for attention and primacy. Suffice it to say, all branches of Idealism shift blame for evil and suffering away from ourselves and onto systems. It tends to think that we are so self-transcendent that we can eliminate evil through changing systems that hamper inevitable progress.
On the other hand, there is “Naturalism.” This is the tradition that defines human beings as merely complex creatures who are a little more able to function than basic animals. The natural world therefore becomes the center of value, and we are encouraged to “do what comes naturally.” For some this means taking on a totally hedonistic lifestyle where all restraints of morality are loosened. Others take this to mean that we should live to please ourselves as long as we don’t hurt others. Either way, Naturalism—like Idealism—rejects the view that a God could be at the center of life and meaning. In both traditions, Christianity is normally viewed as some sort of mythical (or even primitive) way of life that has simply overstayed its welcome on the world stage.
Christianity rests on faith that Jesus himself is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), meaning that God is at the Center of life’s meaning. From a missional and evangelistic standpoint, this means that our ultimate value center is neither a philosophy nor a social group, but a Person. Consequently, our faith in Christ means that we rely totally on God to bring significance and value to our lives. We act and live in faith out of our reliance on him. We also invite others to follow Christ by faith. And such a dynamic faith is not just intellectual assent to truths but it is a practical trust in the One who is the pioneer and perfecter of such faith.