Forming a Worldview

   

"Having fitted your experiences into a whole, having related them to each other, you say of the world, 'This is the way things fit together. This is the world as I understand it.' '' - S.E. Frost

After reading through Chapter 1 of Keith Ogorek's, "A Clear View", here are my thoughts...

       

       A worldview is simply a person's way of understanding the world. Each worldview is personal and dynamic in the sense that it differs from person to person. There are no two people in the world that share the exact same worldview. This idea can stifle the practice of condemning a group of people to a certain stereotype. For example, after meeting a liberal Christian, someone may want to draw the conclusion that all Christians share those liberal views. However, by accepting the fact that all worldviews are different and distinct, this unjust assumption can be avoided in the future. 

        I believe that a person's worldview is formed based on their ideas about how prevalent the role of God is in their lives. As a result, Deists, Atheists, and Christians will never share a worldview, because they each have distinctly different ideas of where God "rates" in their lives. Also, it seems clear to me that a person's worldview is influenced by what he perceives to be truth in the world around him. Does he believe that there is sin? Does he believe that there is good and evil? Ultimately, I believe the answers to these questions shape the formation of a person's worldview, and those answers are rooted in a person's beliefs about God and His amount of sovereignty. 

       When forming a personal worldview, there are many questions a person must consider: questions about God, Man, and Existence. Though there are numerous relavent questions, I believe that one of the most vital ones to consider is: "How do we know anything, and can we know truth?" If a person really takes the time to examine this theological question, I believe he will discover that the only absolute, infallible, never-changing truth that exists is that which is found in the Bible, and a person who puts 100% of his faith and trust in the Word of the Lord, is a person that will never be led astray by the dangerous lies of this fallen world.

      A person's worldview also acts like the "lens" through which that person views the issues of life. This includes issues such as: education, family, money, work, etc., but perhaps the most important issue here is money. Matthew 6:21 says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." and Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." If a person takes a look at where he spends most of his money, he will discover what he cares most about. In addition, the thing that he cares most about will affect the way he lives his life, the decisions he makes, and the things he believes. Therefore, money has a large influence on how a person chooses to live his life.