The Importance of Worldview
People often assume that other people have a similar worldview. A worldview is a set of assumptions which form the grid through which a person views life and the world around him. It is natural for us all to think that our friend, sitting right next to us and seeing the same things we are, views things around him the same way we do. But this isn’t necessarily the case. If our friend is an unbeliever, he may look at life very differently. You may look at the trees and praise God for His marvelous creation. If your friend is an atheist, he probably thinks these trees evolved over millions of years. He sees nothing beyond the material universe.
Now imagine that you are attempting to present the gospel to people who are animinists. An animist is a person who believes that impersonal spiritual beings or forces govern human affairs. His goal is to appease these spirits and manipulate them to obtain what he wants. The whole village you are in shares the same culture and worldview. Let’s also imagine, for the sake of argument, that you speak the same language as they do. (See article: Heart Language) You need to be careful that you don’t communicate the wrong thing to them. It would be very easy to say something that makes perfect sense to you, but communicates something very different to them.
If, soon after arriving in the village, you started holding religious meetings complete with a gospel presentation, singing, and prayer, you could write home to your friends and tell them about your new church. It might sound appealing, but what are you communicating to these people? Here is what a tribal guy might be thinking:
“Well, I don’t know who Jesus really is, but he must have made the white people wealthy, so he must be a powerful spirit. How can I appease him? The missionaries must know. Maybe singing and praying makes him like me more and make more good things happen to me. When the missionary asks who wants to ‘accept Jesus into their heart’, I should raise my hand. For one thing, I wouldn’t want to shame the missionary, since he is wealthy and powerful and knows how to appease this Jesus spirit. Now they are asking for people to be dunked under the water in some sort of ritual. If I do this, maybe my next hunting trip will be successful!”
I’m sure this is not what you want to communicate to them! (These conclusions might sound ludicrous to you, but that is because you have a different worldview.) That’s why you might want to choose a different route. You could make a careful study of their culture and worldview to understand how they think and why they think that. Should you begin holding religious meetings right away? No, that might be confusing for your poor friends. But as you develop deeper friendships with them and gain their trust, you might ask them about what they believe. Hopefully, you can plant a subtle seed of doubt about their own worldview and leave them searching for answers. Now they are ready for your next step: Foundational Bible Teaching.
Now imagine that you are attempting to present the gospel to people who are animinists. An animist is a person who believes that impersonal spiritual beings or forces govern human affairs. His goal is to appease these spirits and manipulate them to obtain what he wants. The whole village you are in shares the same culture and worldview. Let’s also imagine, for the sake of argument, that you speak the same language as they do. (See article: Heart Language) You need to be careful that you don’t communicate the wrong thing to them. It would be very easy to say something that makes perfect sense to you, but communicates something very different to them.
If, soon after arriving in the village, you started holding religious meetings complete with a gospel presentation, singing, and prayer, you could write home to your friends and tell them about your new church. It might sound appealing, but what are you communicating to these people? Here is what a tribal guy might be thinking:
“Well, I don’t know who Jesus really is, but he must have made the white people wealthy, so he must be a powerful spirit. How can I appease him? The missionaries must know. Maybe singing and praying makes him like me more and make more good things happen to me. When the missionary asks who wants to ‘accept Jesus into their heart’, I should raise my hand. For one thing, I wouldn’t want to shame the missionary, since he is wealthy and powerful and knows how to appease this Jesus spirit. Now they are asking for people to be dunked under the water in some sort of ritual. If I do this, maybe my next hunting trip will be successful!”
I’m sure this is not what you want to communicate to them! (These conclusions might sound ludicrous to you, but that is because you have a different worldview.) That’s why you might want to choose a different route. You could make a careful study of their culture and worldview to understand how they think and why they think that. Should you begin holding religious meetings right away? No, that might be confusing for your poor friends. But as you develop deeper friendships with them and gain their trust, you might ask them about what they believe. Hopefully, you can plant a subtle seed of doubt about their own worldview and leave them searching for answers. Now they are ready for your next step: Foundational Bible Teaching.