What Is Your Worldview?

Recently I was walking with a friend as we were catching up with each other. We talked about our families and life in the midst of the COVID pandemic, and then we entered a discussion about culture and the church. Since I was reading The Gathering Storm by R. Albert Mohler at the time, the topics of Christian worldview and secularization were fresh on my mind. At one point, my friend asked me what steps my husband and I are taking as we raise our two young girls in a culture that is becoming increasingly secular.

The short answer is that we are training our girls to have a biblical worldview. What does it mean to have a bibical worldview? It means to view the world through the lens of Scripture. Sadly, many people reverse this basic principle by viewing Scripture through the lens of culture. This reversal is evident when you see Christians and churches disregarding certain passages of the Bible because those texts do not align with their feelings or with their political party or with their social group.

Christians should not be afraid to engage the culture. In The Gathering Storm, Mohler exhorts Christians to "meet revolution with revelation." In other words, we face the culture armed with the revealed Word of God. "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:14-17). It saddens me to learn how many self-identified Christians do not know what the Bible teaches. They have plenty of time for television, sports, novels, and other activities, but they say they do not have time to read through the Bible. A person simply cannot have a biblical worldview if he or she does not read the Bible.

One of my daughters came home from school recently and made some condemning comments about two political leaders - one on the right and one on the left. (Apparently some of her second grade friends have very strong political opinions!) I explained to her that it is not our place to condemn anyone, but I made it clear that I am more than happy to discuss individual issues with her from a biblical perspective. We were then able to analyze some current events and talk about which actions line up with Scripture and which ones do not. I refuse to allow myself or my children to fall into the "cancel culture" that permeates our society. We cannot bow down to certain leaders and "cancel" others. We can, however, meaningfully discuss individual issues and see what the Bible says about them. Sadly, many Christians have forgotten their mission in the world and have fallen into the sinful traps of our polarized culture. Christians should be the light that exposes the darkness (on every side) and shows the way to the truth. To do so, we must be willing to think deeply about the issues in the world around us and then talk about those things with children and adults alike.

Mohler spends a portion of The Gathering Storm discussing the secularization among teenagers in particular. He reports that "researchers, who conducted thousands of hours of interviews with a carefully identified spectrum of teenagers, discovered that for many of these teens, the interview itself was the first time they had ever discussed a theological question with an adult." This statistic is baffling! Not only had many of the teens never discussed theological issues with their parents, but they had never discussed theological issues with any adult ever - no teacher, no pastor, no Sunday School leader, no counselor, no coach, no adult at all. As I look back upon my adolescence, I am so thankful for the adults who invested in my life. I cannot begin to count the number of theological conversations I had with adults before I became an adult myself. While most of those conversations probably occurred in my home or at church, many of them happened at school or in a basketball locker room or elsewhere. Those many conversations were critical in helping me form a biblical worldview from which I could navigate my day-to-day life.

It is easy to sit back and complain about the trajectories many young people today are following, but we must ask ourselves what kind of an impact we are making on the next generation. Have we had meaningful theological discussions with our children or with other children or teens in our paths? Such conversations do not have to be awkward or complicated. Sometimes it will involve telling our personal testimonies or sharing the beautiful truths of the gospel. Other times it will mean giving advice or encouragement directly from Scripture. Most of the time it will mean slowing down and listening to a child's or teen's questions and concerns so that we can pray with them and seek God's direction in the Bible. We will not meet a child or teen who does not have questions. Let's make ourselves available to answer those questions, discuss their concerns, and help them form a biblical worldview. If we don't, I promise you that the culture will be more than happy to take our place.