In Plato’s Apology, Plato describes the moment Socrates is found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens and told to recant his philosophy. Plato quotes Socrates as having responded, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” What did Socrates mean by that and is he right? Well, in this context, Socrates meant that if he were to give up philosophizing (thinking) about life, how it is, and how it should be, he would essentially be turning his back on wisdom. Such a life, in his opinion, was not much of a life at all.
We may find Socrates’ conclusion to be a little dramatic, but there is some wisdom in it. Like the magistrates of Athens, many of us would rather live life without thinking about what we do and why we do it. We would rather float through life, feeling our way along. However, such a life is unstable. The moment we are confronted with an opposing belief that is in the slightest convincing, we may feel like we’ve been hit with a baseball out of left field. If we never examine our lives—the what and the why behind what we believe—we may evolve into people we never intended to be. We may wake up one day in a very different place than we’d ever expected to be, not because we intentionally went there but because . . . well, it just happened to us.
As Christians, we know that God does not want us to feel our way through life. He has given us His Word so that we can know His will on life, from matters of principle to matters of practice. We are called to an examined life. In II Corinthians 13:5-6, the apostle told the church at Corinth, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” Here the apostle Paul is admonishing them to examine their lives and see if the way they are living demonstrates the life of Christ which dwells in them. He presses them to be self-aware (“Know ye not your own selves”) of the fact that Jesus Christ is in them if they are believers. As believers in Christ, we should live in a way that proves (or demonstrates) the fact that Christ is in us. If we are Christians, then we should be very aware of the truths of the Bible and the implications they have on our lives. We might call this an examination of our worldview.
While most people don’t spend every day pondering the core tenets of their worldview, every person has one. In his book, The Universe Next Door, James Sire quotes James H. Olthius, saying, “A worldview (or vision of life) is a framework or set of fundamental beliefs through which we view the world, and our calling and future in it.”[1] Sire himself defines a worldview as “a fundamental orientation of the heart that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions.”[2] A worldview is a like a frame in which a certain picture of reality and the our place in that reality fits. It’s a position we take in our innermost being (our soul, or heart) that involves our emotions, will, and intellect. This orientation of the heart can be expressed as a story. The Big Bang is one story some of us tell ourselves about what constitutes reality and our place in it. An opposing story that offers an opposing worldview is the Genesis account—in the beginning God created. This story implies something very different about what constitutes reality and our place in it.
Those who are reading this article right now are most likely Christians and, therefore, would identify with a Christian worldview. We may be Christians, but that does not mean we are living according to a consistently Christian worldview. We can only know if we are living consistently with our Christian worldview if we take time to examine ourselves. There are at least three reasons why our worldview matters.
First, our worldview matters for effective witnessing. If we assume that everyone we meet shares the same basic worldview that we do, we will be sorely mistaken. Especially in the United States, we live in a pluralistic society. As Sire puts it in his book, “We should realize that we live in a pluralistic world. What is obvious to us may be ‘a lie from hell’ to our neighbor next door. If we do not recognize that, we are certainly naïve and provincial, and we have much to learn about living in today’s world.”[3] We know that we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Some of us who live in the United States will find that much of the world has come to us. Someone from a very different place and with a very different worldview may live right next door to us. What a unique and special opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission!
As Christians, we are called to be wise, meek, and ready to give an answer. In Matthew 10:16, Jesus told his disciples, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” Jesus knew that his disciples then and now would be attacked on all sides by worldly philosophies and vain deceits. This is why He commanded us to be wise—that is skillful in making distinctions and discerning. We can only make those distinctions between truth and falsehood, good and evil, light and dark, honesty and deception if we are grounded in Christ’s perspective of the world. We must be so familiar with the Christian worldview that we can smell a half-truth from a mile away. This wisdom will also aid us as we are communicating with someone who has a contradictory worldview. I Peter 3:15 tells us, “but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” How can we be ready to give an answer if we are not fully familiar with and committed to our Christian worldview? Additionally, how can we best start a gospel conversation with someone of a different worldview if we do not have a basic understanding of their worldview? Having a thorough understanding of our worldview and a basic understanding of other worldviews will help us to see unique barriers that may be between our neighbors and the gospel message. With the Spirit’s leading, we can break down those barriers for them and help them see things from God’s perspective—the Christian worldview. In order to a be an effective witness for Christ, we must be conscious of and committed to our Christian worldview.
Examining our worldview also matters for consistent living. As we have already referenced, this world is constantly bombarding us with worldly philosophies and vain deceit. We are fed lies and counterfeit “truths” in entertainment, in the media, on social media, on college campuses, in books, and even in some Christian books, entertainment, and media. We must be deliberate about what messages we allow into our hearts through these mediums. Sometimes our lifestyle is more informed by these things than by the Word of God. Yet we will not realize that we our living inconsistently with our Christian worldview if we have never consciously considered the implications of our worldview. For example, if we believe that God created us in His image for the purpose of glorifying Him and reflecting His character to others, then that will dictate which college we go to, what career path we take, and who we befriend. If we believe that our bodies are living sacrifices to God (Romans 12:1), then that will dictate the attitude we have toward ministry. If we believe that our bodies are the temple of God (I Corinthians 6:19-20), then that will affect what we do with our bodies. Where we come from and what our basic purpose is as human beings are worldview questions. Unless we have consciously answered them from God’s Word, we will live unstable lives “tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). No one wants to be called a hypocrite or to live in a whirlwind of uncertainty. Knowing our worldview matters because it is the only way we can live stable, confident, and consistent lives.
A third reason worldview matters is that we need to pass the torch. We cannot pass a worldview on to the next generation if it is not fully formed in our own minds. How can we guarantee that our children will “continue in the things which thou hast learned” (II Timothy 3:14)? How can we be sure that our children will be living godly lifestyles years after we are gone? How can we turn our children into warriors who change the world for Jesus Christ, and not just more casualties in the war for souls? We can do that by consciously choosing, understanding, and implementing our Christian worldview. This will require that we think through the basic tenets of a Christian worldview, understand their implications, and then make changes in our lifestyles accordingly. Maybe we need to personalize some convictions that stem from our Christian worldview. Perhaps we need to set some personal standards based on our Christian worldview. We may need to discard some things that are inconsistent with our worldview and implement some things that support it. When we do this, the next generation will not only inherit what we believe, but the why we believe it. And that conviction will give them the courage to continue in the things that matter. Worldview matters because, in the end, that is the longest-lasting thing that we can pass on to the next generation. The worldview they inherit from us will determine whether or not they receive and continue to carry the torch of Christianity.
As Christians, it’s especially important for us to examine our worldview. If we don’t, we cannot expect to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us. If we haven’t taken the time to consider our worldview, then we will not be aware when we have tried to force a puzzle piece—a certain attitude, action, practice, or participation—that does not fit within our worldview. If we fail to understand and articulate our Christian worldview, the next generation will not be prepared to take the torch of Christianity from us. When we do stop to examine what we do and why we do it, we may find that our current worldview isn’t so Christian after all! Perhaps our worldview is a smorgasbord of worldly philosophies and vain deceit. If so, the best thing we can do is compare our current worldview to Christ’s perspective in the Bible. If we align our perspective with His, then we can know that we are seeing the world accurately. Whether we realize it or not, our worldview determines our effectiveness as witnesses, dictates our daily lives, and predicts the future of the next generation. That’s why worldview matters.
[1] James Sire, The Universe Next Door, Sixth Edition, p. 5
[2] Ibid., p. 6
[3] Ibid, p. 10