The Worldview Impulse

In Christian thought, "worldview" talk is often situated in the context of (a) apologetics, where the concern is to understand other ways of thinking and develop strategies for dialogue, or (b) public policy, where the attempt is made to formulate positions on various issues from a biblical standpoint. Worldview thinking becomes the fulfillment of two kinds of desire:

(1) "I want to understand the shortcomings of other worldviews so I can better share the truth with the world around me."

(2) "I want to think in a more Christ-like way about a certain topic."

In the first case, acting on a worldview impulse, I might pick up a book about the New Age movement to get a better grasp of what its adherents really believe, with the goal of learning to speak with them more effectively about my faith. My work with Worldview Academy suggests that many young people relate to worldview thinking in this way. They are fascinated by other belief systems in the way that other people are intrigued by famous crimes -- thrilled by the minutiae and repulsed at the same time. I spoke to a student this summer who had come to realize that, as a result of such reading, he could articulate the shortcomings of Mormonism (which happened to be his interest) better than he could lay out the basics of orthodox Christianity.

In the second case, the worldview impulse might lead me to attend a lecture on how Christians should think about the environment. It's a public policy issue with big implications, one of the things people these days are expected to have a position on, and as a Christian I'd want to hold a biblical position -- assuming there was one. A lot of worldview programs aimed at a general audience rather than students seem to have this more political focus, tackling hot-button topics from the standpoint of Scripture, some doing a better job of it than others.

As valuable as these modes of thought can be, it seems to me that there is another way of approaching worldview thinking. What first attracted me to the concept was not the insight it might give me into other people's perspectives or the ability it might give me to discern the right stance on the issues of our day. The desire I had could be expressed like this:

(3) "There's a Christian way of being, and I'm not so sure that I'm living it out."

In other words, the emphasis wasn't on apologetics or public policy. It was on sanctification. In layman's terms, living the Christian life. Sure, there's plenty of overlap in the three desires -- can you really life a Christian life without engaging non-Christian belief systems, or grounding your own beliefs on Scripture? -- but while the focus of the first two modes is outward, the third looks inward. I think it's the purest worldview impulse, the notion that I have a perspective, a way of living, but it may be mistaken, and it's essential to get things right.

In a sense, my goal with Rethinking Worldview was to re-examine those outward modes of thought by starting on the inside. How would I apply worldview thinking to apologetics and politics if my starting point was living out the Christian life? Would I speak differently, in other words, if I started thinking and living differently first?

Comments

[Wayne Leman]

Mark, I'm looking forward to more from you on your new blog. As someone who grew up cross-culturally and works cross-culturally, I am fascinated by worldview. So often many people identify Christian worldview as something that looks more like North American mainstream culture (values, political views, communication styles) than biblical worldview. We all need a good dose of conversion to take on a truly biblical worldview, one that recognizes how God is at work in every culture.

[J. Mark Bertrand]

Thanks for dropping by, Wayne, and for making such a great point. God is truly at work in every culture.