Our Christian Worldview is About More Than Our Apologetics

Cultural flashpoints seem to be occurring with increasing frequency, undoubtedly facilitated and exacerbated by the explosion of social media. Situations and issues are quickly magnified and exploited — and more and more people seem to have opinions about all kinds of things that once upon a time would have been well off their radar.

Although arguable, social media’s overall downsides do have their upsides. Included on this small list would be the way the medium reveals an individual’s worldview, for good or bad.

It was Mark Twain who said, “It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” This philosophy is ignored by too many people out in cyberspace, many of whom weigh in on issues well beyond their expertise. They epitomize King Solomon’s stinging observation:

One man who is the antithesis of this is Dr. Del Tackett, a former senior vice president here at Focus on the Family and the creator and host of “The Truth Project” — Focus on the Family’s award-winning Christian worldview curriculum. Many of us here at Focus had the privilege of sitting under Del’s teaching before the lessons were put on film. 

At the heart of Dr. Tackett’s classes in this area is the conviction that Christians should be looking at every aspect of the world through the truth of Scripture.

“A worldview is a set of truth claims that purports to paint a picture of reality,” states Del. Biblical truth claims are unchanging and absolute while cultural claims more often vacillate with the changing times. In essence, our worldview is the lens through which we see reality.

One aspect of our worldview that seems to be overlooked involves how we tend to find what we’re looking for in this world. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus declares, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (7:7). 

If we’re seeking the negative and the hypocritical, it’s a given that in a fallen world, we’ll find it — and even among Christians. Conversely, if we’re keeping our eyes open for the pure and the true, we’ll find that, too. 

It’s always been a curious thing when Christians seem to relish pointing out what they perceive to be pharisaical behavior among other believers. “Iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17), but it is a destructive practice to gleefully run down another Christian. Correction, if necessary, should be handled carefully and soberly.

Yet another concerning dimension of a certain worldview approach are those who assume the worst of people with whom they disagree. Christian couples often have the Apostle Paul’s words to believers in Corinth read at their wedding: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:7), but the sentiment is not just limited to romantic love.

Do we have a generosity of spirit when evaluating others? Simply because we don’t like someone’s politics or policies, must we nitpick and find fault? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow astutely observed, “We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.” 

Scripture provides lots of evidence and encouragement for optimism (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 15:13) and passages that will resonate with a more pessimistic posture (Psalms, Lamentations). Yet, ideally, a balanced worldview appreciates that both are realities to grapple with and work through on a daily basis. 

Dr. Tackett correctly suggested, “The battle we are in today is not primarily political or social — it is a battle of worldviews.” That struggle is not just existential but also very personal and requires us to examine our own hearts as we navigate the complexities of culture.