WHAT IS A WORLDVIEW?
Worldviews are simply ways of viewing the world or life. More technically, they are deep beliefs and patterns of interpretation (held by and entrenched in individuals, communities, and cultures) that serve as a map for navigating our world and a lens for interpreting reality.
For example, we may believe that religion is a crutch and people who go to church are weak or stupid. Or, we may believe in individualism and that no one has the right to tell another person what to do.
THE DEEP, UNCONSCIOUS NATURE OF WORLDVIEWS.
Worldviews are typically unexamined and highly resistant to change. Usually it requires a deep crisis, where our worldview no longer helps us live as we hoped, or fails to explain our experiences, for shift or adaptation to take place.
OVERLOOKING WORLDVIEW DYNAMICS CAUSES CONFUSION AND FRUSTRATION.
Sometimes we talk each other blue in the face (or preach till we’re red in the face) and come away, bruised and disillusioned, wondering why the other person can’t be reasonable or see things our way. But one person’s reason can seem like madness to another.
“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1Co 2:14).
THE ICEBERG PRINCIPLE.
The words and actions that we undertake in the hope of inspiring and influencing each other will be more effective when we understand the iceberg principle, the idea that most of what is happening is beneath the surface and shrouded in darkness, hidden from us and often even obscure to the person to whom we are talking. This realization should not stop us from trying to be rational or influential or loving. It should simply make us realize that God is the one who ultimately makes truth and life happen.
“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me” (Joh 6:43-45).
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow” (1Co 3:6-7).
