Are you looking for a point of contact with non-Christians by which to reason together? Do you seek common ground for dialogue about issues that really matter for the sake of the gospel?

One of the most productive areas for thoughtful interchange is film. In popular movies, we find creative expressions of worldviews, values, concepts of the self, and especially theology.

Why? Because according to the biblical worldview, human beings are hard-wired for spirituality. We seek meaning and purpose. We need love and an object to worship. We are homo adorans.

We strive to comprehend and prevent evil. Our cultural artifacts are filled with religious and philosophical assertions. We can learn how to use these affirmations and questions as a basis for gospel discussion.

For example, I recently watched an interesting movie on Netflix called, “The Man Who Knew Infinity.” The film is about a devout Hindu, who was a self-taught, mathematic genius. In 1913, Srinivasa Ramanujan traveled to Trinity College, Cambridge, to study with G. H. Hardy, an atheist. The story raises fascinating questions about faith and science (mathematics), the meaning of life, Christianity and Hinduism, revelation, and racial prejudice, for example.

Here are two, brief dialogues between Ramanujan and Hardy that illustrate the confrontation between spirituality and the modern worldview.

Hardy:   God and I do not exactly see eye to eye . . . You see, I am what you call an atheist.
Ramanujan:  No sir. You believe in God. You just don’t think he likes you.

Hardy: Life for me has always been mathematics.
Ramanujan:  Do you want to know how I get my ideas? My god, Namagiri. She speaks to me. Puts formulas on my tongue when I speak. Sometimes, when I pray. Do you believe me?
Hardy:  But I don’t believe in God. I don’t believe in anything that I cannot prove.
Ramanujan:   Then, you don’t believe me. Don’t you see? An equation has no meaning to me unless it expresses the thought of God.

How might you use this film for discussion with non-Christians or instruction in the church? Here are five questions that can guide you:

1) What is the message of the film? What does it assert or reject?

2) How does the film express its message? (Characterization, script, scene, etc.)

3) What worldview, ethical, or theological themes arise from the film?

4) What does the biblical worldview teach about these themes? (Compare and contrast)

5) How might you communicate with a non-Christian about this movie?

Fallenness
Verses 4–11 speak about the second fact of reality regarding the human condition. We are fallen. We sin. We do evil and evil is done to us. We are guilty before God:

For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed.
You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is  but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?

Psalm 90 is very blunt about the sinfulness of the human condition. Despite the many blessings of this life, the reality of evil and suffering due to sin indicates that the world is out of order. Things do not often work well or as planned. Everything, animate and inanimate, degrades and degenerates. We age and die. Death is our destiny.

Also, human relationships are out of order. A few moments watching the evening news, reading the headlines, talking with our neighbor or simply a moment of existential honestly in front of the mirror informs us that sin produces sadness and loss in our lives. So, let’s make several observations based on these verses.

Verse 8 says: “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.” This tells us two important facts. First, we are morally accountable to God. He is not only our creator but also our judge. Second, God knows everything about us and we cannot hide anything. We must give account for everything we do, think, and say.

Verses 9 and 10 say: “For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.”

Thomas Hobbes, 17th century British philosopher, described social relations among human beings as “continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” This results in a “state of war” whereby “every man is enemy to every man.” Hobbes describes much later in human history what Genesis 4–11 ascribes to mankind immediately after the fall. The human heart, alienated from God and from one another, became “only evil all the time” (6:5).

Prayer For Wisdom
In light of all that Psalm 90 tells us, the only valid response for the Christian believer is Moses’ simple prayer: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (v. 12). Given the facts of reality, the wise posture is one of listening and learning. The petition for God to teach us indicates submission, obedience, and accountability.

Moses asked God to “number” his days. This means that he understood his frailty and sin. So should we. We must recognize that our every breath is a gift. We should realize that we are stewards of our existence, who must give account for our lives. Also, to “number our days” is to invest ourselves in what really matters and what has eternal significance. We then strive to be good stewards over our “heart, soul, mind, and strength” (Mark 12:30).

Finally, Moses wanted God to give him wisdom. (See Psalm 39:4–6.)  God gave Moses a heavenly perspective about the human condition. With this as his North Star he was able to use his spiritual compass to navigate the world in a way that pleased his creator, Lord, and savior.

We should desire this wisdom as well.

Thank God, we have the scriptures “which are able to make [us] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 3:15). He has  “become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Cor 1:30).

There are two facts about human existence that nearly all religions, worldviews, philosophies, and ideologies agree. We are finite and we are fallen. The existence of evil and human limitation are uncontested facts of reality.

Psalm 90, the only psalm attributed to Moses, is an excellent discourse about human nature, according to the biblical worldview.

Finiteness
Verses 3–6 declare the following about the finite and transient nature of human beings:

You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” For a thousand years in  your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed  in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and  withers.

We are finite. Clearly, we cannot overcome our basic limitations. We cannot completely eliminate our lack of experience or limitations of intellect. We cannot change the facts of our birth, ethnic heritage, and many other facets and weaknesses of our personal identity. We are not qualified in the quantity or quality of knowledge or character to be God.

Psalm 90 provides two metaphors that illustrate how fleeting life is. First, we are “dust creatures.” In the Bible to be “in the dust” is a metaphor indicating a status of poverty and powerlessness. On the other hand, to be “raised from the dust” means to be given honor and power. Listen to how the Psalms describes both nuances:

These all [animals] look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give  it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good  things.  When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. (Ps 104:27–29)

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them  with princes, with the princes of their people. He settles the barren woman in her home  as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD. (Ps 113:7)

The dust metaphor teaches that we have nothing apart from God. We are worthless apart from his goodness and grace. And, just as God breathed life into the first “dust creature,” Adam, he breathes life into each of us in Christ. These verses clearly indicate that God is sovereign over our lives. It is he who says “return to dust.”

The second metaphor is “grass.” In light of eternity our lives are fleeting and short. Psalm 102 echoes the contrast between God and mankind expressed in Psalm 90: “My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass. But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations” (vs 11–12).

Again, according to the biblical worldview we are finite. Psalm 90 shows that the wise person knows this and knows how to respond to this critical fact about reality.

The natural response to the threat of destruction of Israel at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, was to fight or flee―and many Israelites did one or the other. But Jeremiah’s counsel was different (29:4–20).

Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles explains how they must think and what they must do in Babylon:

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (vv. 4–7).

Most importantly, God “sent” them to Babylon. Their present location was not due to unfortunate happenstance. Rather, they were brought there by God’s express purpose. They were, in fact, on a mission.

Later in the letter, God revealed his long-term intention, covenantal affection, and commitment to them: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare  and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (vv. 10–11). He emphatically foretold restoration and multiplication after the exile (30:18–19).

But, in the meantime, they must cultivate their spiritual identity within an exilic context.

Verse 7 commands the exiles to behave in an entirely unexpected and implausible manner: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” The noun “peace” (shalom) indicates well-being and wholeness, as well as the concrete conditions for safety and prosperity (Lev 26:6–10).

In Jeremiah 29:7, therefore, the exiles were commanded to “seek the peace” of their captors—for their own good! They were commanded to pursue the well-being, prosperity, and security of Babylon.

Jeremiah’s counsel was clearly counter-intuitive. What counter-intuitive wisdom can we learn from this example for our civic responsibilities in our respective nations today? Do you feel as if you suffer internal exile in your own nation? What would it mean to seek the peace of your country?

Because human beings are created as the image of God, we are hard-wired for extension, development, economic growth, even globalization. But, because we are fallen, the usual result are misguided visions of utopia on earth. From these we produce conquest, empire, subjugation, exploitation, plunder, and extinction. We often create cultures that are nothing short of abusive, inhumane, and unjust.

Clearly, “east of Eden” (Gen 3:24) and “under the sun” (Eccl 1:9) the human project is flawed. This is the “present evil age” (Gal 1:4), as Paul wrote. As a result, there will never occur in this eschatological epoch a utopia through communism or socialism, capitalism or consumerism, Islam or any of the many alternative spiritualities.

The reality is that history is full of failed and tragic experiments in culture building and identity formation. Consider the many corrupt leaders and violent empires of destruction, beginning with Babel: ancient empires such as Pharaoh’s kingdom of the sun-god or Caesar’s Pax Romana, the medieval Holy Roman Empire, modernity’s myth of progress, and ideologies like Nazism, communism, and totalitarianism.

Sadly, history is a litany of tragic quests for paradise lost or for utopia on earth. All of them testify that human beings are created in the image of God but instead worship and serve idols (Rom 1:18-23). As John Calvin wrote, “Our hearts are factories of idols.” As a result, we create endless substitute religiosities and “alterative gospels,” as well as group identities, economic policies, and worldviews which sometimes can only be defined as a kind of “hell on earth,” a foretaste of dreadful things to come.

We should honestly ask ourselves: How many millions have perished because of the lust for empire and its cousin, colonialism, throughout human history? God alone knows the suffering and injustice inflicted due to the divine right of kings, manifest destinies, and myths of progress. How often have lands been acquired, peoples dispersed, raw materials confiscated, or access to the sea or trade routes seized for purposes of security, gain or glory? How often has mankind raped the earth of its natural resources, failing to steward God’s goodness? How many people have been enslaved or exploited for want of manpower or greed?

And most importantly, how often has Christianity affiliated with the powerful and prosperous, but overlooked the victims of empire: the poor, exploited, enslaved, abused, and condemned? Surely, for all of this creation “mourns” (Jer 4:28).

Christians should, therefore, be continuously wary. Whenever an ideology proposes to “put an end to war and set all things in order” (spoken about Caesar and Pax Romana), the church should take heed.

Imagine that the biblical worldview is like fertile soil. Plant a person or idea in this rich loam and a beautiful and fruitful yield results. Imagine, further, how many more plants would grow in an entire garden.

Imagine that a garden is a learning community (formal and informal) created to grow Christian minds for the glory of God and the blessing of mankind. Imagine, also, the impact of countless community gardens over course of time. The long-term impact of learning God’s word profoundly would be extensive in the church and the world. Consider these possibilities.

Repentance
Aspiring thinkers turn back to the Bible as an act of worship. They evaluate whom they listen to and where they learn. They turn away from negative speakers and false messages. They learn to distinguish between the trivial and the momentous. They reinvest their intellectual capacity in the true, good, and beautiful. They develop intellectual virtues in accord with the Scriptures.

Learning
Apprentice thinkers acknowledge with their whole mind, soul, and strength this essential truth: “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut 8:3). They learn the history, people, themes, and vision of the Bible. They study the cultures of the ancient Near East and Palestine. They practice intertextual reasoning and learn to think like the biblical authors. They listen to the global community and learn from the theological tradition of the church. Renewed thinkers learn to fear the Lord and grow in wisdom.

Service
Those who acquire wisdom serve their local cultures, teach in their local churches, and mentor future leaders. Some are like Joseph and Daniel, serving with distinction in the world for the glory of God. Others function as ambassadors in the public square, like Dorothy Sayer and C. S. Lewis. Still others serve evangelistically as Francis Schaeffer and Tim Keller.

Stewardship
Maturing thinkers are wise stewards and honor God as apprentice leaders, builders, benefactors, and thinkers. They evaluate the world with biblical assumptions. They affirm what is positive and promote the common good. They also critique and challenge what is false and evil. They demonstrate the gospel in ways that are intellectually plausible and existentially credible, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks” (1 Pet 3:15).

Imagine the positive impact of community gardens—nurturing Christian minds for the long-term to the glory of God and the blessing of mankind.

Cited by permission from my book Such a Mind as This: A Biblical-Theological Study of Thinking in the Old Testament (Wipf & Stock 2021)

Wisdom is to know what really matters and to act accordingly. What matters is not just a question of facts, but the knowledge of meaning of facts. Wisdom asks: What is valuable? What has purpose? What is most important? And, how can I apply or use it rightly?

The Bible testifies that our omnipotent and omniscient God is utterly wise. He alone knows what is most important and what to do about it. God is wise in the highest degree. In fact, God is wisdom.

What does he consider supremely important? What is most valuable in his eyes? What really matters to God as the foundation of wisdom and that guides him in all he does?

First, what matters most to God is himself and his glory.  For this reason, he designated himself as mankind’s great goal and everything he did in creation and does in redemption or will do in restoration is directed to this most valuable purpose. Augustine expressed this concept clearly: “God himself, who is the Author of virtue, shall be our reward. As there is nothing greater or better than God himself, God has promised us himself.”

In his wisdom, therefore, God ordained that we would be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29), “become partakers of the divine nature” (1 Pet 1:4), “establish [our] hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father” (1 Thes 3:13), “raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence” (2 Cor 4:14), and “present [us] blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 1:24).

Second, God never wavers from his original and ultimate end in creation, his “blueprint for the earth.” T. Desmond Alexander said: “Whereas Genesis presents the earth as a potential building site, Revelation describes a finished city. Underlying the construction of this city is the expectation that God will reside within it, sharing its facilities with people from every nation.”

God loves and embodies wisdom. He knows how to apply what really matters to him within creation. He always acts with reference to his glory, his love for mankind, and his earthly tabernacle. He can build whatever he designs and his ideas always produce positive consequences.

In brief, God is wise because he is good, thinks good thoughts, and does good things. This is divine wisdom and this is our God, the divine philosopher.

Dr. Temple discusses the importance of calling for the Christian thinker, the challenges facing African Christian intellectuals, and his upcoming program for Christian academics concerning faith and scholarship.

Psalm 137 provides several insights about the experience of some individuals brought to Babylon in the first deportation (597 BC)—though largely negative in perspective. Read this citation from the psalm (verses 1–4):

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.

On the willows there we hung up our lyres.

For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?

In verse 1, “waters” probably refer to irrigation canals that the exiles dwelled beside in ethnic settlements and were obligated to maintain. Two antagonists are identified in verse 3: “captors” (Babylonians) and “tormentors” (likely other captive ethnicities living nearby). This incident depicted in this psalm presumes a pluralistic setting: proximity to and friction with persons of other cultures, religions, and ethnic identities.

In their misery and disorientation, some of the deportees could not imagine serving God apart from the infrastructure of the Israelite state (monarchy, temple, land). Perhaps they did not listen attentively to the Lord or suffered from double-mindedness: “For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either” (Jer 29:19). Perhaps they idolized the temple and Zion ideology—“the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul” (Ezek 24:21). Or as one commentator suggests, they did not discern this critical lesson: “Holy sites do not enable Yahweh’s presence among his people, but holy people do (Jer 7:3–11).”

The dejected singers in Psalm 137 provide a negative path to follow in the midst of cultural disorientation. The musicians were unable to imagine blessing and service apart from their former temple setting and their accustomed lifestyle in Canaan. The musicians in Psalm 137 had unwillingly transitioned from a mono-cultural to a pluralistic setting. They lost social, religious, and economic power.

They did not discern how their view of reality or themselves was conditioned by power and its loss. As a result, they did not perceive their opportunity or responsibility. They did not seek the common good for the glory of God, as Jeremiah counseled in his letter (29:4–7). They did not declare God’s name as exiles in their pluralistic context.

Clearly, we must not repeat the error of Psalm 137. Amid our “exiles” today, we must never forget our biblical priorities. Inordinate longing for past cultural domination and related forms of thinking is neither spiritually healthy nor intellectually pious.

 To become intellectually impotent and irrelevant as a follower of Jesus Christ, copy at least one of the following attitudes and behaviors:

Naive attitude: Some are blissfully unaware or ignorant by choice.

Curious but uncommitted: Many want intellectual entertainment, but are unwilling to discipline their minds or submit to programmatic learning.

Committed but undisciplined: Many view learning like a cafeteria and consume what is appealing, rather than what is nutritional.

Intellectual pride: Some think they know enough already or that they know best the path to knowledge.

Consumer approach: Some “shop” for knowledge, learning formats, and instructors that conform to their “buying” preferences. When study becomes difficult or boring, they take their “business” elsewhere.

Laziness: Some are not willing to pay the price of learning and self-discipline. They learn only what is interesting or easiest.

Triviality: Some are conditioned by inconsequential chatter through social media, so they are not prepared to read, write, or reflect deeply.

Passivity: Some fulfill the role assigned to them by society― intellectual simplicity, private religiosity, and subjective spirituality.

Sacred-secular dichotomy: Some embrace modern secularism that declares spirituality and worldview are just private and personal, and only useful for Sunday at church.

Social obstacles: Many are distracted by the demands of culture (sports, parties, family).

Anti-intellectualism: Some resist study and reflection because their religious tradition minimizes the need for theology or thinking.

Fundamentalism: Some resist study due to “separation” from the world and do not interact with culture or worldview.

Capitulation: Some embrace the postmodern narrative and myth of progress―the past is irrelevant, authority is questionable, and every perspective is equally valid.