Truth and Worldviews
Truth does not contradict itself. If something is true the opposite of it cannot be true. Every person has a worldview. A person’s way of thinking, making choices, how he or she perceives reality, their value system, motivations, philosophy, theology, etc. all are expressions of a person’s worldview. The problem is not every worldview is based on what is actually true. The concept of relativism, “what is true for you is not true for me,” or post modernism, “there may be truth but it cannot be known,” are totally irrational. If something is true, it is true for everyone whether they accept it or not. For example, laws of logic, or proven laws of science, or mathematics, are universally true. The question is how many people in the world are living according to a worldview that isn’t true. What a terrible thought that when you come to the end of your life you come to the realization that you have been living a lie.
The Bible claims to be the word of God. Jesus, in His high priestly prayer stated to His Father in John 17:17, “Thy word is truth.” He also said in John 10:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” The Bible is its own worldview. If it is the truth then it is the one true worldview. If that is true, then whatever conbtradicts it cannot be true. All this means that if you want to live a life that is based and directed by truth, you must have a biblical worldview. Here is an important point. Even if you claim to be a Christian and grew up in church does not mean the Bible is your worldview. As we are born into this world and begin to assimilate all the information we are bombarded with on a daily basis, our worldview begins to develop. The Bible may be mingled in your way of thinking, but as you attend school, read books, go to movies, see advertisements, learn different political ideologies, and what other religions teach, etc. your worldview will embrace some of those influences that are contrary to the biblical worldview.
To offset those influences the apostle Paul instructs all believers with, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (your way of thinking), that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2. The process of the renewing of the mind Paul speaks of here is learning to think the way God would have us think according to His worldview. The only way to do that is to read God’s word daily. Study it and learn from Bible teachers who rightly divide the word of truth as Paul describes them in 2Timothy 2:15. These are teachers who let the Bible say what it says according to its own context and are not influenced by ideas that are products that come from other nonbiblical worldviews. You will recognize them when you have read the Bible for yourself more than once. Just let the Bible say what it says and let it guide you in your way of thinking.
Reading the Bible on an ongoing basis is the only way to develop a biblical worldview that overcomes all the influences of the world’s chatter. In doing so, you will live a life being directed by the one true worldview.