Taking every thought captive for obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10.5)

Vision
Worldviews
For many people, the term “worldview” can be off-putting. It sounds philosophical, academic, or merely intellectual. Worldview is what people talk about who have too much time on their hands, and who don’t have to muck and mess around in the real world every day of their lives. Most of us are too busy to pay any attention to such ideas, and we’re just fine with that.

But worldviews matter – more, perhaps than we know. Everyone has a worldview; most people have never taken the time to think about the way they view the world – how they answer the big questions about who we are, where we came from, where we’re heading, and what we ought to be doing while we’re here. Most people absorb the answers to such questions from their upbringing and their environment, and they never take the time to examine or even articulate the answers they’ve chosen for their own worldview.

But, as Socrates reminded us, the unexamined life is not worth living. Even the scientific community understands the importance of worldview, and why each of us should make sure the worldview we’re living is the one we actually believe.

Annick DeWitt explains the role of worldview in our society in an online article at Scientific American, in which she reports on research to evaluate the role of worldview in people’s political positions (“Understanding Our Polarized Political Landscape Requires a Long, Deep Look at Our Worldviews,” June 29, 2016). What’s true of our political inclinations is true of every aspect of our lives: the worldview we adopt is determinative of the choices we make.

Dr. DeWitt and her colleagues identified four primary worldviews evident among Americans – traditional, modernist, postmodernist, and integrative. The traditional worldview is shaped largely by religion and one’s inherited values. The modernist worldview is guided by rationalism and science. Postmodernists are skeptical of religion and science, and they encourage each person to authenticate his or her existence and preferences from within, and in line with their primary group identity. Integrative thinkers seek ways of reaching a consensus between these disparate perspectives.

Each of these worldviews is expressed in unique ways, and each can be found represented in the various presidential contenders of our current campaign. People gravitate to one or another candidate on the basis of the extent to which that candidate reflects their worldview. Worldviews, Dr. DeWitt writes, “have massive implications for...our social, economic, and political life.” She explains, “Worldviews are a fundamental part of individuals’ group identities, and people often react as strongly to perceived threats to these social identities as they do to defend themselves against personal attacks.”

She is correct, and her research underscores the importance of understanding worldviews, and of making sure our own worldview is what we want it to be.

This is true for Christians especially, since we claim to be on the side of truth in our view of the world, and since we insist that, while other worldviews may reflect elements of truth, only the Christian worldview possesses the integrative and explanatory power to make sense of all of life, and, more importantly, to engage the favor of God.

But this doesn’t mean we are free to disparage or despise those who hold to other worldviews. We agree with Dr. DeWitt that “there are other worldviews, and that the people who hold them are not all idiots!” God’s common grace makes it possible for many people to have insights to such matters as beauty, goodness, truth, and the nature and purpose of life.

However, the Christian worldview stands alone among the four primary worldviews cited in this study. Though, because of God’s common grace, the Christian worldview features aspects of many different worldviews, it is unique among all worldviews by being anchored in unchanging and revealed truth, and supported by a 2,000 year record of demonstrated (albeit inconsistent) reliability.

Christians must not shy away from learning and talking about worldview, and from striving to live a Christian worldview as fully and consistently as we can. The winds of doctrine wafting across our lives from other worldviews can be persuasive, and if we’re not mindful of them, and don’t have our sails hoisted into the sure breezes of the Christian worldview, we can be blown off course in our walk with and work for the Lord.

Worldviews matter. Let’s make sure our worldview lines up the with way He Who made the world intends it should work.

For reflection
1.  What do you understand by the term worldview? How much do you think about worldviews? About your own worldview?

2.  Believers have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2.16). How should this affect the way we look at every aspect of our lives?

3.  What would you suggest as a good way to continue working to “flesh out” your Christian worldview?

Next steps: Does your church teach about worldview matters? Talk with a pastor or church leader about this question. Share today’s The Week column, and invite them to respond.

Today at The Fellowship
ReVision: This week we’re looking at the work God has appointed to us in His Kingdom economy. The work we’ve been given to do is greater than the job at which we work, and we must learn to do all our work as unto the Lord. Download the PDF of this week’s studies, “Work Matters.”

Crosfigell: Prayer and repentance are important aspects of a growing spiritual life. This week we learn from Patrick about being desperate to pray and from Gall about the role of repentance in the life of faith.

Scriptorium: Download this week’s PDF of our Scriptorium study of Acts 13 (Part 12). Here we follow Paul and Barnabas on the first part of Paul’s first missionary journey.

Voices Together: John Nunnikhoven’s daily meditations can help you in the practical work of prayer and obedience.

In the Bookstore: The Kingdom Turn and The Poetry of Prayer can help you realize more of the presence, promise, and power for Kingdom living as a follower of Christ.

Videos: Finally, check out the state of your Christian worldview by watching the video and downloading the Personal Discipleship Inventory, a tool for evaluating your worldview and growing in Kingdom vision, disciplines, and outcomes.

Your support
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