Intellectuelle

Academics often say biblical belief has no place in the social sciences because it keeps people from open-minded analysis of data. Actually, the opposite is true: A biblical worldview often reveals the limitations of conventional approaches and pushes us to ask the right questions so that the data we obtain will not leave us still ignorant.

Biblical social scientists have an advantage because they know truths about human nature. Those who dismiss the Bible and create surveys that don't measure crucial factors are the ones who have closed minds. Sometimes the Bible gives us clear answers and sometimes it doesn't, but it always helps us to ask the right questions.

Olasky's words remind me of a post I wrote last year wondering why columnist Ellen Goodman made astute observations about people and leadership yet didn't seem to understand what the things she observed meant. She couldn't see them for what they were, apparently, because her worldview lacked a biblical perspective (or, more specifically, a saving faith in Jesus Christ.)

Conversion to such faith invariably results in a change of worldview, which is what many evangelicals focus on when seeking to "engage the culture." They've observed differences among the worldviews produced by various beliefs and seek to evangelize by engaging people via these worldviews (I hope I'm getting that right). "Worldview" thinking has received criticism, though, because the focus of such thinking can center upon worldview itself rather than on the beliefs that form it or the gospel that ought to inform it. Besides that, not all "true believers" have fully identical worldviews (obviously), and this is not necessarily because someone is wrong.

When hearing the gospel, a person can't help but filter it through their worldview, or, perhaps more accurate, their personal life-view, and it may not make sense if not explained in that language. This is what Paul means by becoming all things to all (I Corinthians 9:22), and I think it's part of the basis for a "worldview"-type evangelism. We have to remember, though, that much of what we call worldview is culturally informed, and none of us is outside of culture; we are each part of one or many cultures, or an amalgam of many. When we speak of reaching the culture, we are really speaking of cross-cultural dialogue. Being in but not of the world does not (and should not) mean we have a different culture; it means we live in the culture differently.

I think we have to go beyond cultural and "worldview" differences to the real humanity that each and every one of us shares -- the truth of who we really are and of who God is and what He did for us in Jesus. Underneath it all, we are all basically the same. Worldview change has to start here, and a complete transformation (if even possible) takes time to achieve. Indeed, our worldviews are continually changing as we work out our salvation, though perhaps not as drastically as when we first came to saving faith. Therefore, discussion of worldview may actually be more fruitful when taken up with those who have some openness to, or even a burgeoning faith in, God (through Jesus) already.

But we must start with the basics. If we gently speak to that which, underneath it all, we "can't not know" -- that common ground that we all share -- (which ultimately involves matters of the heart as well as the mind) then we may find a fertile place to sow the seed of the gospel. We can worry about cultivation afterwards. It doesn't do a whole lot of good to point out differences in worldviews if we are not addressing the matters of the heart/mind that lead to those worldviews.