What is a Christian Worldview?


What is a Christian Worldview? Peter Schuurman 2006 G. K. Chesterton maintained that while it is important for a landlady to know the income of her renter, it is more important for her to know his worldview. “The most practical and important thing about a man,” he said, “is still his view of the universe.” I realize that the word “worldview” is not in the Bible. But it can be a short-hand way of saying “our basic beliefs about reality” or “our comprehensive framework or grand story that determines how we see the universe.” It is a coherent and consistent way to faithfully engage culture and avoid the pitfall of anti-intellectualism. It is what grounds all holistic Christian teaching, learning and scholarship—education that puts God at the center of the study of every discipline. Let me set up a contrast to make it more vivid. Three short words can be used to describe the culture of the university today: “publish or perish.” Life, in this picture, is about scrambling after seductive but elusive goals with a calculating, competitive eye cast towards others. Being crazy-busy is normal, suspicion is cast on your neighbour, and your long-term security becomes a permanent anxiety. The Christian worldview is a universe away from that pursuit. It, too, can be summarized in three short words: “love or perish.” Life, in this picture, is about building a culture of love around you, a culture that is conscientious about the needs of neighbours, seeks to nurture beauty, and guards what is true. To be brief, three notes on the basics are below. 1. Your worldview arises out of the core of your being, out of your deepest desires and longings. For some, their desire is for money, power, or fame. But if the kingdom of God is your heart’s desire, your life is oriented towards God’s dream for the world as seen in Jesus. You change the way you treat others, you change the way you consume things, and your change the way you see reality. This is the Christian worldview: seeing life through a Biblical lens--that all things were created good but because of the sin and brokenness that sullied the earth, all things need to be restored by God’s covenant love. This is the story of creation, fall, redemption, and our calling to participate in that redemption process with Christ. You now see your life as part of God’s kingdom of restorative love for all things. 2. A Christian worldview refuses the compartmentalization of “sacred” and “secular” things. When your heart wants what God wants, you do not just add prayer and Bible study to your life, although you will do that. You suddenly see everything with Kingdom of God Glasses and your whole vision for life is radically altered. You don’t just add a “God-view” and a “Church-view” to your “North American Life-view.” Your whole “World-view” gets a new prescription: whether you are looking at mutual funds, municipal elections, or family counseling, the light of God’s desires illumines it in a fresh way. The whole world becomes for you a “burning bush” of God’s presence. Again, this is the “big picture” of faith: God’s kingdom is coming, and it restores every sad and broken thing—from polluted oceans to art to the human heart—into his new world of hope and healing. Everything is sacred. It is humans who twist things to serve secular purposes. 3. This worldview is not only therapy for individuals; it’s a new framework for culture-making. Jesus is not just Lord of Sunday morning, not just Lord of the human heart, but Lord of the whole universe—geology, dance, and surgery. Therefore Christians seek to be co-workers with God in renewing all things towards God’s original intention. Rather than participate in the culture of competition, they pursue a culture of communion, communion with God, his world, and his church by his Spirit. This shalom—a new world where life flourishes--is our calling and destiny, and is visible to those who have the eyes to see it. Growing in faith, in this light, is about consciousness-raising—about developing a deeper awareness of how the grand story of God’s love is changing our world and getting on board with it. Its about imagining a way of life that is better than the one we’ve been handed. Its about embracing cultural projects with holy ambition, and loving the whole planet back to the abundant life God intended.

What is a Christian Worldview?
Peter Schuurman
2006

G. K. Chesterton maintained that while it is important for a landlady to know the income of her renter, it is more important for her to know his worldview. “The most practical and important thing about a man,” he said, “is still his view of the universe.”

I realize that the word “worldview” is not in the Bible. But it can be a short-hand way of saying “our basic beliefs about reality” or “our comprehensive framework or grand story that determines how we see the universe.” It is a coherent and consistent way to faithfully engage culture and avoid the pitfall of anti-intellectualism. It is what grounds all holistic Christian teaching, learning and scholarship—education that puts God at the center of the study of every discipline.

Let me set up a contrast to make it more vivid. Three short words can be used to describe the culture of the university today: “publish or perish.” Life, in this picture, is about scrambling after seductive but elusive goals with a calculating, competitive eye cast towards others. Being crazy-busy is normal, suspicion is cast on your neighbour, and your long-term security becomes a permanent anxiety.

The Christian worldview is a universe away from that pursuit. It, too, can be summarized in three short words: “love or perish.” Life, in this picture, is about building a culture of love around you, a culture that is conscientious about the needs of neighbours, seeks to nurture beauty, and guards what is true.

To be brief, three notes on the basics are below.

1. Your worldview arises out of the core of your being, out of your deepest desires and longings. For some, their desire is for money, power, or fame. But if the kingdom of God is your heart’s desire, your life is oriented towards God’s dream for the world as seen in Jesus. You change the way you treat others, you change the way you consume things, and your change the way you see reality. This is the Christian worldview: seeing life through a Biblical lens--that all things were created good but because of the sin and brokenness that sullied the earth, all things need to be restored by God’s covenant love. This is the story of creation, fall, redemption, and our calling to participate in that redemption process with Christ. You now see your life as part of God’s kingdom of restorative love for all things.

2. A Christian worldview refuses the compartmentalization of “sacred” and “secular” things. When your heart wants what God wants, you do not just add prayer and Bible study to your life, although you will do that. You suddenly see everything with Kingdom of God Glasses and your whole vision for life is radically altered. You don’t just add a “God-view” and a “Church-view” to your “North American Life-view.” Your whole “World-view” gets a new prescription: whether you are looking at mutual funds, municipal elections, or family counseling, the light of God’s desires illumines it in a fresh way. The whole world becomes for you a “burning bush” of God’s presence. Again, this is the “big picture” of faith: God’s kingdom is coming, and it restores every sad and broken thing—from polluted oceans to art to the human heart—into his new world of hope and healing. Everything is sacred. It is humans who twist things to serve secular purposes.

3. This worldview is not only therapy for individuals; it’s a new framework for culture-making. Jesus is not just Lord of Sunday morning, not just Lord of the human heart, but Lord of the whole universe—geology, dance, and surgery. Therefore Christians seek to be co-workers with God in renewing all things towards God’s original intention. Rather than participate in the culture of competition, they pursue a culture of communion, communion with God, his world, and his church by his Spirit. This shalom—a new world where life flourishes--is our calling and destiny, and is visible to those who have the eyes to see it.

Growing in faith, in this light, is about consciousness-raising—about developing a deeper awareness of how the grand story of God’s love is changing our world and getting on board with it. Its about imagining a way of life that is better than the one we’ve been handed. Its about embracing cultural projects with holy ambition, and loving the whole planet back to the abundant life God intended.