How Does Your Worldview Work?

Your Worldview is the Way you See the World.

We are all trying to make sense out of our life experience. A worldview is first a way of seeing—a way of trying to see the “big picture,” the “frame of reference” for life that gives context and meaning to your experience. Everyone lives out of a worldview even if they are not aware of what that worldview is.

Your Worldview is a Core Commitment.

This issue is very important to understand:

We think, feel and act the way we do because we have committed ourselves to a certain way of thinking, feeling and acting.

We are usually not even aware that we have made this commitment because it begins and is largely formed at an unconscious level. For every human this commitment is first formed by the family and culture that we are born into; it is given to us.

This commitment is a heart level issue. The heart (spiritually speaking) is not just the place of your emotions as it has come to be understood in popular culture. The heart is the very core of your soul, your entire being. As Jesus taught,

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…
(Matthew 6:21)

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
(Luke 6:45)

Your Worldview is shaped by those you are attached to.

At the heart-level, we have already committed ourselves to a certain way of belonging. There is always a relational factor that shapes your worldview. This relational factor is defined by your “In Group” that we will discuss in future sessions.

You can think of this attachment and commitment in terms of the questions,
“Whose side am I on?” and “Who’s on my side?”

Your Worldview begins as an act of Faith.

A Worldview begins as an act of belief, faith, trust. Everyone lives their lives by faith. Everyone, whether Saint or Scientist, is living his or her life by trusting in someone or something to give the answers to life’s questions most important questions. Whether it is believing in God, or just believing in yourself, we all live by a set of beliefs. Although your worldview is not just a belief system or a set of ideas, these are both essential parts of your worldview. 

Another significant point to keep in mind here is that beliefs and ideas may be true or untrue. They may line up with reality or they may be out of touch with reality. Just because we believe something does not make it true. One of the most important things that we do in processing and evaluating our worldview is making sure that it lines up with reality. 

Your Worldview is the way you process and understand reality.

Ultimately your worldview allows you make sense out of life. It helps you understand and comprehend why things work the way they do. At the core of every worldview is the key question: “What is really real?”

Your Worldview shapes your values and the way you actually live.

Even if we have never really thought about our worldview –

! We always think and act with and because of our worldview.

Everyone has some definition of right and wrong, good and evil. This distinction is a product of your worldview. Jesus said,

You will know a tree by its fruit…
(Luke 6:44)

Jesus is saying that the way a person acts reveals who they are on the “inside” at that moment. Your actual worldview is revealed in your behavior. The great news is all of these things can be changed – redeemed and transformed.

! What we really believe is also linked to what we really love.

In fact, our desires, our passions and love in some way precede what we believe. Here is an important idea that we will explore and ponder throughout this study:

We believe what we want—or choose—to believe.

You may wrestle with that idea a little. Some people think that they believe what they believe because it is true. But this is not always the case. Will and desire play a significant role in forming our beliefs and we need to be soberly aware of this fact.

It is important to realize that what we say we believe can in some cases be in conflict with what we do in pursuing what we really love. One of the goals of this study is to help you evaluate whether or not the worldview you say you believe is the one you actually live out.

Our worldview is reinforced by our “In Group”—the people that we are most attached to and share a set of beliefs and values. As we develop this aspect of our worldview, we define both how we will live together with those we are closely connected and with those who are “outside” our closest circles of relationship and belonging.

In the next topic, we will take a look at SEVEN common elements that are present in every Worldview.