Worldviews

Did you know that you have one? We all have a way in which we understand, interpret and apply ourselves to the world around us.

First, we must take the information we have acquired about a given situation in front of us, understand it in light of cultural principles, and make sure we interpret it correctly. This might look something like a discussion I recently had with my high schoolers:

What if a sophomore girl, passing one of you freshman guys in the hallway, winked on the way by? What would you think? How would you interpret her actions? What would you do about it?

Most of the guys jumped to the "clear" conclusion that she liked "me", and that they were going to ask her to the next dance or on a date.

That would probably be a correct interpretation based upon the usual thinking and actions of our American culture. However, there is also the possibility that the girl is "just kidding" and "messing around with a freshman". As cold as it may seem to us guys, there are women out there that will do that...I suppose we deserve it most of the time.

We are evaluating life with our perspective all the time! This is our worldview. It's like a map of New York City. When you are standing in that seemingly chaotic environment, it seems like a huge mess. But if you take out a city map, find out where you are and where you want to go, you will begin to see the purpose in the world around you.

The same is true for our worldview. It's like a map that makes sense of the world around us. When we correctly apply what we know, it gets us moving in a helpful direction.

The only problem is this: everyone seemingly has a different worldview. I am currently studying the three major worldviews in our world. Of course, there are many variations to these three, but every worldview seems to be connected in one way or another, to one of these three worldviews. So, if we want to engage in order to make an eternal difference in the lives of others, we need to know something about who 'they' are and what 'they' assume to be true through their perspective and worldview.

While looking at this, we will use four worldview questions to create a table for discussion on this subject. The worldview questions will be termed the "Ultimate Questions." The Ultimate Questions are:

1. Origins - How did everything get here?

2. Meaning - Why are we here?

3. Morality - What is right and wrong, and who decides?

4. Destiny - What happens when we die?

1. Naturalism

Naturalism is the idea that nature, or the physical, is all that exists. There is no supernatural, and no metaphysical. People who assert a naturalist perspective believe that all matter has always existed. Matter, in the physical world, is eternal. Just to compare, I believe that God is eternal, but a naturalist would believe that matter is eternal.

They will generally assert a belief in some evolutionary development over millions or billions of years. The story generally goes like this: About 15.5 billion years ago [it was 14 billion in 2007], all the matter in the universe was pushed together into a dot smaller than a dot on this page. [Yep, that's the theory] It was spinning super-fast, and finally exploded...this is where they get the "big bang" connection. The explosion formed all the planets and most of the stars almost immediately and the universe began expanding rapidly.

About 4.5 billion years ago, the earth was a hot molten planet. It rained on the rocks for millions of years and finally, around 3 billion years ago, in the prebiotic soup, just the right chemicals came together at just the right time to produce life. That 'simple' cell organism found something to eat and someone to 'marry' and over the course of 3 billion years, slowly mutated into every form of life we see today by random chance mutations.

Now I want to be very clear: I don't believe this stuff. There are serious and huge problems with this theory. The problems are not just with Christianity, but with sound intelligent reasoning. However, a majority of people in the Western World [of which America is] believes this in some way or another. So it is very important to understand other perspectives. Paul could only speak to those on Mars Hill in Acts 18 because he understood and could apply not only his worldview, but his hearers perspectives as well. This is how he gained such a platform with them!

But let's go back to the naturalist. There are many variations to this theory, but they all stem from the same "root" teaching. So the answer to the first ultimate question on origins for the naturalist is that everything came from natural means. There was no supernatural involved. Everything that is 'true' for the naturalist is physical, the metaphysical is not true. [Does that mean that any thoughts are not true, since thoughts in and of themselves are not physical? Haven't heard a good reply from a naturalist on that one yet, so please feel free to respond.]

Since the naturalist believes that we are nothing more than a cosmic mistake in all of this, there really is no meaning to life. Although we can come up with meaning on our own [like living for our personal pleasure, wanting more money, living for immediate gratification, etc.], there is no real meaning to life. You live, you die, and that's it.

Again, since life is just an accident, we will not be able to validate a higher standard that isn't also accidental. If my brain is just a random accident, then all the thoughts that come from it are as well. The same will be true for everyone else's ideas and thoughts, therefore, no one can form a code of morality that won't inherently be accidental in nature. Therefore, the naturalist will come up with his own code of ethics that meet his own fancy or needs. He may state that stealing is wrong, but cannot intellectually support that standard in his own worldview. He must either steal the Christian worldview for a minute, or be totally inconsistent with his as he hopes his ethics will stop others from stealing what he has worked so hard to accumulate.

Since the naturalist does not believe in the supernatural or metaphysical, then when he dies, he dies and that's it. There is no afterlife and no judgment.

You can see how these ideas could rapidly move someone down a line of chaos in their beliefs and actions. "I choose what is right and wrong" [sounds like the days of the judges when "everyone did what was right in their own eyes" - Judges 17:6; 21:25], "there is no meaning to life", and "I won't be judged"...that could lead down some very interesting paths indeed, for we know that beliefs lead to values, and people act on what they value in life. Therefore, if I have a naturalist belief, then I will have values based upon my feelings and emotions and wants, and I will act based on those, whether consistent or inconsistent.

Chew on that. Ask God to give you His eyes for other people, to understand them, but also to learn how to love them even when they are unloveable.

ESV Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Look for opportunities to ask an interesting question that will probe into the naturalist's worldview and shatter it a little, since the reasoning will not satisfy. Then always be ready to give a reason for the hope you have in Jesus Christ! For His glory. Bless you as you be salt and light. Next we will visit the transcendental worldview.