You Have a Worldview (But Where Did You Get It?)

All of us possess a worldview even if we have never thought about summarizing it as one. The existence of a worldview is undeniable, but the source of it is critical to your overall success.

When I was younger, I loved puzzles. I excelled at the puzzles that only had ten pieces, but as I got older, society imposed all these extra rules upon me. A fifteen-year-old shouldn’t still struggle with a ten-piece puzzle, so I had to progress. The more pieces you get though, the harder it becomes to complete the puzzle. We used to purchase puzzles that would cover the entire kitchen table. We would dump all the pieces out and eagerly get started. As the puzzles became more complex, I normally would find all the edge pieces, connect the perimeter together, get frustrated in my attempts to put together the middle, quit in utter despair, and play a video game to console myself.

Imagine trying to put together one of those puzzles on your own. I’m not even talking about it without the help of another person. I’m talking about removing the most pivotal element to completing a puzzle: the box top.

The box top is so critical to putting together a puzzle because you have no framework to know how to start without it. You have no concept of where to begin or what the finished product is supposed to look like. Without the box top, puzzle construction would be nearly impossible.

A box top to a puzzle is a lot like a worldview. A worldview is simply how someone views the world. 

The way someone views everything that is considered knowable comprises a worldview. All the things that you think about God, life, and faith are individual puzzle pieces within a worldview. The reason why bad things happen to good people is a puzzle piece. The purpose of one’s life is another piece. The method of finding a spouse is another piece. Without the box top, it is nearly impossible to put all these pieces together. Your worldview is your box top. It is how you attempt to put all these pieces of life together and make sense of the complexity surrounding us.

Even if you don’t realize it, you have a worldview. You may have never expressed a worldview out loud, but you still have one. I can prove it to you.

• Do you have an opinion concerning how this world came into being?
• Do you possess a belief concerning what happens once you die?
• Do you hold certain actions to be morally wrong while upholding others as right?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you already possess a worldview.

While your worldview answers many questions, five questions serve as those outside pieces that structure your entire worldview.

1. First, where did all this get started (creation)? 
2. Second, who are we (identity)? 
3. Third, what’s the purpose of life (meaning)? 
4. Fourth, how are we supposed to live (morality)? 
5. Finally, where’s all this heading (destiny)?

Even if you are not specific in how you answer those five questions, you do possess an opinion about all of them. Those five things comprise your worldview, but where did your worldview come from? Is it solely logic? Is it mere assumptions? Are you just holding a system of beliefs on a hunch? Or does your worldview come from some source of authority?

If you truly want to make Jesus your one thing, then the next area to give him glory in your life is through possessing a biblical worldview. To give God glory in this area, you must commit to answering those questions based on biblical teaching rather than man’s opinions.