You have probably heard this joke: parents, concerned for the overly optimistic attitude of their son, buy him a room full of horse manure for his birthday. Upon presenting him with the “gift,” the boy with joy grabs a shovel and digs in. When the parents ask what he is doing, he quips: “with all this manure, there has to be a horse in here somewhere!”
The joke illustrates the formative influence of a “worldview.” A worldview is a description of the general operating principles by which one lives one’s life. They are like the set of glasses you wear which shapes the way in which you see the world. Like your beliefs, your worldview is the overarching paradigm through which you evaluate the world, your life, and your experiences. For the optimistic son, everything will eventually turn out for his joy/blessing; everything in life is viewed through that lens. If there is manure, there must be a horse behind it all.
For many of us, our worldview lies deep in the background. The set of presuppositions or assumptions which consciously and unconsciously impact the way we make decisions, the way we judge events around us, the way we evaluate our experiences, are largely unexplored. What is foundational is all too often unexamined. Indeed, for many (most?) our worldview is so buried, that it could easily contain beliefs which are incompatible, even contradictory. An unexamined worldview is likely to guide and influence us every day in ways which would surprise and even confound us.
This Sunday we begin a five-week sermon series on “The Christian Worldview.” While there may be as many worldviews as there are people, there are certain commonalities which can be explored. Obviously, not all worldviews are equally valid—many contain false beliefs, or bad assumptions of this world. As we speak of “the Christian worldview,” we are not talking about any single person’s beliefs, but we have in mind the biblical lens through which God desires us to understand the world. The Christian worldview is the biblical worldview, and as followers of Christ, our responsibility is to both understand that worldview and, most importantly, to life accordingly.
Worldviews are best examined by exploring the answers to basic questions. How one answers foundational questions of life help expose the underlying principles of life. Those who study these things are not always in agreement over what constitutes the right questions that best reveal one’s worldview. In general, however, a worldview assumes things about what is most fundamentally important, what is the purpose of life, how do we know right from wrong, what is the ultimate solution to the difficulties of life? How we answer these questions—not consciously, but unconsciously—form the lens, the worldview, through which we see all things.
This week in worship we will be examining, “what is really real.” That is, what remains when all else is stripped away? What is the foundational, but most central, thing in your life. Of course, things like your house, job, interests, relationships are all important, but what is “really real” for you? What is at the core of all you think and do. We will be using one verse of Scripture, Isaiah 42:8, to lay a foundation for “the Christian worldview.” In preparation for worship this week, I invite you to contemplate the following worldview questions. And ask, not only what you believe about each one, but if your conscious belief is reflected in your daily life as a believer. For instance, if you say that “God is the most foundational thing in life,” does your daily practice give evidence of that? Challenge yourself as you contemplate these questions:
- What is really real? When all else is stripped away, when all the good things are pushed aside, what is foundational? What is the “sun” around which you orbit?
- Who am I? What is a human being? What defines a human, and what can’t be removed? How do we see one another, and ourselves?
- What is right & wrong? How can we know what is true and best? Why is knowing right and wrong important in life?
- Is there hope for the world? Is there hope for me? Knowing that something is wrong, can we know the solution? What is the ultimate fix for this world?
- What is my goal and purpose? What is our destiny? How does knowing/thinking about your destiny shape and/or mold our present actions?
by Henry Knapp