Think Like Jesus

199 Pages·2003·0.76 MB·English

by  Anita K. Palmer

UNEDITED MANUSCRIPT
Think Like Jesus: A Revolutionary Approach to Making the Right Decision Every Time

Copyright © 2003 by George Barna

Published by Integrity Publishers,
a division of Integrity Media, Inc.,
5250 Virginia Way, Suite 110,
Brentwood, TN 37027.

HELPING PEOPLE WORLDWIDE EXPERIENCE THE MANIFEST PRESENCE OF GOD.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any
other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the
publisher.

[exact info to come] Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations used in this book are from
The New Living Translation, copyright © 0000 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Ill.
Used by permission.

Published in association with Yates & Yates, LLP,
Literary Agents, Orange, California

Cover designer: Credit line here
Interior designer: Credit line here

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barna, George
[to come]

Printed in the United States of America
02 03 04 05 XXX 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Contents

Acknowledgments 00

Introduction: He Didn’t Really Say That, Did He? 00

Section I: Perspectives on the State of Worldviews

1 What’s the Big Deal? 00

2 The American State of the Mind 00

3 Bridging Faith and Lifestyle 00

Section II: Developing A Biblical Worldview

4 Question 1: Does God Really Exist? 00

5 Question 2: What is the Character and Nature of God? 00

6 Question 3: How and Why Was the World Created? 00

7 Question 4: What Is the Nature and Purpose of Humanity? 00

8 Question 5: What Happens after We Die on Earth? 00

9 Question 6: What Spiritual Authorities Exist?

10: Question 7: What is Truth? 00

Section III: Practicing a Biblical Worldview

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11 When the Rubber Meets the Road 00

12 How Your Church Can Help You 00

13 Being Transformed 00

Appendix 1: Resources that Will Help 00

Appendix 2: Survey Questions 00

Appendix 3: About the Author 00

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Acknowledgments

Life is often a study in opposites. This book is an example. On the one hand, this has been one of
the most enjoyable and challenging books I’ve written, allowing me to spend numerous hours
examining the Bible and reflecting on its truths and principles and how they fit together into a
comprehensive and coherent perspective. On the other hand, this has been the most difficult book
that I have ever written, pushing me way outside my comfort zone to fulfill a calling I keenly
feel but which scares me nevertheless.
Given the challenges, pressures, tensions, and fears related to this project, the resulting
book could not have been completed without the active and invaluable participation of a diverse
group of supporters.
A variety of friends and colleagues provided assistance ranging from theological
perspectives and manuscript reflections to spiritual support through prayer and encouragement.
Such help came from Henry Blackaby, Chuck Colson, Connie and David DeBord, Gary and
Catherine Greig, Chuck and Jeanette Laird, Kevin and Kathy Mannoia, Steve Russo, Danny
Sartin, and John and Pam Saucier. Thank you for blessing me so profusely with your wisdom
and enthusiasm.
My colleagues at Barna Research helped out in many ways. I am thankful to Irene
Castillo, Lynn Gravel, Cameron Hubiak, Pam Jacob, David Kinnaman, Dan Parcon, Celeste
Rivera, and Kim Wilson for their gracious support.
My publishing team played a significant role in the development of the final product.
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Specifically, I am indebted to Anita Palmer of Sam Hill Editorial Services for her flexibility as
well as for her encouragement and sensitive editing; to Sealy and Curtis Yates for their
representation of my work to the publishing community; and to my friends at Integrity
Publishers. In particular, Joey Paul was instrumental in helping to guide this project, and Byron
Williamson shared the vision for this material.
My most beloved support group is my family. They paid a big price to allow me to
wrestle through this material. My wife, Nancy, deserves all the credit in the world for
encouraging me, reading draft after draft, keeping the world at bay in order to protect my writing
bubble, and juggling more family and company responsibilities than was reasonable during the
writing period. My daughters, Samantha and Corban, cheerfully encouraged me throughout the
project and refrained from making me feel guilty for not spending as much time with them as
any of us desired. I pray that God will bless them in abundant ways for their selfless support of
my attempt to help people know, love, and serve our Lord more significantly.
In the end, I am most grateful to God for giving me the opportunity, the ability, the
physical strength and the spiritual protection to complete this book. May its impact advance His
ways and His kingdom.

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Introduction
He Didn’t Really Say That, Did He?

The 45-minute drive from Ventura to the Santa Barbara Airport is one of my enjoyable
escape routes. Flying these days is drudgery, but it seems less torturous when your
passage to the airport is so scenic. Most of my drive offers spectacular views of the
Pacific Ocean under cloudless blue skies and a blazing sun that glistens off the rolling
waves, reminding me of the Creator’s beauty. A recent Monday morning sojourn to the
airport followed that description to a T.
My post-drive mellow attitude survived the usual airport hassles and I boarded the
small jet that would deliver me in Dallas. I strapped myself in, removed a hardback
volume about leadership from my briefcase, and began to lose myself in the book. I
couldn’t help but notice my seatmate, though: the young man carried on an animated
conversation with two casually clad buddies in the row behind us. They behaved like a
trio of college fraternity brothers, swapping snide comments about work colleagues, and
fantasizing about the bar-hopping they anticipated in Dallas.

The Conversation

Halfway into the flight, my reading was interrupted by the flight attendant’s offer of a beverage
to compliment the skimpy bag of peanuts provided as sustenance. Bored with his peers, my
seatmate seized the opportunity to engage me in conversation.
“Reading for work?” he asked with a knowing smile.
An intense introvert by nature, I dread such small talk with strangers I am likely never to see
again. But, knowing that my faith in Jesus Christ is meant to be shared in ways that leave a
positive influence on the lives of others, I have made peace with such experiences and recognize
that God may have a purpose for the engagement. Nothing happens by accident, so perhaps there
was a deeper purpose for this encounter. With some emotional discomfort and spiritual
anticipation, I entered the fray.
“Yeah.”
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Okay, I didn’t enter it with much gusto, but it was a start.
“What’s it about?” my inquisitive junior asked.
“It’s about the spiritual dynamics of leadership development. I work with leaders to try to help
them maximize their skills and abilities. Books like this help me know what other developers of
leaders are discovering about how to do that more effectively.”
The introvert in me was proud of having strung together three coherent sentences on my favorite
topic. But, hey, give me a break: at least I had refrained from smothering my seatmate with
Christianese before he took the first sip of his five-dollar vodka and tonic.
“Huh. What kind of leaders do you work with?”
There it was, the question that had killed a thousand conversations before. But, I reasoned, if
God is in control—and there is no doubt in my mind that He always has been and always will
be—then honesty is the best policy.
“Mostly with pastors of Christian churches. I own a small marketing research firm that
specializes in church-related work and I spend most of my time trying to help pastors and other
church people serve God as effectively as possible.”
Answers like that are always the turning point in these blind conversations. You’d be surprised
how many people recoil with horror once they realize that I am apparently a devoted Christian—
probably a Jesus freak. They develop a sudden fixation with the clouds outside the tiny window
next to their seat. Others assume the glazed-eye look of someone who has just been exposed to a
painfully detailed account of the IRS code regarding proper inventory control accounting
procedures. Occasionally someone will respond with excitement, for they are fellow disciples of
Jesus and know they can now enjoy a more meaningful personal connection with me. And a very
few are non-evangelicals who are genuinely intrigued by the notion of a seemingly intelligent
person being a devoted follower of Christ, and they actually decide to continue the conversation.
My seatmate apparently was one of the latter. My goal of finishing the book by touchdown
faded. But God obviously had something in mind and, frankly, I was more than a bit curious to
see what it was.

Plunging In

We introduced ourselves. He was Bill, from Las Vegas, on a business trip related to his job with
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a major accounting firm. Bill had been employed there for nearly four years and was on the fast
track to upper management. With the pleasantries out of the way, he plunged ahead.
“So, you’re, like, uh…a Christian, huh?”
“Yeah, my faith has become the focal point of my life.”
“Hey, well, I’m a Christian, too,” Bill proclaimed, looking earnestly at me. “I mean, I don’t go to
church and all, but I was raised as a Christian and went when I was a kid. But I don’t really
believe in God anymore.”
Given my deep personal conviction that God not only exists but hears every word we say, my
heart started racing at Bill’s confession of unfaith. But because I oversee a ministry that
interviews more than ten thousand people each year regarding faith matters, statements like
Bill’s are a dime a dozen; consequently, they lose their shock value. So, while I felt an
immediate twinge of despair for Bill, I recognized the importance of his admission and began to
have a sense of what God’s purpose for this conversation might be.
“Really? You don’t believe in God? Why not?”
“Well, He may exist, but I just think there’s too much needless suffering and hardship in the
world to buy into what my church taught me. You know, God being love, and all that crap. It
doesn’t make sense, does it?”
Now, I love God with all my heart, mind, strength, and soul, but I shiver with fear and self-doubt
when I enter such dialogues. Who am I to speak for the living God? What do I know about the
totality of Scripture? Why should anyone give a toot in the wind about what I believe? What
they—and I—really need is simply to think like Jesus, to see the world and its complexities and
nuances from His point-of-view.
Despite my insecurities, however, I usually bludgeon ahead, secure in the realization that the
history of humanity conveys a pattern of one person affecting the life of another through
relationship, communication, and love. Admittedly, though, it’s at these moments when I
suddenly rediscover the meaning of fervent prayer—and thank God that my eternal destiny is not
dependent upon my ability to provide the perfect theological treatise.
I responded to Bill’s question quietly, not wanting to sound belligerent or arrogant.
“Actually, it makes a lot of sense to me. Just because some people prosper and others suffer
doesn’t negate the existence or character of God,” I said. I added that suffering is sometimes a
means to a better end, and that God uses it to draw people closer to Him or to give others who
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are more fortunate a chance to serve those in need. “But this is interesting. So, if you don’t
believe in God, then how do you explain things like the existence of the universe?”
Bill nestled into his seat cushion and began to expand on how he views the world. “I can buy the
Big Bang theory. But, really, it doesn’t matter much. What matters is the here and now. Maybe
there is a god out there, but he’s really not part of my life. I have to take control of my life and
steer it to the right place. Things are going well for me. I’m on that fast-track program”—he had
briefly alluded to this during our introductions and was clearly proud of that status—“and I’m
getting my family life together.”
“You’re married?”
“Was. Just got divorced eight months ago, after five years together. We have one daughter, so I
stay in Vegas to be near her. It’s all working out well.” The frown on his face belied that
assessment.
I asked him if, without God, he thought there are moral absolutes, ways of distinguishing right
from wrong.
“Of course,” he guffawed, aghast that I might think he was a moral anarchist. “You don’t need
God to know there have to be limits. I live a good, moral life and I teach those values to my
daughter.”
“But if there is no God, then what’s the basis of right and wrong in your belief system?” I
asked, hoping he might begin to see the problem with his position.
“You just know what’s right and wrong. I mean, you can feel it, right? I know from experience
what works and what doesn’t work, and you kinda build a mental catalogue of do’s and don’ts
based on those experiences. And you see it played out in movies and on TV, where they pretty
much contrast the different ways you can deal with situations and show the different outcomes of
each approach. Heck, the world is filled with examples of right and wrong, and if you’re
sensitive to it, you can easily tell what’s good and what’s bad.”
These were some interesting sources of moral authority: feelings, experience, movies and
television. “So, in other words, you’re saying that everyone has to make up their own mind about
what is morally right or wrong?”
“Definitely,” Bill exclaimed, taking another draw from his drink and pausing to look out the
window at the billowing clouds beneath our aircraft.
If we all do what we believe is right, Bill said, it all works out because we’re all doing the best
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