The importance of comparing Worldviews
Why have a whole week dedicated to comparing
our culture's worldview to a Biblical worldview?
Dictionary.com defines Worldview as “a particular philosophy of life”. Alison Gray’s 2011 journal article in International Psychiatry says “Everyone has a worldview. If you think you do not have a worldview then probably your view is the default one of your society, which in the UK’s case is a form of agnostic, capitalist, scientific materialism.” And she defines it this way: “A worldview is a collection of attitudes, values, stories and expectations about the world around us, which inform our every thought and action. Worldview is expressed in ethics, religion, philosophy, scientific beliefs and so on (Sire, 2004). A worldview is how a culture works out in individual practice.” (Gray)
When we (the school board and executive leadership team) say we are imparting a “Biblical Worldview” it is a “new name for an old subject” (Autio) When you sit down to read the scriptures, you are looking for direction from God on how to make sense of your own issues, cultures, problems, and world events. The Bible is “full of Godly wisdom to be used by Bible readers in the construct and development” of questions like Who am I? Where did I come from? What is true and false? Does God exist? If He does, how do I respond to him? We look to God’s word to direct us on “how to interpret our world, [our] morality, and [our] value and belief system.”
The startling reality is that Christian parents are losing. 64% of “18–29-year-olds who grew up in church tell Barna they have withdrawn from church involvement as an adult after having been active as a child or teen”. (Kinnaman) From a Barna study:
The research indicated that everyone has a worldview, but relatively few people have a biblical worldview – even among devoutly religious people. The survey discovered that only 9% of born again Christians have such a perspective on life. The numbers were even lower among other religious classifications: Protestants (7%), adults who attend mainline Protestant churches (2%) and Catholics (less than one-half of 1%). The denominations that produced the highest proportions of adults with a biblical worldview were non-denominational Protestant churches (13%), Pentecostal churches (10%) and Baptist churches (8%).
Among the most prevalent alternative worldviews was postmodernism, which seemed to be the dominant perspective among the two youngest generations (i.e., the Busters and Mosaics).
Our students are in the middle of “working out” their worldview. This week’s topics are subjects our kids are already talking about between each other and see on social media. What they view on social media is a secular humanistic worldview and our children are unwittingly learning to accept these values in a subversive and cryptic way. So, we must be intentional about addressing cultural issues by comparing societies' deceptive belief systems against the Word of God. Now is the time to get them beginning to think about what they believe.
By providing students with a week focused on these issues and topics, students are hearing what scripture says about socialism, communism, racism, and sexualism. Our students are hearing from theologians and experts in these subjects. They are asking questions in small groups and they are going home and asking their mom and dad even more questions. Maybe, even, they are opening their Bibles and looking for the answers to their questions there. Our desire in bringing in theologians and experts is to give balance to the secular humanism that they live with on a regular basis via social media and Hollywood. I am not going to lie. My sincere hope is they will come to the conclusion of a Biblical worldview. But they must come to that conclusion on their own. Otherwise, it's not their personal faith, it is their parent’s faith. And if my children build their faith upon my faith, it is like that house built in sand: it will not stand up to the persecution they will face.
Let us not allow ourselves or our children to be deceived by the Deceiver; we must not be afraid to tell our students what scripture says. Let us not shelter our teens from the ugliness and pain of the world; we must give them the ability to decide how to respond to the ugliness and pain. Let us train them up to defend their personal faith with love, compassion, and charity; Without allowing the world to influence their worldview. Let us teach them how to live in the world like Christ lived in the world; as a radical world-changer. (Carey)
God’s Word
I John 2:26-27
I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
I John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Romans 16:17-18
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
James 1:22 - 25
Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. 23For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, 24and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so— not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer— he will be blessed in what he does.
Works Cited
Autio, Clyde. “What Is Your Worldview?” Answers in Genesis, 2 May 2005, answersingenesis.org/christianity/what-is-your-worldview/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2020.
Barna, Group. “A Biblical Worldview Has a Radical Effect on a Person’s Life.” Barna Group, 2009, www.barna.com/research/a-biblical-worldview-has-a-radical-effect-on-a-persons-life/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2020.
Carey, Jesse. “What We Get Wrong About ‘In the World, Not of the World.’” RELEVANT, 14 Jan. 2016, relevantmagazine.com/faith/what-we-get-wrong-about-world-not-world/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2020.
Gray, Alison J. “Worldviews.” International Psychiatry, vol. 8, no. 3, Aug. 2011, pp. 58–60, 10.1192/s1749367600002563. Accessed 8 Oct. 2020.
Kinnaman, David. “Church Dropouts Have Risen to 64%—But What About Those Who Stay?” Barna Group, 2019, www.barna.com/research/resilient-disciples/#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20the%20percentage%20of. Accessed 8 Oct. 2020.