MY DAD IS MY HERO. Even though he was raised by an alcoholic father, was sexually abused as a child by a man who lived on their farm, and had a sister who committed suicide, my dad has made a conscious choice to not see himself as a victim. Despite his tough background, he has lived a remarkable life of both joy and impact.
One of the most significant lessons he has taught me is about the power of assumptions. As a high school student, I remember him saying, “When you read an article or book, always discern the assumptions of the person who wrote it. Their assumptions will shape everything they write.” Although it took me some time to really grasp its significance, now I see how powerful this insight is.
Essentially, my dad was teaching me to understand the power of worldview. Simply put, a worldview is a perspective of reality, a set of assumptions that shapes how we see the world. Everyone has a worldview. It is impossible not to have one. But many people have not taken the time to examine the nature of their belief system, how they arrived at it, and how deeply it shapes the way they live. Most people seem to adopt their worldview from others without serious reflection (which may be one reason Jesus called people sheep!).
How about you? Have you thought much about your worldview?
Worldviews Are Maps
To be more concrete, think of a worldview like a mental map. If you have an accurate map, then you can navigate reality with clarity. If your map is faulty, it will lead you astray. Years ago, I was staying at a hotel in a small town in the Midwest. I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and completely forgot where I was. Since the room was pitch black and I didn’t have an accurate mental map of the room, it took me a few minutes of blind meandering to find the light. Once I flipped the switch, I remembered where I was and could then navigate the room correctly.
While maps help us navigate physical terrain, a worldview helps us navigate both physical and spiritual realities. Worldviews answer big questions like, Is there a God? Does life continue after death? What is a human being? What brings true happiness? Is there a moral law?
There are many different ways that people might answer these questions, meaning there are many different mental maps that people may follow. Let’s look at one worldview in a little more detail.
Stranger Things: The Worldview of Naturalism
Naturalism is a powerful worldview today. It is the idea that God does not exist and that everything can be explained by natural forces. Thus, according to this worldview, God, demonic forces, the soul, and other immaterial things are not real. Marxism, nihilism, and secular humanism are other examples of naturalistic worldviews.
While naturalism is influential in media and the educational system, it also appears in shows like Stranger Things. On the surface, Stranger Things may appear to embrace a supernatural worldview. After all, it includes a kind of demon possession (the Mind Flayer), demon-like beings (Demogorgons), and an alternate dimension (the Upside Down). In season 1, Mike describes the Upside Down as “a dimension that is a dark reflection, or echo, of our world. It is a place of decay and death, a plane out of phase, a place of monsters. It is right next to you, and you don’t even see it.” This sounds like a supernatural demonic realm, but is it?
Consider this question: Who do the kids turn to for advice when they need to access the Upside Down? They don’t go to a spiritual adviser, consult Scripture, or attempt some kind of mystical ritual. Rather, they consult their science teacher, Mr. Clarke, who becomes a trusted adviser throughout the series. To access the Upside Down, they tap his scientific expertise because they assume it is an alternate physical dimension. It may contain different life-forms and plant life, but it is not an immaterial, spiritual realm.
There are certain elements of the series that remain unexplained, such as the source of Eleven’s powers. But the implication seems to be that she is more like a superhero character from the X-Men than a being with genuinely supernatural powers. Like most sci-fi films, Stranger Things takes place in a naturalistic world.
Worldview Affects How You Live
How you answer worldview questions profoundly influences your daily choices. Consider a few examples.
Abortion
Imagine a teen girl who becomes pregnant after having sex with her boyfriend. What should she do?
Secular humanism is a naturalistic worldview that views religion as the key problem in the world. Since secular humanists do not believe the unborn is a valuable human being and believe that the mother has ultimate authority over her body (of which they view the baby as a part), abortion seems like a good option. Why should the teen girl jeopardize her future by bringing an unwanted child into the world?
The Christian worldview, on the other hand, suggests otherwise. As we will see later, both science and Scripture agree that the unborn is a human being at the moment of conception. Since all humans are made in the image of God, and thus have intrinsic value, the teen girl should choose to give birth.
This is not to say that every secular humanist supports abortion or that every Christian chooses life. This is certainly not true. But it illustrates how worldviews can translate into choices.
Marijuana
Imagine a second scenario. Your friend offers you marijuana. “It feels good,” he says, “and it will help you relax.” Should you use it?
Existentialism is a naturalistic worldview based on the idea that we define our own existence. Thus, existentialism would suggest that as long as it feels good and you are authentically choosing it for yourself, smoking marijuana is fine. Besides, marijuana is now legal in many parts of the United States.
Again, the Christian worldview suggests otherwise. While God has designed us to experience pleasure, we are foremost called to honor God with our bodies (see Romans 12:1). We are also called to love God with our minds, which involves having our mental abilities under the control of the Holy Spirit, not a foreign substance.
Assisted Suicide
Let’s consider a final example, assisted suicide. According to naturalism, humans are the result of an unguided evolutionary process. Although some naturalists affirm that humans have worth and dignity and work to improve society, it is difficult to see how humans have objective value in a Godless universe. Humans are a cosmic accident. Since there is no divine purpose for humans and no afterlife, there is no reason to endure the pain of a terminal diagnosis or to force other people to care for them. People should be able to determine the end of their lives if they want to.
Yet according to Christianity, human beings are made in God’s image and thus have intrinsic value. As reflections of the Creator, every single human being—regardless of skin color, biological sex, intelligence, or any other secondary characteristic—is loved by God and has inherent worth (see Genesis 1:27). Thus, Christians are called to reject racism, protect people from bullying, and care for illegal immigrants as a way of loving their neighbors. And this means, too, that assisted suicide is wrong as it presumes that a person is valuable because of their ability or their usefulness to society rather than because that person is made in the image of God.
Here’s the important takeaway: moral differences stem from deep worldview commitments. As we explore a range of controversial ethical issues in this book, don’t lose sight of the underlying worldview issues.
Can you see why my father told me to be aware of assumptions? There are many more worldviews than we have discussed here. For instance, consumerism says you are what you own and promises happiness to those who buy things. Hedonism considers the pursuit of pleasure the highest good. Individualism places the individual at the center of moral authority. These three may not be formal worldviews, like secular humanism, but they have the basic structure of a worldview and do “sell” a competing story about reality that Christians can be tempted to “buy.”
How to Spot Hidden Worldviews
Not only are each of these worldviews in conflict with the teachings of Jesus; they also profoundly shape the life choices of those who hold them. At this point, you might be wondering the same question I asked my dad in high school: How do I recognize worldviews?
Here are a few pointers he taught me:
People don’t hold moral positions in a vacuum. Rather, these positions stem from people’s worldviews about the nature of reality. Learning to recognize underlying worldviews is an important skill for Christians who want to engage the people around them in meaningful conversations.