Howdy Pastors,


Been giving a lot of thought to many aspects of Sunday’s message. Among one of the points that caught my attention was that of establishing clear priorities, principles, and practices. That captivated my attention in the context of thinking about the subject of establishing a worldview.

First, as I pondered those three governing dynamics (priorities, principles, and practices), I immediately thought again about my perspective about not needing a right worldview, but rather a right Wordview. I say that because the first thing I asked myself was, “what ought to be my priorities in life and where do I derive that governing dynamic from?” A Scripture almost immediately came to my mind. It is Matthew 6:33. Therein, Jesus says our greatest priority must be to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. In my estimate, that is a Wordview. I stress that because in the sense of a worldview, the last thing, if at all, that men give priority to is God’s Kingdom and His righteousness.

Next I noticed that Jesus said that if we have a Kingdom and righteousness centered priority, all other priorities will fall in line. But what are those other priorities? According to Jesus, those other priorities are set forth in Matthew 6:1-32! My point is that Matthew 6:33 is an example of how a Wordview affects my worldview. In other words, the Wordview of Matthew 6:33 adjusts or corrects the defective worldview outlined in Matthew 6:1-32.

So, If I am governed by a worldview, Matthew 6:1-32 is what my priorities will look like. And in that case, there is no possible way that Matthew 6:33 can possibly be my priority or my Wordview.

In short, I am saying that a right Wordview will by default lead us to set right priorities in our hearts and lives.

Secondly, I mediated on establishing governing principles that shape my character and impact my life for the good of myself and others. Here, I felt like I needed a simple working definition of principles. Webster’s gives these concise insights into the meaning of the word: a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption. A rule or code of conduct. Habitual devotion to right principles. Again, another Scripture came to mind. 2 Peter 1:1-3. It is God’s power – which is nothing but pure, boundless Divine power that produces a divine nature in me that affects my character. To me that says that all of the effects of gospel on my heart emanate from the Scriptures, which is the power of God (Romans 1:16).

So, what 2 Peter 1:1-3 says that it is the redemptive knowledge that I have of Christ that releases the godly, character forming power of the gospel into my life. As a result, the gospel itself becomes (to use Webster’s definition of principles) the fundamental law, doctrine, or rule / code of conduct for my life. The Word of God, the gospel is where my principles come from. God writes these life-principles on the tablet of my heart and I flesh them out (Ezekiel 36:25-27). I have to say it again: The gospel establishes godly principles in my heart and the Spirit of God empowers me to live accordingly. That is, if I choose to obey (Joshua 22:5, Ezra 7:10).

Thirdly, since yesterday, I have been considering the aspect of putting all this into practice. Well, again, another Scripture comes to my remembrance. This one is Ezekiel 36:25-27. That says to me that God will put His priorities, His principles into my heart via the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit and that is what will motivate me, cause me, empower me to flesh them out – to practice – these things so that I am not reduced to some delusional, self-deceived condition as a result of merely hearing the Word but not putting it into practice (James 1:22-25).

I’ve also been pondering another awesome thing you said during the message. You mentioned putting ourselves under the Scriptures, in other words under its authority and not putting ourselves over or above the Word as if we were in authority. That hit me because it sums up everything I’ve mentioned above. Meaning that if we come underneath the Scriptures – subject ourselves to its authority, the inevitable consequences or results will be the establishment of right priorities and right principles in our hearts and minds and the power to put them into literal practice.

Hope this made sense (lol). If not, pray for me.

John Kempf