Many people today feel like they are adrift in a deep and expansive sea of competing worldviews. They are searching for truth and meaning for their lives. Too often, however, they ignore the greatest treasure they have access to for building their own worldview — the Bible. In his book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment (Crossway, 2007), page 45, Tim Challies laments this appalling fact:
"Sadly, many who consider themselves Christians have a worldview that is completely inconsistent with their profession of faith. It is a worldview premised not on the truths in the Bible but on a person's flawed understanding of the world. It is ultimately a worldview rooted in a person's own sinfulness. The worldview we see around us is one that refuses to delineate an antithesis between good and evil. Conversely, a worldview is rooted in an affirmation of the opposing forces of good and evil."
Christians need to develop for themselves their own personal worldview based upon the Bible. In other words, we each must put some effort into establishing what the Bible has to say about who God is, what this world is all about, who we are, who Jesus is, and how we should live our lives. And, that’s only the beginning, because a worldview involves much more than those initial topics. In reality, we will never complete this significant and life-impacting task, because we need to revise our worldview regularly as we learn more and more from God’s Word and as we face new experiences and challenges.
Our personal worldview relates to how we live our lives, not just to how we think or what we believe. In fact, a proper worldview will manifest itself in how we live, because a worldview should change how we live. W. Gary Phillips, William E. Brown, and John Stonestreet make this point in the following quote taken from their volume, Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview, 2nd ed. (Sheffield, 2008), page 195:
"Just because we can explain the world from a biblical framework does not necessarily mean that we possess a biblical worldview. ... A biblical worldview is more than a means of interpreting and explaining the world. If it is true we will be driven to conform our personal thoughts and actions, and even the world around us, to the guidelines revealed in Scripture. ... Once we know the biblical perspective of life and the world, we must use it to forge a biblical agenda for how we can properly act in the world."
After receiving an invitation to speak on the topic of a Christian worldview, I prepared a series of four messages for a conference at Kaysville Bible Church (KBC) in Kaysville, UT. The church video-recorded the four sessions and made them available on its YouTube channel. Please note that the last page of the notes includes a list of recommended resources (including the two I’ve quoted from above) I recommend on the topic of worldviews.
With Jesus Christ as your Captain and the Word of God as your vessel, set sail on the sea of life. Find in the Bible the One Who calms the storms, Who is the Author of salvation from sin, Who is the Creator of the universe, and Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Links to YouTube Videos of the Sessions
- Session 1: What Is a Biblical Worldview?
- Session 2: How Does My Worldview Affect My Faith?
- Session 3: The World’s Wicked Worldview
- Session 4: The Believer’s Faith-Driven Worldview