Ideas have consequences. The statement seems self-explanatory, but the real and deep impact of ideas reaches into culture, changing the minds of people and the way that they think. Many Christians fail to recognize the impact that secular ideas have had on our own worldviews. Richard Weaver wrote a book around 1950 entitled "Ideas have Consequences." In 1 Timothy 6:20, Paul urges Timothy to avoid ‘worldly and empty chatter and opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge.’ That implies that whether an idea is true or not is immaterial to the consequences it can have in the world and upon society.
The power of ideas is self-evident:
Thus Spake Zarathustra, by Nietzsche influenced Stalin and Adolph Hitler. Hitler took Neitzche’s book and distributed it to all of his SS brigade and to Benito Mussolini, and it influenced Hitler's autobiography, Mein Kampf.
Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species influenced all of Western Culture, more perhaps than nearly any book besides the Holy Bible. Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital, which influenced and shaped many of the world’s political systems for nearly a century and he, in turn, was so influenced by the writings of Charles Darwin that he wanted to dedicate the English version of Das Kapital to Darwin, though the offer was rejected
Books written in one century sometimes redefine life in the next.
It’s all about ideas.
The New Testament is certainly an example, but so is Thus Spake Zarathustra, which arguably has influenced our culture and the thinkers of our culture more than virtually any other in the twentieth century, though it was penned during Neitzche’s lifetime of 1844-1900, sometime before his entry into an asylum.
Christians, in our churches, have a great disregard and even distaste for theology and her handmaiden, philosophy– In fact, the very phrase “worldview” is unknown to many pewsitters. Christians in church pews haven’t been taught the importance of ideas and even regard them as irrelevant. All the while, their worldviews are being shaped by everything they see, hear and read– and many of them don’t even know it. Moreover, there is a pervading anti-intellectualism that exists in the church and a resultant dumbing down of believers as most have retreated from the battlefield of ideas– not to mention having long-ago retreated from any serious ventures into the Word of God.
We have a responsibility, as those who have been called out, to be guardians of the truth– contending earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Many of our leaders (in churches, etc.) have not taken seriously or have shirked their own responsibility in this area and the current condition of local church congregations are the result of that irresponsibility.
We must honor the Great Commandment and love God, not only emotively, but with our minds. Romans 12:2 says that the starting point for the believer’s sanctification (of transformation) is to renew his mind.
As Christian educators, we must lead the way and help people recognize the impact of ideas and in doing so, cultivate a hunger for truth in those we teach by engaging both the heart and mind.
