Worldviews

Did you know that two people can look at the same object but see two different things?  If you don't believe it, take a look at the picture at the right.

If you look carefully, you can see both a young woman and and old woman.  The young woman is facing to the left with her back toward us.  You can see the old woman if you turn the young woman's nose into a wart on the wold woman's nose; the young woman's ear is the old woman's eye, and the young woman's necklace is the old woman's mouth.

Now look at the picture on the left.  Can you see both the duck and the rabbit?  The duck is facing the left side of the picture.  The duck's bill is the rabbit's ears, and the bump on the right side of the picture is the rabbit's mouth.

Notice that you can see both the young woman and the old woman in the first picture, but you can't see both of them at the same time.  In the second picture, you can see both the duck and the rabbit, but not both at the same time.  You can see the same object in two different ways.  Which object you see depends a lot on what you are expecting to see.

The mind plays a big role in shaping what you see.  For example, take a look at the picture on the right.  It looks like a large monster is chasing a small monster down the hallway, but if you measure both of the monsters with a ruler, you'll find that they are the same size.

This is an artistic technique called perspective.  The artist can make an object look bigger or smaller depending on the background he puts around that object.  When you look at the object, the environment the artist drew around that object (like the hallway in the picture) causes you to think that the object is a certain size.  What you see depends a lot on what you are expecting to see.  Even if you don't even realize those expectations are there, they still are.

This is why we say that people have different worldviews.  A worldview is the way a person looks at the world, including that person's place in the world.  Because people have different worldviews, they can see different things when they look at the same world.  For example, when Christians look at the world, they see a place that God created.  It was once completely good, but it has become corrupted because of our sin.  That's why bad things happen.  When many atheists look at the world, they see a place that's bad by its very nature.  They do not believe that a good God could create such a bad world.

Worldviews are sort of like sunglasses.  They color the way we look at the world, and we usually don't even remember that we're wearing the glasses.

There are good worldviews and bad worldviews.  You can think of a worldview like the foundation of a building.  The foundation represents the things you believe that influence how you see the world, and the building is your life.  If your life is built on the foundation of a good worldview, then it will stand up because the way you look at the world matches the way the world really is.  If your life is built on a foundation of a false worldview, then the way you look at the world will not match the way it really is.

This is a problem because people with false worldviews make important decisions using a wrong way of looking at things, and that will have consequences both before and after they die.  In the atheist's way of looking at things, God does not exist, and the world was not created good.  This makes it man's responsibility to fix all the world's problems.  Even worse, it becomes the atheist's responsibility to figure out what will happen to him after he dies.  Because he has not trusted in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, he will not be able to live with God in the end unless his worldview changes.

It's important to understand worldviews so you can understand how other people think.  If you realize that other people don't think the same way that you do, you'll be able to talk to them without being as influenced by what they say.  You'll also be able to sympathize with them more, since you'll realize that they don't see things the same way that you do.  Most importantly, you'll be able to show them if they have a false worldview so you can present the gospel.

The apostle Paul talks about worldviews in Romans 1:18-25.  Even though people see God's work all around them, they suppress and bury the truth and try to continue looking at the world as if God didn't make it.  Then they create idols and try to look at those idols as if they were God.  False worldviews exist because of our sin.  Part of the job of preaching the gospel is to show other people how to look at the world God's way, which is the right way because He's the one who made the world.

Discussion Questions

1. Describe what a worldview is in your own words.

2. Explain why having the right worldview is important.

3. Most people believe that hell doesn't exist.  Using the concept of a worldview, explain what causes people to believe there is no hell.

4. Give an example of something you recently saw on TV, read, or heard in a song that clearly shows what the author's worldview is.  Describe the author's worldview.  Give evidence from the TV show, writing, or song to support what you are saying about the author's worldview.

5. Summarize each verse of Romans 1:18-25 in your own words.

6. Explain what Romans 1:18-25 teaches us about worldviews.

References

• Beautiful woman or old lady.  03 Oct. 2005 <http://www.unoriginal.co.uk/optical5_2.html>.

• Rabbit or Duck optical illusion.  03 Oct. 2005 <http://www.unoriginal.co.uk/optical1_7.html>.

• Perspective - Optical Illusion.  03 Oct. 2005 <http://www.unoriginal.co.uk/optical1_1.html>.