Worldview is serious business …
It’s how we see and interpret everything from the inside out. Our worldview is the internal lens through which we view everything. There’s real truth to the saying “perception is reality.” At least to the one perceiving.
How We See Is What We Think Is Real
“Worldview” is translated from weltanschauung, a German word meaning “a comprehensive conception or image of the universe and of humanity’s relation to it.”
It’s how we see and interpret things. It’s what we perceive as reality. And so there’s a real sense in which it becomes real to us.
Here’s what Jesus said …
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear (healthy), your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad (evil, wicked), your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matt. 6:22-23 NASB).
Jesus said that if our “eye”—our perspective, our vantage point—is clear and healthy, our entire personal world will be full of light. Clarity about REALITY is advantageous and will bring success in life.
How we see and interpret things is vital to us. We instinctively crave a T.O.E … a theory of everything. The German word above helps us. Worldview is a “comprehensive conception” of things and how our story fits into the big picture. The key for the Christ-follower is to grow in the mind of Christ.
What Is Real?
J. Budziszewski said, “Your worldview has to have the same shape that reality does.”
Some may say, “What is reality? What is truth? What’s real for you may not be real for me. Your truth and my truth may not be the same.”
But what if there is an ULTIMATE REALITY? And it’s not determined by us? If there is an ultimate reality, and if our worldview is not shaped according to that reality … then we are living in a LIE. We may not even know it.
Serious stuff. Human beings are uniquely designed to actually think about how we think. Animals cannot. We have unique capacities of conscience and discernment.
ULTIMATE REALITY … any other shape is a lie.
Explore these sites to go deeper into developing a Christian worldview and exploring ideas which shape culture: