Dimensions of a Worldview: Vision – Foundations of a Worldview

Dimensions of a Worldview: Vision
Foundations of a Worldview

Proverbs 14:12

There is a way that seems right to a man….

Every human being has a worldview, and every worldview consists of similar features or components.

It’s a good idea to try to understand these components, because it can be the case that the way (worldview) that seems right to us at any moment may end up being a dead end. In that case, we’ll need to make adjustments, and perhaps redirect our thinking and agenda.

But if we don’t know where to “grab hold” of a worldview, how will we be able to identify where our way has gone wrong and where it needs to be improved?

So we need a way of getting our arms around the very big idea of “worldview.” Doing so will put us in a position always to be monitoring our worldview and to make adjustments when such a need is indicated.

Every worldview consists of three primary components. Think of them as the legs of an equilateral triangle.

The leg to the left we’ll call vision. “Vision” in a worldview is what we see as ultimate—in being and desirability. We need to have a view of what is ultimate in being because, whatever this is, it will be bigger and more durable than we are, and we’ll want to “get on the right side” of this ultimate thing, however we may conceive it.

We also must connect that ultimate being with what we consider the ultimate good, if only for us, because our souls will settle for nothing less than as much as we can get of whatever we perceive to be our ultimate good.

So, for example, in the secular and materialistic worldview, the ultimate being is matter, and science and technology are the ways to make matter work for us. The ultimate good is possessing matter in forms agreeable to us—whether goods, money, or other people’s bodies (whether to command or enjoy). People wedded to a vision of the “good life” as grounded in and comprised of material goods and experiences will bring everything in their lives into line toward the realization of that vision. They will feed and nurture that vision through education, or have it nurtured in them by pop culture or advertising.

In worldview, vision is the main thing. If we get the vision wrong—whether objectively or simply for us—no amount of anything else we do within the dimensions of our worldview will make us feel happy or fulfilled. At best, we’ll just get by.

For every person there is a way, a vision, that seems right to them. We need to make sure that way is as sure and true as it can possibly be. And to do that, we need to begin at the beginning of Biblical worldview thinking, which we find in the Law of Moses.

Act: In what ways does the secular and materialistic worldview project its vision toward you each day? How can you see that Christians are some times overly affected by this vision?

Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God—another primary theme of Scripture. Order a copy of The Gospel of the Kingdom from our online store, and learn how you can become more effective at proclaiming this wonderful Good News.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).