What is a biblical worldview, and does it matter?
A biblical worldview is a view of the world which seeks to answer life’s biggest questions from the teachings of the Bible. Many people see having a biblical worldview as unimportant. This includes non-Christians who see the world from a different worldview, as well as Christians who don’t want to apply what the Bible says to cultural issues or everyday life. Yet if the teachings of the Bible are true, then we do well to hold them up like a lantern to the rest of reality in order to illuminate the answers to life’s biggest questions.
Let’s explore what worldviews are, as well as the dilemmas and dangers we face when we study them.
What is a worldview?
At its simplest, a worldview is a person’s view of the world. It’s your framework for understanding reality and answering the big questions about it. It’s basically a roadmap for navigating reality. Here are a couple of metaphors that can be helpful: Your worldview is like a pair of glasses; it determines how you view the world. Your worldview is also like a jigsaw puzzle box top; it gives you the big picture so that you can make sense of the individual pieces and arrange them in place.
“Your worldview gives you the big picture so that you can make sense of the individual pieces and arrange them in place.”
There is overlap between your worldview and the grand story you believe about reality. Steve Wilkens and Mark L. Sanford, authors of Hidden Worldviews, describe worldviews as “cultural stories” we believe about reality. For example, if your worldview is “scientific materialism” (one of the eight worldviews described in their book), the story you believe about reality is that the physical world encompasses all reality—it is all that was, is, and will be.
What kinds of questions does your worldview help you answer?
Your view of the world helps you make sense of life’s biggest questions. Like what? Here are five common big-picture questions people have:
- Origin: Where do I come from?
- Identity: Who am I?
- Meaning: What is my purpose?
- Morality: How should I live?
- Destiny: What happens when I die?
Christian philosopher Dallas Willard boils it down to three main worldview questions:
- What counts as knowledge of reality?
- Who is really well-off?
- Who is a “really good” person?
“What counts as knowledge of reality? Who is really well-off? Who is a ‘really good’ person?”
James Sire, author of the landmark book on worldviews called The Universe Next Door, lists eight main questions:
- What is prime reality—the really real?
- What is the nature of the world around us?
- What is a human being?
- What happens to a person at death?
- Why is it possible to know anything at all?
- How do we know what is right and wrong?
- What is the meaning of human history?
- What personal, life-orienting core commitments are consistent with this worldview?
These are the kinds of questions thinking people have contemplated throughout history, and our answers to these big-picture questions shape how we live everyday life.
Why is it helpful to understand worldviews?
Thinking about worldviews can help you grow in empathy and pursue truth.
Empathy. “Worldview” may sound a bit philosophical and academic, but it’s actually one of the most important concepts you can understand if you want to grow in empathy. It might make zero sense to a Christian why another person may be uninterested in hearing her talk about the truth of the gospel (they explain that they’re happy she has her truth, but they have their own truth). It can help you be a lot more empathetic if you can understand the worldview of postmodernism they have embraced. When you take the time to consider the worldview another person is coming from, it can help you to not dismiss the person as crazy.
“When you take the time to consider the worldview another person is coming from, it can help you to not dismiss the person as crazy.”
Truth. We should always be seeking to form our lives around truth—so that 1) our beliefs align with reality and 2) our lifestyle aligns with our beliefs. Keeping the concept of worldviews in mind can help in both ways. For example, as you seek for your beliefs to align with reality, it is good to consider the big-picture questions people have asked and answered throughout history—and to line up the answers to explore which one best corresponds with reality. And as you seek to align your lifestyle with your beliefs, it is helpful to ask if you are living consistently with the beliefs you say you believe? If you’re a Christian, do you really trust God when you’re tempted to be anxious? Do you really worship God when you’re tempted to idolize fame or financial security?
It’s also worth mentioning that, if you’re a Christian, one of your core convictions will be that other people need Jesus too, for part of the core teaching of Scripture is that human beings are eternally lost without repentant faith in Jesus. Learning other people’s worldviews is key to knowing your audience when you get the opportunity to tell them about Jesus. The apostle Paul was a Jewish Bible scholar, and yet he knew the worldview of Stoicism well enough to where, when he was asked to address the Areopagus in Athens, he preached the gospel in a way that made sense to the Stoic mindset—and even quoted from Stoic poets (Acts 17:22-31).
What is a biblical worldview?
We want to be a little cautious here before delving too deeply too quickly. By focusing too much on a biblical worldview, we can make it seem like our faith is primarily a set of answers to questions. But the Bible wasn’t written first and foremost to be an answer book. It’s more of a storyline for humanity. This is why Wilkens and Sanford’s insight in Hidden Worldviews is especially helpful: Worldviews may help us answer life’s biggest questions, but worldviews are perhaps best described as “cultural stories” we believe about reality. In this light, the gospel of Jesus (his incarnation, death, resurrection, enthronement, return, etc.) is far more foundational than “the biblical worldview.” It’s insofar as we gather our answers to life’s biggest questions from the Christian gospel that we can say that we have a biblical worldview.
“The Bible wasn’t written first and foremost to be an answer book. It’s more of a storyline for humanity.”
So, onto our central question here. What is a biblical worldview? A biblical worldview is a view of the world which seeks to answer life’s biggest questions from the teachings of the Bible, with a special focus on the gospel storyline. As such, here is a sampling of basic biblical answers to some of these big-picture questions:
- Where do we come from? We are created by God.
- Who are we? We are the creatures God made in his image.
- What is our purpose? God created us to know and follow him as we fill the earth and reign over it as the managers he has put in charge.
- What is our core problem? We fall short of God’s glory because we pridefully resist his authority as a threat to our well-being.
- How is this problem solved? We turn from our self-centered ways and trust and give our allegiance to Jesus the Messiah as our Savior, Lord, and King, and he forgives us, fills us with his Spirit, and restores us to our original image.
- How should we live? We should live according to the way of Jesus the Messiah, which can be summarized as loving God and loving people as he teaches.
- What happens when we die? We are either with the Lord or apart from him for eternity, based on our relationship with Jesus through faith in him and his gospel.
“There are massive differences between the different worldviews.”
There are other big questions to answer, and some Christians may offer slight variations in the answers they give. But looking at different big-picture worldview answers is instructive: If we were to put together a chart with these questions as columns and include a different worldview per each row, it would quickly become clear that there are massive differences between the different worldviews. It would also clearly show that having a biblical worldview is far from a default perspective, even in a Christian-influenced part of the world like the Western world.
What other worldviews exist besides a biblical worldview?
If “worldview” is simply a person’s view of the world, then it would make sense that there are as many worldviews as there are people on the planet. Yet since worldviews typically zoom out to life’s biggest questions, we can categorize most people’s worldviews into a few basic ones.
There are helpful books which list some of the world’s most prominent worldviews. For example, the philosophy-oriented Worlds Apart: A Handbook on Worldview (Wipf and Stock, 2003) by Norman Geisler and William Watkin lists seven basic worldviews:
- Theism: There is one God who created all.
- Atheism: There is no God.
- Pantheism: Everything is God.
- Panentheism: God is in an eternal process of growing and becoming.
- Deism: God created the world but doesn’t intervene in it.
- Finite Godism: The God that exists is limited in some way (e.g., is not all-powerful)
- Polytheism: There are many gods.
“James Sire walks through worldviews in a somewhat chronological order, based on the succession of dominant worldviews in the Western world.”
In Universe Next Door (IVP Academic, 2020), James Sire walks through worldviews in a somewhat chronological order, based on the succession of dominant worldviews in the Western world (adding a final one, Islamic theism, which is not yet dominant but is nonetheless growing in popularity):
- Christian Theism: The triune God created all and restores us by grace through faith in Jesus.
- Deism: God created the world but doesn’t intervene in it.
- Naturalism: All that exists is the physical world.
- Nihilism: There is no ultimate truth, meaning, or right and wrong.
- Existentialism: We create our own truth and meaning.
- Eastern Pantheistic Monism: We merge with the divine through meditative techniques learned from Eastern religions.
- New Age-Spirituality: We combine elements of Eastern Pantheistic Monism (e.g., reincarnation and Eastern meditation) with popular psychology and occultic practices.
- Postmodernism: The concept of absolute truth is a human construct used to get power, so we need to prioritize the stories of our own tribes and emphasize our own truth.
- Islamic Theism: The singular God Allah created all and saves those who submit to him in obedience.
In Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives (InterVarsity, 2009), Steve Wilkens and Mark L. Sanford list eight worldviews which are often less obvious than a person’s religious affiliation, but which have massive influence under the surface in Western hearts and minds. In addition to the already-described worldviews of New Age, Postmodern Tribalism, and Scientific Naturalism, they discuss the following:
- Individualism: My interests are the center of reality.
- Consumerism: My worth is tied to what I own.
- Nationalism: My nation is more above all.
- Moral relativism: My truth is more important than the truth.
- Salvation by Therapy: My deepest problems can be solved by psychology.
“Many people’s worldviews are syncretistic combinations of common worldviews.”
No list is perfect. For example, the highly influential religion of Buddhism doesn’t neatly fit into any of the worldviews listed above. As researchers are finding (see below), many people’s worldviews are syncretistic combinations of common worldviews. As an example, longtime researcher George Barna suggests that “America’s most popular worldview” is basically a combination of deism and “salvation by therapy” called “moralistic therapeutic deism” (a term coined by sociologist Christian Smith). Although lists like these are imperfect and can never really pinpoint a particular person exactly, such categorizations do help us in exploring common worldview answers to life’s biggest questions.
Does it matter whether you have a biblical worldview?
If the teachings of the Bible are true, then it absolutely matters whether you allow those beliefs to affect the way you view the world. To use common metaphors, if you don’t look at reality through the true worldview, then it’s like trying to make sense of thousands of individual puzzle pieces without the box top. Or it’s like trying to make sense of the outside world with a pair of glasses that distorts rather than bringing clarity.
George Barna released unfortunate news regarding how syncretistic the worldviews of Christians in America have recently become, whether parents or pastors. Most shocking of all is how, based on Barna’s 54-question survey taken by 1,000 Christian pastors (including senior, associate, teaching, children’s/youth, and executive pastors), “just slightly more than a third (37%) have a biblical worldview and the majority—62%—possess a hybrid worldview known as Syncretism.
Think about the implications. These are pastors and parents who call themselves Christian but have a worldview only partially informed by Scripture. With cultural winds blowing Western culture ever-farther from biblical Christianity, it will take an act of God for the people under these pastors’ and parents’ shepherding to develop a biblical view of the world.
“These are pastors and parents who call themselves Christian but have a worldview only partially informed by Scripture.”
If we’re looking at the world biblically, we will acknowledge a war going on in the realm of worldviews and how people think. Here’s how the apostle Paul articulated the war:
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:3-5)
Church leaders are to equip and train people to “take captive every thought to make them obedient to Christ.” How we think and what we believe really matter. Statistics like those from Barna’s surveys (as well as perhaps stories in your own church and family) tell us that there are many, many spiritual shepherds who, far from demolishing arguments that contradict Christ, are welcoming wolves as guest lecturers. Instead of thinking according to the ways of Jesus, too many Christians are now thinking according to the ways of the world around us.
“…spiritual shepherds who, far from demolishing arguments that contradict Christ, are welcoming wolves as guest lecturers…”
What major dilemma unfolds as we study worldviews?
There are some people who prefer not to get involved in worldview disputes. They are happy to claim Switzerland-style neutrality when it comes to questions of ultimate truth. A problem that emerges for these people is that, when it comes to worldviews, everybody has one.
Let us say that again: everyone has a worldview.
Even the position that says, “Everybody’s truth is equally valid” is itself a worldview (“relativism”), which, if true, would mean that all contradicting worldviews are false. So, there’s no neutrality in the collision of worldviews. Everyone will have answers to big-picture questions which will slope their view toward or away from truth.
“Everyone will have answers to big-picture questions which will slope their view toward or away from truth.”
Unfortunately for people who prefer not to get involved in such debates, it’s actually more spiritual war than intellectual debate (again, see 2 Cor. 10:3-5 above), and each person is already on one side or another.
What are the potential dangers of teaching a biblical worldview?
Although it is a necessary thing to teach the biblical worldview to Christians (which both of us have done and continue to do), there are some potential pitfalls to be aware of. For one thing, if we teach biblical answers to only a narrow list of worldview questions, we’ll have a disproportionate, almost checklist style of faith formation. It’s possible to think, okay, if we just get them to believe Christianly in this list of areas, then it’ll be a foolproof path to lifelong faithfulness. Many Christian traditions have taken this narrow approach. But faith formation is more all-of-life, a matter of holistic, relational discipleship—of heart, soul, mind, and strength—not of checking answers on a test of worldview questions.
Another potential danger: It’s easy to consider a person’s worldview (let’s say the person is a Muslim) and assume you know most of the relevant spiritual information about the person. Is it helpful to know about the official answers given to life’s biggest questions according to the person’s religious persuasion? Yes. But individuals are more complex than that. Nothing can substitute for relational interaction and genuine care.
“Nothing can substitute for relational interaction and genuine care.”
Here’s a final danger to be aware of: It is possible for well-meaning preachers and teachers to use biblical worldview training as an opportunity to sneak in teaching which is more about the cultural and political leanings of the teacher than about what the Bible actually teaches. Let’s say you were wanting to dissuade your students from embracing socialism as an economic system. Training your students in the virtues of free market capitalism and the failures of socialistic policies is one thing. But doing so and calling it “biblical worldview training” is a stretch. It’s probably better to reserve the term “biblical worldview” for the bigger questions which the Bible provides clear answers on.
What’s dangerous about not teaching a biblical worldview?
Have you thought about what your Christianity or discipleship becomes when it remains disconnected from how Scripture answers life’s biggest questions? In other words, when we claim to be disciples, but we get our actual views of reality from somewhere else? For too many, Christianity has become a personal, inspirational, watered-down “faith” without any meaningful implication for how we live life. As Christian sociologist Os Guinness lamented, “Many Christians have a faith too privatized. Privately engaging, publicly irrelevant. It’s not integrated.”
Where should we start in teaching a biblical worldview?
To start with, every disciple and every child raised in a Christian home needs to know the basic worldview of Scripture, with a focus on the gospel. Church leaders have an obligation to make that framework crystal clear. It is the priority in disciple-making homes and churches. We teach preachers and elders, who tell us they want to shift to disciple making, to start with this focus first. We teach leaders to start with the gospel itself. Make it clear for the people.
“Start with the gospel itself. Make it clear for the people.”
New Testament scholar Matthew Bates helpfully summarizes the gospel, our response to it, and its benefits for us in the following ways:
What is the gospel?
Jesus is the saving king who[1]
- preexisted as God the Son,
- was sent by the Father,
- took on human flesh in fulfillment of God’s promises to David,
- died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
- was buried,
- was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
- appeared to many witnesses,
- is enthroned at the right hand of God as the ruling Christ,[2]
- has sent the Holy Spirit to his people to effect his rule, and
- will come again as final judge to rule.
What is the gospel response?
Our response to the gospel is faith, which is allegiance, loyalty, and faithfulness to Jesus the king.
What are the gospel’s benefits?
The gospel’s benefits for those who have faith is new life in the forgiveness of sin, the indwelling Holy Spirit, new identity, purpose, kingdom life here and in eternity, and all of God’s promises for the new heaven and new earth.
Conclusion
Again, there is a bigger storyline to a biblical worldview, but the gospel is the magnificent core.
In Scripture, God gives us the true view of the world. Everyone will be blessed by knowing and believing it. So, let’s share the gospel and Scripture’s answers to life’s biggest questions. As we do so, we help the people we disciple think and live with Jesus Christ at the center, in a way that is personally and publicly relevant.
And in so doing, we will invite a hearing for the truthfulness of our faith in a rapidly changing world that needs the hope of a biblical worldview now more than ever.
[1] Matthew Bates, The Gospel Precisely: Surprisingly Good News about Jesus the King (Renew, 2021).
[2] The reason Bates italicizes #8 is that Jesus’ enthronement is often repeated in the New Testament as the gospel’s climax.
- Posted with permission of and thanks to Discipleship.Org
- Read this next: "The Dangers of a Homogeneous Blind Spot "on The Reimagine.Network
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Worldview Made Practical
Volume 19 Number 1
March 20, 2024
MarketFaith Ministries provides Radical Disciple Training to help believers become more knowledgeable of and confident in their Christian faith.
Where does a biblical worldview come from? It comes, of course, from the teachings of the Bible. But specifically how do we identify worldview beliefs in the Bible. There are many beliefs taught in the Bible that are important, but don’t fit into the category of being worldview beliefs. Today’s article lays out specifically how to do Bible study using a worldview paradigm. This will be an important addition to your Bible study toolbox.
As much as the word “worldview” is used these days, it is fascinating to note that very few people can actually define what it is. Doing so, however, is a critical matter for Christians in our current pluralistic society.
A Worldview Perspective on Bible Study
By Freddy Davis
Bible study is a very common practice among Christians and there are a lot of different ways to go about it. Some of the more popular approaches include:
But there is another type that is possible, and one that is very needed in modern times because of the fact there are so many false beliefs these days competing with our biblical worldview beliefs. That other type is “Worldview Study.”
Why Do We Need a Worldview Perspective?
Worldview beliefs are bedrock foundational beliefs that determine, for every person, how they evaluate what is real vs. what is fantasy. It is the most basic foundation for their religious beliefs.
By definition, a worldview is “the assumptions people make about the nature of reality.” As an assumption, worldview beliefs are generally believed without analysis – they are just assumed to be true. This makes them a bit tricky for most people because they are pretty much unconscious. If you consider some belief to be fantasy, you won’t even view it as a possibility to be believed.
But since people’s worldview is mostly unconscious, it is also easy for other beliefs to sneak in and become part of their worldview system. That happens because people hear a certain belief being asserted, and if it seems to come from a credible source, or if enough people claim it is true, they will accept it without ever consciously considering whether or not it is actually true. Thus, many Christians end up adding beliefs to their worldview platform that are not actually biblical beliefs.
Most Christians are aware that there is such a thing as a biblical worldview, and know it is the belief set revealed in the Bible. At the same time, they don’t know how to specifically identify the beliefs that can be labeled “Worldview Beliefs.” That said, it is actually a fairly easy type of study to do, so let’s consider how this works.
Worldview Perspective Vs. Traditional Perspective
At this point, you may be wondering how a worldview perspective is different from the approach to understanding Christian beliefs that has traditionally been used. Traditionally, Christian discipleship has dealt with this matter by first assuming that the Bible is true, and simply searching out all the doctrines in the Bible that make up the Christian faith.
Now don’t get this wrong; there is nothing wrong with that approach. That kind of study is important to get an overall picture of Christian beliefs.
However, in our modern pluralistic society, we need to add to that. We live in a society that is permeated with many false beliefs from various sources. Because of that, not only do we need to have a big picture understanding of Christian beliefs, we also need to be able to carefully distinguish biblical beliefs from false, non-biblical beliefs (many of which may even be reasonable sounding on the surface). So, instead of only studying Christian doctrine, we need to also become aware of what constitutes the essential beliefs of a worldview system in general, and focus in specifically on those beliefs.
Essentials Vs. Non-essentials
This brings us to one other distinction we need to make – essential vs. non-essential beliefs. The truth is, there are a lot of doctrines that are a part of the Christian faith that are not worldview essentials. This does NOT mean they are unimportant, they actually are. What it does mean is that they are not a part of the core set of doctrines that are essential to the faith. There are doctrines a person can get completely wrong and still be saved. Perhaps the place we can most easily see this dynamic is in the different churches and denominations that are still solidly Christian, but believe different things regarding matters not directly connected to a person’s salvation.
So, What Are the Essentials?
In a nutshell, the essentials relate specifically to the doctrinal elements of a faith system that identify the outer lines around it. Any belief inside the lines are a part of it, and any that don’t fit within it belong to some other faith system.
In generic terms, the line is drawn by finding the answer to three particular questions. Every faith system in existence can answer these three questions. This fact also gives us a means of comparing and contrasting the various ones. The questions are:
1. What is the nature of ultimate reality?
2. What is a human being?
3. What is the ultimate a person can gain from this life?
For the Christian faith, we can simplify these questions in a way that helps us as we consider how to study the Bible using a worldview paradigm.
1. Who is God?
2. What is man?
3. What is salvation and how do we achieve it?
As mentioned before, there are a lot of doctrines in the Christian faith other than the three listed here. Those others constitute the non-essentials – those that do not directly relate to our salvation.
How to Do Bible Study Using a Worldview Perspective
Using a worldview perspective to do Bible study is actually quite simple. All we do is read the Bible and, as we read, note how it answers the three essential worldview questions.
Obviously the text deals with a lot of other matters besides the topics of these three questions. This fact lets us know that not every verse is going to deal with these three questions. Those other topics become the focus of other types of studies, as was mentioned above. But in doing a worldview study, these three are all we are dealing with. These are the topics that get us to the essential core beliefs of a biblical worldview.
The primary designations used to do this kind of study include the following:
God (Ultimate Reality) = Something in the text relates to the nature of ultimate reality.
Man = Something in the text relates to the nature of a human being.
Salvation= Something in the text relates to the ultimate a person can experience in life.
As we study in this way, in order to drill down as deeply as possible, we also need to note particular subcategories within each of the three designations.
God (Ultimate Reality)
In Scripture, God is spoken of in a number of different ways. In order to truly understand the fullness of what is taught, we must tease out those distinctions. Thus, when we read the Bible, we are specifically looking for the different ways God has revealed Himself. The various subcategories we find include:
Thus, when you read Scripture, note what it teaches about God using these categories. By doing that, you will zero in on a biblical worldview understanding of God.
Man
When it comes to man, we have the same type of dynamic we had with God. There is more than one aspect to man’s existence revealed in Scripture. Specifically, the Bible reveals that there are two important aspects of human existence we must grapple with.
Many people begin their religious beliefs with the concept that human beings are essentially good, and that sin only comes into the picture when they do bad things. The Bible has an entirely different view of man and reveals him as made in God’s image, but fallen.
Salvation
When it comes to salvation, many people think of it as simply a one time event where a person receives Christ into their life by uttering a prayer of repentance. But biblical salvation is not an event, it is a process that is explained by the words justification, sanctification, and glorification.
Worldview Bible Study
It should be clearly noted that ANY and EVERY kind of Bible study is good and important. The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself and His ways to mankind. Every approach to study will provide unique insights as we seek to know God as fully as we possibly can.
Thus, using worldview concepts is not intended to replace any other study method. It is intended to be added to those already in use. That said, using a worldview approach is not one of the traditional methods taught to people desiring to do Bible study – and it should be. This approach will give insights into the essential core elements of biblical Christianity in ways that none of the others can. The knowledge gained from this kind of study gives us some of the clearest understanding possible about the essence of the Christian faith. It will be a valuable tool for you to add to your Bible study toolbox.
[Note: To date MarketFaith Ministries has written several Bible commentaries that use this worldview Bible study system. Anyone interested in these commentaries can find them at: https://marketfaith-org.3dcartstores.com/]
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MarketFaith Ministries exists to equip Christians to become more knowledgeable of and confident in their Christian faith by providing worldview training. We have resources to help individuals as well as the ability to train congregations to stand strong for Christ in our rapidly declining society. Contact us today at 850-383-9756 or info@marketfaith.org and let’s discuss how to bring this cutting edge training to you. Also, be sure and check out the free worldview training resources as well as those available for purchase on the MarketFaith Ministries website at www.marketfaith.org.
And, as always, if you have any thoughts, opinions or suggestions about how MarketFaith Ministries can help you, please feel free, at any time, to call (850-383-9756) or e-mail (info@marketfaith.org). We are here to serve you.
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Reprinted from Worldview Made Practical; a free e-zine produced by MarketFaith Ministries featuring practical teaching and life tools to help Christians become more effective in their faith life. Discover MarketFaith Ministries at www.marketfaith.org.
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If you are interested in having Freddy Davis or Tal Davis present one of our Worldview Training Opportunities or to share about worldview and its practical implications at your church or organization, please contact MarketFaith Ministries to schedule your event. All contact information is at the bottom of this e-zine.
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Freddy Davis
MarketFaith Ministries
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This article could well have been only a paragraph long. We could simply have written this:
Done. Nothing too controversial here. Sounds a bit vanilla, doesn’t it?
But if this is vanilla ice cream, it comes stuffed with red hots.
Because there are two kinds of people in your church who won’t let a straightforward description of a biblical worldview suffice without a major debate. Let’s call them, hypothetically speaking, “Spencer the Specifist” and “Amber the Ambiguist.”
SPECIFICITY VS. AMBIGUITY
Spencer argues that the biblical worldview needs to be a lot more specific than what we’ve described. The biblical worldview, he explains, stakes a clear biblical position on everything from welfare benefits to how to avoid a recession to which candidates God favors in the midterms. Let’s be clear: Christians should approach every dilemma with truth and wisdom cultivated in the soil of God’s Word. But Spencer goes beyond this to say there’s one biblical stance when it comes to each issue, and if you don’t hold this biblical stance on each issue, you don’t have a biblical worldview.
While Spencer lobbies for greater specificity, our hypothetical Amber is forever arguing for greater ambiguity. Are we saying that a biblical worldview must be theistic (as in, God created the universe and remains distinct from it)? If so, then Amber thinks that’s too narrow. The Christian God should be defined more loosely, she suggests. For example, if we interpret God in a more panentheistic mold, in which God unfolds/incarnates himself into the creation, that plays better with other religions, especially Buddhism.
Are we saying that a biblical worldview teaches that Jesus is the Savior? That God judges personal sin? That biblical views on sexuality are still binding for Christians today? Then, according to Amber, our “biblical worldview” is too narrow. In fact, it’s worse: our “biblical worldview” is really just us trying to maintain power by reducing Christianity to our own narrow version of it.
CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE
As you read this, you probably feel more sympathetic toward either Spencer or Amber, but if you’re anything like us, you’re probably a bit annoyed by both. Perhaps when it comes to navigating the Spencers and Ambers in your life, you feel a bit like Roxanne Ritchi in the movie Megamind. As the “damsel in distress,” Roxanne finds herself in the middle of yet another war of clichés between the dueling Megamind and Metro Man. She says, “Girls, girls. You’re both pretty. Can I go home now?”
Yet, we want to suggest that this is not a battle you want to back out of and leave to the Spencers and Ambers. Having a worldview based on biblical truth is still a really important concept worth sticking up for.
So, what makes the concept of having a biblical worldview so important?
The answer is simple: Every person fills in these worldview questions with answers from somewhere. You abdicate here, and the people you should be discipling will get their biggest questions answered from outside Christ. As nice as it would feel, there’s no neutrality when it comes to these big worldview questions. When you see Christianity as more of a collection of therapeutic insights and practices—and less a worldview that speaks truth into life’s biggest questions—you’ll find your Christian beliefs falling like dominoes under cultural pressure.
PLAYING DOMINOES
If dominoes are standing close enough together, it’s naïve to hope one can fall without causing the next one to fall. “Your point?” Amber asks with a yawn. The point is, if you care about “contend[ing] for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3), then you’ll pay attention to falling dominoes.
Here’s an example (and we’ll use Amber’s own faith evolution so she’ll pay attention). An early domino to fall for our hypothetical Amber had to do with gender. Based on New Testament passages, the leaders in her church held that, biblically, the elders and main preacher needed to be qualified men. She began to realize just how misogynistic and unjust this was. Women were being left out of these positions of importance despite being gifted for them. Under the guise of biblical faithfulness, these men were maintaining privilege and power over the church and marginalizing gifted women.
The next domino used the same logic with different characters. The Ambiguist realized that the church had long been doing the same kind of marginalizing with members of the LGBTQ community. Gay couples were perceived as living in sin, even when their relationships exhibited the fruits of love, joy, peace, etc., just as well as many heterosexual couples. Amber concluded that heterosexuals in the church had been maintaining their privilege and power by marginalizing gay people.
When the Ambiguist zoomed out, she realized that the evangelical church had been working this formula outside the church, as well. How is it that the church, which claims to carry on Jesus’ mission of love, feels it appropriate to condemn Muslims, for example, to the category of “lost”? (The Muslims she knows seem just as Christlike as the “saved.”) Thus, the “exclusivity of Christ,” which now seemed to Amber to be a contradiction in terms, was the next domino to fall. Overseas missions, which she now viewed as imperialistic, fell next. The next domino was evangelism itself, as her earlier enthusiasm for the Great Commission was eclipsed by pressing political causes.
Eventually, even the bedrock notion of a God separate from humanity seemed a belief that marginalized people. Some of the spiritual authors she had been reading, such as Richard Rohr, called themselves panentheists, meaning that God incarnates himself into creation. She too began to see herself as a panentheist, and she reasoned that, since we’re already part of God, it’s barbaric to think we need some bloody sacrifice on a cross to appease God and reconcile with him. So, with this upgrade to a better view of God, more dominoes fell.
What do you think of these falling dominoes? Is it basically harmless? Or, to put it bluntly, has Amber left the faith to where now she’s in spiritual danger? As you well know, the question is way more real-life than hypothetical. While you might have a Spencer or two on your church board, you’ve probably got a few Ambers in your youth group . . . and maybe under your roof. You’ve probably got some Specifists and Ambiguists leading small groups. The need for discerning how you should feel about all this is past due.
BULLSEYE BELIEFS
So, if you are watching these sectarian fights and falling dominoes and your heart hurts, then you’re seeing how important it is to disciple people into a biblical worldview.
At the risk of disappointing Spencer, we want to suggest that you picture Christian beliefs mapped out on an archery target and then ask which of those beliefs should form the innermost bullseye. If you don’t like the idea of faith crumbling all around you, that’s where you start. You return to the Bible’s bullseye beliefs and build on that.
This is because the point of faith isn’t to pursue what feels most therapeutic for you. Or to reinvent faith until it best matches your sense of justice. Those paths will get you nothing more than a pile of fallen dominoes. We need to build our lives on what’s true. If Christianity is true, then start with its bullseye beliefs.
Like what? Chad Ragsdale, in his Renew.org Real Life Theology book Christian Convictions: Discerning the Essential, Important, and Personal Elements, gives four “bullseye beliefs” on which we need to build our lives: (1) God exists, (2) Jesus is Lord, (3) Jesus is the risen Savior, and (4) Salvation is by grace and not by human effort. These bullseye beliefs are worth becoming our core convictions. They’re worth defending and persuading others of. The Bible’s bullseye beliefs are planks that comprise the “faith once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”
If we don’t start with God’s true answers to life’s biggest questions, we’re standing lightweight and fragile, swaying at the mercy of cultural winds. Let’s get serious about building our worldviews, and the worldviews of those we disciple, on these core convictions and build from there. Again, when it comes to these big-picture questions, there’s no neutrality. Someone or something will provide our answers. Followers of Jesus “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
EXAMPLES
To close, here’s a sampling of basic biblical answers to some of these big-picture questions. However, first a caveat: Having true beliefs is only a part of biblical faith. Biblically, faith includes trusting in Jesus to save us and placing our allegiance in Jesus as king (see Mark Moore’s Faithful Faith, Book No. 5 in Renew.org’s Real Life Theology series). We can’t treat our faith as if it’s merely a checklist for true beliefs, when having true beliefs alone leaves us at the starting gate. With that caveat, here’s a sampling of basic biblical answers to some of life’s big-picture questions:
1. What is our purpose? God created us to know and follow him as we fill the earth and reign over it as the managers he has put in charge.
2. What is our core problem? We fall short of God’s glory because we pridefully resist his authority as a threat to our well-being.
3. How is this problem solved? We turn from our self-centered ways and trust and give our allegiance to Jesus the Messiah as our Savior, Lord, and King, and he forgives us, fills us with his Spirit, and restores us to our original image.
4. How should we live? We should live according to the way of Jesus the Messiah, which can be summarized as loving God and loving people, as he teaches.
5. How does it end? We are either with the Lord or apart from him in eternity, based on our relationship with Jesus through faith in him and his gospel.
Bobby Harrington serves as point-leader of Renew.org and Discipleship.org, both collaborative, disciple-making organizations. He is the founding and lead pastor of Harpeth Christian Church, just outside of Nashville, Tennessee.
Daniel McCoy serves as editorial director for Renew.org as well as an online adjunct instructor for Ozark Christian College.
A Requested Reply…
A mindshift occurs when our belief system changes. It has everything to do with our worldview and our identity. When we align with the King and have the mind of Christ, our spirit agrees with Him and His Word. When that happens our spirit shifts our mind which will then shift our emotions and will. We will act on the basis of what we truly believe, not just what we profess to believe.
If our worldview matches Jesus, we believe that we are seated in heavenly places with satan under our feet. We believe that we are more than conquerors and stand on the authority that he gave us. We have no fear and believe that we can expect victory and the gates of hades will not prevail against us. We believe that we are in a war and that He returns as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Warrior King, and that time is short and days are perilous.
Because most of His Body is sitting in the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the enemy has stolen its identity, individually and corporately. Even the good from that tree is not life-giving or life-sustaining but rather deception and death. New info from Barna reports that less than 50% of pastors have a Biblical worldview.
We are in the process of completing a series on GAPS, God’s Appointed Principles, subjects rarely taught in the church. I’m attaching a draft of Worldview and Ekklesia, part of that series. The books by Dean Briggs and Ed Silvoso go deeply into the call of the ekklesia, crucial to having a mindshift which will make our spirits soar with fresh revelation that opens the door to victory. That’s necessary if we are to Arise and Shine In spite of the darkness, we go expecting Glory! He says to all of us, “Come up higher!”
All to say that Jesus said we were to believe, know where He was from and where He was going, and know His design and plans for His people to use tools to defeat the enemy. This mindset/the mind of Christ/His worldview is crucial to accomplishing our assignments, individually and corporately.
An awakened spirit which rules over our flesh and soul will cause a mindshift which carries the new wine He is releasing to those who are ready to receive it. Have to shed those old wineskins!
Well, more than a few lines. I am passionate about what God is doing today! It’s an exciting time to be alive. The latter days will be greater than the former!
Blessings of reformation!
Barb Bucklin
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WORLDVIEW –
Here’s a quote to ponder, “People may not live what they profess, but they will always live what they believe.” The implication is that if you want to change the way a person lives, you must first change the way he/she believes. Worldview is like a filter or set of filters through which we see the world.
A worldview is a set of presuppositions or assumptions which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world. Worldview is what you really believe as opposed to what one may profess to believe.
Worldview is essential for understanding any culture because elements in the culture find their explanation in the worldview of the entire group.
As a believer, we want to have a worldview that aligns with the worldview of Jesus. Then you will act on what you truly believe, not on what you profess to believe. Less than that could put you in the column of unbelief – when what Jesus told us is that we are to believe.
Barna recently said only 10% of people who profess to be U.S. born again believers have a Biblical worldview. If you look at the youth, it falls to 1%