Many of us looking at our screens in front of us right now are wearing glasses or contacts. After getting used to them initially, over time you most likely became less conscious that you are looking through a lens to see the world around you. In other words, you don’t consciously think about seeing things this way anymore. In a similar way, everyone has a worldview or a lens through which they see, interpret, and respond to the world around them, but not everyone is aware of what theirs is. As Christians, we are called to develop a Christian worldview that sees, interprets, and responds to the world around us according to the one true reality of Christ.
Our worldview consists of things like our background assumptions about God, the origins and nature of the universe, human beginnings, life after death, and so on. All of these elements strongly influence how we interpret and react to things like the news, how we engage with friends, how we go about our work and life, and much more. Your worldview also largely determines your opinion on matters of ethics and politics, things like abortion, euthanasia, same-sex relationships, education, policy, military, environmentalism, animal rights – the list is endless!
Where does our worldview come from? How do we come to acquire this way of seeing the world around us? In short, our worldview is formed from the things that form us. It comes from how we were raised, what we have been taught, and the people and things that have influenced us. It comes from what we listen to and what we read. It comes from our natural inclinations, personality, tendencies, and even the sin that indwells us.
Everyone has a worldview, and your unique worldview plays a central role in your life, shaping what you believe, how you interpret and respond to your experiences, and how you relate to yourself, to others, and to God. One way to think of this is through the Iceberg Principle.
Our worldview, the foundational layer of the iceberg, shapes our values (our inner lives), which shapes our behavior (our outer lives).
Every person’s worldview addresses four main categories of questions:
- Origin, purpose, and meaning: Where did everything come from? Why are we here? What is a human? What are humans made for?
- The basic problem: What is wrong with the world and with us? Is there “right” and “wrong”? What is the purpose of pain and suffering?
- Main solution: How are the questions to the “basic problem” above solved or answered?
- Hope: Where does our hope lie? What do we have to look forward to in the future? What happens after we die? Where is history going?
As Christians who desire to see, interpret, and respond to the world around us in a God-glorifying way, we must consciously form a distinctly Christian worldview that can address the four main categories in a coherent way that shapes both our thinking and our living. We do this primarily by knowing and studying Scripture, especially in the context of the local church. So let’s map what the Bible says about God, about us, and about all things as we look at the four main question categories:
What is the origin, purpose and meaning of all things?
Creation: All things, including man, were created by God, the only uncreated one. He created all things to glorify Himself and created man to know God and to have eternal life in Christ (Genesis 1:1, 1:26-28, John 17:3).
What is the basic problem with us and the world around us?
The Fall: Original sin by Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden subjected all creation to futility, which includes humankind in the current day. As a result, every life and all of life are impacted by sin, brokenness, and frustration (Genesis 3, Romans 5:12, Romans 8:20-22, Ephesians 2:1-3).
What is the main solution to the basic problem with us and the world around us?
Redemption: God, in His love for us, sent His son to live the perfect life of obedience, die a sinner’s death on a cross, and be resurrected from death in bodily form, overcoming the power of sin and death once and for all. In doing so, God the Father made a way for those who would believe in Him to receive pardon for sin and receive everlasting life with Him (John 3:16, Romans 5:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 2:4-10).
What is our hope, now and forever?
The New Creation: Those who believe in Christ are made into a new creation by the Spirit. One day, in the new heavens and new earth, every sad thing will be made untrue, every brokenness redeemed, and every tear wiped away (2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:26-30, Revelation 21:1-5).
Some reading this will have no problem mapping any topic right onto each of the four areas above. Others will have thoughts such as “But what about…?” This is common, so do not be dismayed if this is you today. The question is: Are you a believer who is committed to developing a coherent Christian worldview out of a love for God and for what He has done for you in Christ? Are you invested in the local church, where godly brothers and sisters in Christ can help you sort through your questions?
Let’s put the framework we’ve outlined above to the test. We’ve all by now heard the phrase “live your truth”. But how do these seemingly innocent three words hold up when compared to a Christian worldview? Here’s our framework again, this time mapping on “live your truth” to answer the four worldview questions:
What is the origin, purpose and meaning of all things?
To say “Live your truth” asserts that where you think you came from is where you came from. You determine why you are here. Your purpose or meaning is to be the fullest expression of who you truly are.
What is the basic problem with us and the world around us?
“Live your truth” believes that the basic problem with humanity is that we cannot be our full and true selves apart from self-liberation and from freeing our beliefs from the expectations set upon us by others.
What is the main solution to the basic problem with us and the world around us?
You determine who or what your true self is and then express it to the fullest extent.
What is our hope, now and forever?
Individually, you will be happier in the future than you are today if you “live your truth”.
Hopefully, it’s easy to spot some of the main departures from a Christian worldview in the example above. As believers, we derive our purpose and meaning from the God of the Bible, not from ourselves. The worldview assessment above, along with every alternative worldview, places the individual, a lived experience, or a different deity altogether at the center of meaning, rather than meaning and purpose coming from the one and only triune God.
No matter where you start today on the spectrum of agreement with a Christian worldview (“This seems crazy!” to “This is great!”), when we come to Jesus with a humble willingness to be formed to look more like Him, He is the one who helps each of us think more like Him day by day. However, we can’t do this in isolation. Through fellowship with other believers in the local church, including looking to God in His word together, we have an opportunity to flesh out the contours of our thoughts, feelings, and actions so that they increasingly reflect a Christ-exalting view of all things.
Prayer
Father, you are the sovereign, holy God of the universe. You are the one who flung stars into the sky and who made all things. We want to see as you see and respond to everything that we see in a way that reflects the truth and that glorifies you. We confess that we often see things as we want to see them. Help us instead to see as you see, revealing to each of us ways of viewing the world that honor you, that we would be a light to a watching world in the way we interpret and respond to all things. Build up our church to be a people who think and act in ways that exalt Jesus over all things. Give us courage and boldness to do this in the areas of influence you have given us, in our homes, in our workplaces, in our families, in our hobbies, and in our own church. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Application
For further application, consider the following questions and prompts.
- Is the worldview iceberg principle familiar to you already? If not, does the principle appear to offer a sensible view of how people form their inner thoughts and outer lives?
- Which of the four main question and answer categories according to a Christian worldview most encourages you?
- Which of the four main question and answer categories according to a Christian worldview is most challenging to you?
- Summarize the four main question and answer categories in your own words, adding other Scripture that comes to your mind to support a Christian worldview.
- On a scale of no agreement to total agreement, where would you say you currently reside in terms of agreeing with the Christian worldview answers in response to the worldview questions posed (i.e. origin, problem, solution, hope)?
For further study, check out Citylight Institute’s “Forming a Christian Worldview” seminar recording and handout.