While driving through the countryside in the Czech Republic, my husband and I came upon a town called Smrk. We both took one look at it and thought, “something is wrong here.” Even the GPS didn’t call the town by name. She said S.M.R.K. What was wrong? There were no vowels in the word, so how could we pronounce it?
This is just a very small example that shows that we all have a worldview. As a native English speaker, I naturally look at words from that point of view. I read from left to right. I tend to put the emphasis on the second syllable. I know when a vowel should be “long” and when it is “short.” But I have nothing in my bag of tricks for when a word has no vowel at all. What do I even do with that?
A worldview is basically the framework that we use to make sense out of life, and it affects how we interpret the events in our lives. Some people say it is like an invisible pair of glasses through which we view all of life. We may not know it is there, but it affects everything that we say and do. Basically, our worldview answers the “why” questions in life. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is there sickness and disease in the world? Questions like that.
At ICSV we teach from a biblical worldview. What does that mean? We interpret all of our experiences from the standpoint that there is a God who is the Creator of the world. That is where it all starts. God the Creator is a personal God who made people in His image, and so everyone has value and should be treated with respect. And yet people sinned against God, bringing death into their lives. Because of this, our perfect relationship with God was broken, and so we now experience suffering and sickness. But we also believe in redemption and restoration. God made a way for people to be forgiven and to have their fellowship with Him restored. By holding to this worldview, we have the promise that God has a plan and is control. We live with hope and purpose.
My biblical worldview is not something that comes into focus just on Sundays when I go to church. It is with me all the time. Just like when I looked at that road sign in the Czech Republic. I automatically interpreted it with my built-in set of glasses. The next time you are in a situation that seems unfamiliar and causes you to do a double-take, think about why that is. What is your built-in worldview through which you are interpreting the world? That’s a pretty deep question, when you get down to it. But it is a question that we all need to answer.
Because of His Faithfulness,
Sharon Brobst, Director