A worldview is the framework from which we view reality and make sense of life and the world: a comprehensive conception or image of the universe and of man’s relationship to it. It is the spectacles through which we view and make sense of the world. According to David Noebel, author of Understanding the Times: “[It’s] any ideology, philosophy, theology, movement or religion that provides an overarching approach to understanding God, the world and man’s relations to God and the world.” From Del Tackett’s article “What’s a Worldview Anyway?” in Focus on the Family magazine . . .
“Whether conscious or subconscious, every person has some type of worldview. A personal worldview is a combination of all you believe to be true, and what you believe becomes the driving force behind every emotion, decision and action. Therefore, it affects your response to every area of life: from philosophy to science, theology and anthropology to economics, law, and politics, art and social order— everything. For example, let’s suppose you have bought the idea that beauty is in the eye of the beholder (secular relative truth) as opposed to beauty as defined by God’s purity and creativity (absolute truth). Then any art piece, no matter how vulgar or abstract, would be considered ‘art,’ a creation of beauty.”
Unfortunately, many cannot articulate their worldview, and worse, most haven’t even given their worldview any thought. Thus, for most people, including Christians, their worldview is made of disjointed and conflicting beliefs. They hold various fragmented beliefs yet make decisions which are contrary to them, e.g., vote for candidates who go against their ideals, take a job which causes them to work against the very values they claim to believe, or make life decisions in contradiction to the views or values they claim. These unexamined worldviews leave people without direction or purpose. For what we believe about the world determines how we deal with the forces we encounter. When our worldview is inconsistent, we live and act in a manner inconsistent with our core values. This is merely existing rather than truly living an authentic life.
While no one has a complete and perfect worldview, some are more correct than others. A great deal of the worldviews people hold are plain wrong. I understand this may be hard for many to hear, coming across as intolerant. My openness to the right and wrong, the black and white of life, comes from my worldview and my understanding of the nature of a valid worldview. A valid worldview is not made up of the philosophies which makes us feel the best or conflicts the least with our personal desires. A genuine worldview is based on reality. The closer our worldview is to reality the more valid it is, the more useful it is to living a true and authentic life.
This development of the worldview will be the ongoing work, the unwritten mission of this website. As we work to understand what the Bible is, how we got it, and what it teaches, we are developing our worldview. Our goal is to view the world through the lens of God’s Word. God and His Word are the truth on which we should base our understanding of life (Matt: 4:4; Matt 24:35; John 1:14, 17; 14:6; 17:17; 18:37).
Debate is a good thing. Debate helps us formulate and verbalize our position, having it tested and put up against counter arguments. This is an important part of developing our worldview. In this case, I am not speaking of formal debates before an audience or in technical, peer-review papers, which has its place. I am speaking of the informal discussion which allows for the presentation of points and counter points that happen between friends in a student lounge, over a meal or, dare I say, in a Sunday School class. When presenting our opinion, we shouldn’t use the phrase “I don’t want to start a debate,” because this is exactly what we need to do. We do not need rude, emotional arguments, but we do need to get the church talking, discussing, and yes, even debating the deeper and the meatier things of God. To adapt C. S. Lewis’ phrase, “Why do we need good debate? Because there is so much bad debate.”
How on earth are we to grow? How are we to develop our theology and philosophy, even our ability to do theology and philosophy if we cannot debate? How will we be able to discuss our views with a hostile world if we cannot even debate within the church? I know “debate” is a loaded term for many, but I will continue to use it because it is what we so desperately need. We must be able to put our ideas and concepts out there for others, in love, to challenge and test us for the purpose of helping us shape and develop our belief system. Despite all the good that proper debate can do for our theological health and growth, all too often debate digresses into heated arguments, personal attacks, and animosity. Far too many see it as a contest causing much unneeded friction. For most the answer is, “don’t do it”. How sad!
Formal debate is a contest one enters with the goal of winning the argument. That is not what I am talking about here. The kind of debate I want us to embrace is more like a discussion but with the caveat we must be willing to correct, challenge, and question others as well as accepting the same in return. Above all, this must be done in an attitude of humility and as an act love which seeks to help each other to grow. This is how we all win. Winning is mutual growth in the breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding of the things of God. Winning is not getting one up on each other. We desire to glorify God not to show how “great” we are, but to show the greatness of God.
Some people in the church and in our culture are overly sensitive to confrontation. They see debating as always falling into emotional arguments. They have a negative opinion of any kind of theological discussion which would allow for disagreement, counterarguments, or questioning a position, just wanting to “study the Bible” and not get into any disputes. Many just want to drop their views on others without being held accountable for what they say. This results in shallow doctrinal understanding, the lack of growth, the inability to correct erroneous positions; creating confused believers who are unable to discern the truth. While peace and love does not equate to never openly disagreeing, being disagreeable is never honoring to our LORD.
Questioning other’s positions and inviting questions of our own positions through the give and take of perceptions, ideas, and supporting arguments ought to be the essence of true debate. The emphasis should be placed on a desire for personal growth, not on winning an argument. We also need to recognize the validity of our position does not derive from the quickness of our wit or the volume of our response, but from its conformity to truth. A position is true because it stands on God’s truth alone. Our task is not to create “our own truth” but to actively seek and discover God’s truth.
To accomplish this, we must debate amongst ourselves strengthening our theology through these illuminating opportunities. We need to understand it is through debate we can learn from others; it does not require us to change their perspective. Let our arguments, the Holy Spirit, and God’s most useful tool — time —, take care of it. We must also be receptive to the prospect we might be the ones in need of an adjustment. At the very least, we ought to agree with the old but true adage, “We need to agree to disagree without being disagreeable.” Debate does not necessitate the attacking or the putting down of other Christians; Satan and the world are more than willing to do that.
As I conclude, you may be wondering, “where is the biblical worldview?”. Well, it’s not here! There is no one-liner, bumper-sticker quote, or Facebook meme which is going to contain a complete true biblical worldview. We start with the Bible, we study the Bible, we develop our ideas of how life works from the Bible, then we test them against the Bible. God’s Word from start to finish. We will have to work at it (2 Tim 2:15). Some just want the Spirit to impart it to them; sorry it doesn’t work that way.
It will be a battle to gain a biblical worldview. The world and its ruler, Satan, does not want us to have God’s perspective. He would rather we were blind to God and His truth. We will have to do battle. Remember, debate is not our battleground but the training site to strength us for the battle. The battle is not against the physical world or each other but against spiritual powers (Eph 6:12) looking to keep us in the dark, delusional and living in sin. Satan does not need to get us to directly worship him but to simply ignore God and live our lives with inconsistent self-logic as if there is no Creator Who holds us accountable. It is war! A daily battle for our communities, families, and our very souls. Yet we know from Scripture, the war has already been won (Eph 1:19-22)! King Jesus is the victor, and we inherit the victory. So, continue to follow our blog and work with us as together we develop a biblical worldview, then debate it with your brothers and sisters in Christ to sharpen it (Prov 27:17). The victory is ours; let’s take hold of it!
Until the next time we see you here at CultivatingFaith.org, God Bless! #CultivatingFaithOrg
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