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How Does Your Worldview Fit?
John H. Stoll, Ph.D. -
Colossians 1:25-28;2:2,3,6-10
Dr. John H. Stoll is Executive Director of A.S.K., Inc., a professional
counseling and Bible teaching organization. Over the past 45 years he
has been a professor in five Christian Colleges/Seminaries, as both a
Theologian and Marriage and Family Therapist. For the past 18 years he
has been the Director of a Christian Psychological Clinic in
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. A
complete resume is available.
With all the rapidly changing events that are happening in today's world, is you worldview able to assimilate them, without disrupting your life? Unfortunately, the inability of mankind to accept the truthfulness and accuracy of the Bible, has contributed immensely to the rootlessness of life that plagues one today. The principles of the Bible provide a foundation upon which one can erect a worldview that is solid, productive, and life long in fulfillment. The Bible was a revelation of God to us, His creation, to be a guide for life, and a model for a constructive worldview.
Peter Berger gives three dominant factors that consciously or unconsciously shape our worldview. They form an overarching plausibility structure which the Christian must believe in or believe against.
- The Commitment to Technology - Whatever the problem, the solution lies in our own hands, and will eventually be discovered by rational means.
- The Commitment to Bureaucracy - This is the belief that any problem and its solution is capable of organization. This means that the personal dimension of life has been squeezed out, and that our understanding of God's grace in wisdom and discernment is therefore minimal.
- The Commitment to Pluralism - This means that individuals face unlimited choice in which worldview to accept, without any definitive guidelines upon which to make that choice.
The psychological effects of this have been to create a condition of homelessness in our minds. Thus, the Christian lives on a small island surrounded by a sea of secularism.
Two illustrations to make the point.
- The increasing desire on the part of some for acquiring antiques. A throwback to the so-called, "good old days", when life was more ordered and peaceful, over against the fast track of today, with its rootlessness" of life.
- The proliferation of "bed & breakfast" places. Again, the need for order and tranquillity, to escape the fast pace of today's life, with its relativism and lack of a solid foundation for life.
The answer for these problems is found in the foundational principles of the Bible. It seems that when the "chips are down", that people become more "religious" (e.g. the war in Iraq, causing political leaders to call for prayer), for the reason that the three dominant factors of Peter Berger don't meet the need. The return to Biblical ideas has been a constant theme throughout the history of our country. This shows the innate desire of people for a spiritual dimension to be filled in the void of the above dominant factors. For the Christian this should be a welcome concept, since the believer has known this all along. A worldview that incorporates Biblical principles into its structure, will then be able to assimilate anything, beneficial or detrimental into the life of that person.
© Copyright 1996-2008 by John H. Stoll.
copyright © 1995-2008 Leadership U. All rights reserved.
Updated: 13 July 2002