What is a Worldview?
A worldview is the framework from which we view reality and make sense of life and the world. It is any ideology, philosophy, theology, movement, or religion that provides an overarching approach to understanding God, the world, and our relations to God and the world. The term worldview refers to someone’s set of answers to all of life’s big questions. This could include assessing whether there is a God, what ethical duty human beings have to each other, or how we can know certain things to be true. The concept derives from the German word weltanschauung, meaning “a particular philosophy of life.”
For example, a two-year-old believes he’s the center of his world, a secular humanist believes that the material world is all that exists, and a Buddhist believes he can be liberated from suffering by self-purification. Someone with a biblical worldview believes his primary reason for existence is to love and serve God. Whether consciously or subconsciously, every person has some type of worldview.
A personal worldview is a combination of all you believe to be true. What you believe becomes the driving force behind every emotion, decision, and action. Therefore, it affects your responses to every area of life, including philosophy, science, theology, anthropology, economics, law, politics, art, and social order—everything. Let’s suppose you think that beauty is in the eye of the beholder (secular relative truth) instead of beauty as being defined by God’s purity and creativity (absolute truth). Then any art piece, no matter how vulgar or abstract, could be considered a creation of beauty.
Four Worldview Examples – Which one do you ascribe to?
1. A humanist worldview: A person’s worldview might be humanist if they prioritize the importance of human beings solving the big questions of existence for themselves. This stands in contrast to more religious viewpoints, in which people hold closely to what they consider divine or enlightened answers to these questions from deities or inspired teachers.
2. A naturalistic worldview: Some people believe the world is totally explainable through purely natural means. Naturalists often take a stance of skepticism or outright agnosticism when it comes to any claims of the supernatural or divine.
3. A postmodern worldview: When someone holds to a postmodern viewpoint, they likely consider the concept of worldview to be totally subjective. In other words, it’s difficult to ground their point of view in anything beyond personal preference. This view renders all beliefs and precepts to be equally valid.
4. A religious worldview: People of faith base their worldviews around the values and dogmas espoused in their sacred texts. For instance, if you choose to embrace a Christian worldview, you would then base your philosophical assessments of reality and ethical beliefs on the teachings and ministry of Jesus Christ. People of faith often turn to apologetics (or arguments in favor of their beliefs) to justify their worldview.
Note: Some people might desire to construct their own individual worldview, while others might choose to subscribe to a long-established one influenced by one of the world’s major religions. A recent nationwide survey completed by the Barna Research Group determined that only 5% of Americans had a biblical worldview. When George Barna, who has researched cultural trends and the Christian church since 1984, looked at the “born-again” believers in America, the results were a dismal 9%.
Barna’s survey also connected an individual’s worldview with his or her moral beliefs and actions. Barna says, “Although most people own a Bible and know some of its content, our research found that most Americans have little idea how to integrate core biblical principles to form a unified and meaningful response to the challenges and opportunities of life.”
What’s a Biblical Worldview?
A biblical worldview is based on the infallible Word of God. When you believe the Bible is entirely true, then you allow it to be the foundation of everything you say and do. That means, for instance, you take seriously the mandate in Romans 13 to honor the governing authorities by researching candidates and issues, making voting a priority.
Do you have a biblical worldview? Answer the following questions, based on claims found in the Bible (and which Barna used in his survey):
• Do absolute moral truths exist?
• Is absolute truth defined by the Bible?
• Did Jesus Christ live a sinless life?
• Is God the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe, and does
He still rule it today?
• Is salvation a gift from God that cannot be earned?
• Is Satan real?
• Does a Christian have a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with others?
• Is the Bible accurate in all of its teachings?
Did you answer yes to these? Only 9% of born-again believers did. But what’s more important than your “yes” to these questions is whether your life shows it. Granted, we are all sinners and fall short, but most of our gut reactions will reflect what we deep-down, honest-to-goodness believe to be real and true.
How Does a Biblical Worldview Get Diluted?
Here is the big problem. Non-biblical worldview ideas don’t just sit in a book somewhere waiting for people to examine them. These ideas bombard us constantly via the internet, television, films, music, newspapers, magazines, books, and academia. Because we live in a selfish, fallen world, these ideas can seductively appeal to us, and we often end up incorporating them into our personal worldview. Sadly, we often do this without even knowing it.
For example, most Christians would agree with 1 Thessalonians 4:3 and other Scriptures that command us to avoid sexual immorality. But how often do Christians fall into lust or premarital and extramarital sexual sin? Is it simply because they are weak when tempted, or does it begin much earlier, with the seductive lies from our sexualized society?
Why Does a Biblical Worldview Matter?
If we don’t fully believe the truth of God and live it, then our lifestyle will be confusing and misleading. Most of us go through life not recognizing that our personal worldviews have been deeply influenced by the world. Through the media and other influences, and through the secularized American views of history, law, politics, and science, our thinking has been affected more than we realize. We then can be taken “captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
However, by diligently learning, applying, and trusting God’s truths in every area of our lives—whether it’s watching a movie, communicating with our spouses, raising our children, or working at the office—we can begin to develop a deep comprehensive faith that will stand against the unrelenting tide of our culture’s non-biblical ideas.
If we capture and embrace more of God’s worldview and trust it with unwavering faith, then we begin to make the right decisions and form the appropriate responses to questions on abortion, same-sex marriage, cloning, stem-cell research, and media choices. Because, in the end, it is our decisions and actions that reveal what we really believe.
Seven questions to help us develop a biblical worldview:
1. Is there a God and what is He like?
2. What is the nature and origin of the universe?
3. What is the nature and origin of mankind?
4. What happens to a person after death?
5. Where does knowledge come from?
6. What is the basis of ethics and of morality?
7. What is the significance of human history?
Challenge: You owe it to yourself to investigate the answers to the above questions with great sincerity. Life is precious!
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).