The Word in Focus with Dr Larry Taylor

Every human being lives from a worldview, whether consciously or unconsciously. Few of us ever stop to ask what ours actually is. We inherit assumptions about God, ourselves, other people, truth, politics, money, morality, and purpose long before we are capable of examining them. One of the essential tasks of adulthood is becoming conscious of that worldview, testing it honestly, and allowing it to be transformed toward truth, compassion, and human flourishing.

Everyone has a worldview. 

Worldviews are lenses and maps. Reality is the territory. Worldview is the map. Maps can be incomplete, outdated, distorted, accurate, beautiful or helpful. No map is reality itself. Realizing that creates humility – my worldview may be wrong, it may need correcting, updating, or editing. Humility says, this I believe, but I could be wrong.

We do not encounter reality directly; we encounter it through interpretive lenses. The map is never the territory. Those lenses include our families of origin, traumatic experiences, religious teaching and experiences, political viewpoints, economic status, education, culture, personality, and memories. Our worldview becomes the lens through which everything is interpreted. Worldview is the organizing concept, but underneath it are questions of epistemology (How do we know?), anthropology (What is a human being?), ethics (How ought we live?), psychology (Why do we believe what we believe?), and theology (What, if anything, is ultimate reality?). 

We rarely experience reality as a blank slate. Every perception is filtered through memory, expectation, language, and culture. We see not simply what is there, but what we have learned to notice. This is why two people can witness the same event and leave with entirely different interpretations.

Where do worldviews come from?

Most people inherit their worldview rather than develop it on their own. Many of us never thoughtfully consider our worldviews; instead, we simply accept what we absorbed from family and environment, which is why mobs are so easily swayed. 

Our underlying worldviews are at least partially formed by our culture, environment, influences, and families of origin. Bearing the intergenerational trauma of ancestral enslavement, familia segregation, and institutionalized racism often results in a worldview in which an individual seems themselves as less than. Conversely, a privileged upbringing often results in entitled adults. 

Not a few young Americans were raised in a form of evangelicalism where they were taught that they were hopeless sinners bound for hellfire unless they said a “sinner’s prayer,” joined a church, embraced the pro-life anti-abortion movement, accepted the Bible as infallible, and avoided sexual thoughts and behaviours. Some went from there to embrace what they were told was a divine mandate to take over governments, schools, and other areas of influence to birth a theocracy. 

For others, the worldview they absorbed stopped working. They had a gay friend (or they themselves discovered an attraction to those of the same biological sex) and could no longer believe they were condemned. They saw the plight of the environment, the poor, the homeless, the incarcerated, the war-torn. They heard the agonized cries of those on the margins and were sickened by the indifference of the rich and powerful. Some watched people they had trusted embrace cruelty, dishonesty, or the pursuit of power while calling it faith. Others became convinced that the religion they inherited no longer resembled the teachings of Jesus. Some abandoned faith altogether; others began the difficult work of separating God from the distortions they had inherited.

Their task now is to discern what they really truly believe about themselves, about the universe, about meaning and purpose, about God (or no god). How are we to know what is true? Do we judge by subjective feelings? If it feels right, is it? If it makes me happy does that make it true? What about the greedy person whose exploitation of others makes him happy? What about the sadist who feels right when he hurts others? By what criteria do we discern truth? Does truth even exist? If so, does it come by divine revelation, human reasoning, scientific inquiry, or some combination?

Uncomfortable with nuance, the fundamentalist (be they Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or Atheist) seeks black and white, dualistic answers, laws, infallible texts, prophets who know everything. Many of us cannot live like that. We see subtly, variation, several sides to each issue, and humans who are neither all good nor all bad.

Why Worldviews Matter

Worldviews shape perception before behavior. If we perceive the world as primarily hostile and filled with danger, we will live timid lives in fear. If we see the world and life within it as an opportunity to indulge our particular lusts for money or fame or pleasure, we will without even being aware of it, trample on others to enrich ourselves. If our worldview is one of hopelessness, we sink into depression. If might makes right, we become aggressive. If good guys finish last, we win at all costs.

We often are not fully aware of our worldview. We may not recognize demoralizing worldviews based on feelings of inferiority without help from a therapist or spiritual director, for example. 

We ask: Who am I? Am I a victim or a self-made person? Was I born on third base and therefore have obligations to those on the sidelines? Is life fundamentally fair or random? Does the moral arc of the universe bend towards justice or is justice a fleeting illusion? 

The idea of God, deity, or a higher power is wrapped up in our worldviews. Are humans the epitome of life in the universe? Is there a force larger than ourselves? Is reality an illusion? Are humans free, or is our path determined? Are the dice of the gods loaded? 

If there is a God (or gods) is that God (or are those gods) personal and active or impersonal and benign, benevolent or malevolent, kind or cruel, forgiving or judgmental, omnipotent or limited, tribal or universal? If one’s god is a tribal warlord, we will have no qualms slaughtering others. If our god is ambition or mammon, we will become increasingly insensate and greedy. The narcissist worships himself. If we see ourselves beholding to a god of wrath, we will tremble seeking appeasement.

Even within broader categories, individual worldviews have subtle and not so subtle differences. What, for example, is a “Christian” worldview? A nationalist’s worldview could be based on a belief in a warlord god. A worldview based on the teachings of Jesus emphasizes service, kindness, and charity. They may both be labeled “Christian” yet be diametrically opposite. A Protestant fundamentalist thunders warnings of eternal conscious torment. A Mainline Protestant typically emphasizes grace and beauty. 

Is there a Jewish worldview? If so, is it Orthodox and legalistic, Reform and openminded, or Conservative and balanced between the two? And in each instance, what does that worldview look like? How do its adherents behave?

A Shia Muslim likely has confidence in infallible Imans; Sunni Muslims find authority in the Quran rather than in leaders. Enlightenment Age of Reason worldviews are rooted in an optimistic opinion of a humanity that theoretically can solve problems and peacefully govern itself through reasonable people making rational decisions.

Leaving the realm of religion, we become aware of multiple other worldviews. Military cultures, Wall Street, academia, environmental movements, artistic communities, Silicon Valley, rural America, urban America—all cultivate distinctive assumptions about what matters most.

Humans may be kind, charitable, and generous, or cruel, judgmental, and greedy. Our worldview lies under our behavior. 

Behavior grows out of perception and perception grows out of our worldview. 

We don’t simply act according to what we believe; we act according to the world we think we inhabit. Jung would say that we project our unconscious onto reality. Kierkegaard would say that we become what we inwardly choose before God. Cognitive behavioral psychology might say that our cognitive schemas shape emotional responses. All three are saying remarkably similar things.

Can Worldviews Change?

Worldviews can be transformed. Our worldviews are not set in stone. Unhealthy worldviews can be swapped out for meaningful ones. To do so, we first must become aware of what our worldview really is. How do we see ourselves? Why do we see ourselves as we do? 

What do I really believe? That is an essential human question. What do I really believe in the depths of my heart, as opposed to what I was taught in my family or origin, by my peers, or by my faith-community? What have I simply accepted uncritically? 

Therapists, counselors, and spiritual directors listen deeply and compassionately to understand a client’s worldview. The helpful, healthy, positive aspects of the client’s worldview are undergirded, strengthened, The unhealthy, negative, hurtful, self-sabotaging portions of worldviews are gently challenged. Most of our worldviews are combinations of helpful/healthy and unhelpful/unhealthy. An important task for each of us is to discover what our worldview really is, embrace what is true and good and jettison what is false and destructive to our own mental health and to our relationships.

How do we discern healthier from unhealthy worldviews?

A healthy worldview – a map that more closely reflects reality – is one that provides the soil out of which can grow compassion, mercy, goodness, peace, reconciliation, tolerance, and justice. An unhealthy worldview – a distorted inaccurate map of reality – produces hatred, violence, exploitation, and injustice.

Personal growth then becomes more than just trying hard to be more understanding. It involves shifting my worldview from self-righteousness to humility, from judging others to viewing them as beings of insurmountable worth. 

A healthy worldview corresponds reasonably well with reality, survives honest questioning, makes room for evidence, produces compassion rather than cruelty, encourages humility rather than certainty, promotes flourishing, and allows correction.

Clearly some worldviews produce greater truthfulness, compassion, freedom, humility, courage, and human flourishing than others. At times the differences are stark. Francis of Assisi’s worldview differed radically from that of Napoleon. Martin Luther King Jr.’s worldview differed profoundly from that of segregationists. Jesus’ worldview stood in direct conflict with both religious legalism and imperial power. By their fruits you will know them. We can and should test our worldviews. Does my worldview produce more love, joy, peace, and kindness, or do I find myself bitter and angry, quick to condemn others?

My own worldview has evolved.

My worldview has not been replaced so much as deposited in layers, like sedimentary rock. Each season of life has left its own stratum. Some layers corrected earlier ones. Some deepened them. Some remain in tension. Together they form the landscape through which I now understand the world. 

Thus far, the layers of my worldview include scientific skepticism, a love of nature, the effects of marriage and parenthood, Anabaptist ethics, deep grief, spiritual formation, contemplative Christian spirituality, Kierkegaardian existentialism, Jungian analysis, and age.

Raised by scientists, my worldview is decidedly rational, questioning, challenging, doubting, probing, and filled with healthy scientific skepticism. I want to ask why. I want to know how. Whatever the prevailing opinion is, I want to challenge it, test it, see if it’s true. What is the purpose of life? Why are we here? Is there a God? if so, what is God like? Who am I? Where do I fit?

Those same parents gave me a love for nature and therefore a concern for environmental justice and stewardship. They loved ornithology. My childhood was filled with bird counts and hikes to find rare birds amidst natural beauty. My dad was an oceanographer. We snorkeled around reefs, explored salt marshes, and gazed in wonder at microscopic plants and animals. My spouse introduced me to a love of astronomy and the wonders of space along with an appreciation of flora. 

Marriage teaches compromise and plunges us into the world of understanding another. I doubt I would have survived the depths of grief I’ve been through without the love and support of my wife. Parenthood cannot help but influence our worldviews. It changes us, makes us acutely aware of the need to protect, provide, educate, guide, love, and forgive. Parenthood highlights our failures and humbles us. I have five children, eight grandchildren, and two step-grandchildren. Each are unique, wonderful human beings, radically different from one another. I have loved every stage of their growth from infancy to adulthood. I know nothing of “terrible two’s,” or “horrible teens.” I love being a dad. It saddens me that our family is spread out and I only occasionally get to see my kids and grandkids. I envy families in close contact. 

Layered over that are Anabaptist ethics – attempting to live by the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) – a life of nonviolence, simplicity, and service. I’m a pacifist with deep concern for the disenfranchised and marginalized. These layers motivate me towards doing what I can to promote racial and environmental justice, seeking to understand others, reconcile differences, and promote mental and spiritual wellbeing. I have always believed in God as a being superior to myself. I have spent a lifetime trying to understand what God is like. At this stage in my journey, I see God as infinite, self-sacrificial, other-oriented love – the designer and creator of all who is personal and attentive to our lives. As such, I reject the idea of conscious eternal torture as incompatible with God’s nature. I embrace unity and understanding, self-actualization, integrated personalities, and flourishing robust intellectual inquiry. Nevertheless, fundamentalist monster gods seek to crawl back into my consciousness from time to time. 

I have been deeply shaped by grief. My first marriage shattered, which deeply and adversely affected my children. My son committed suicide when he was not quite 15-years-old. He did so on my 35^th birthday, plunging me into years of heartache and confusion.  My dad died suddenly and unexpectantly a few years later. I’ve been a hospital and hospice chaplain by the bedside of many dying people and their loved ones. I’ve suffered debilitating depression and panic attacks. Grief permanently altered the questions I ask. It made simplistic theology impossible. It taught me that explanations rarely heal, but presence often does. It stripped away much of my certainty while deepening my compassion.

My spiritual formation is eclectic. Church of the Brethren peace studies, Calvary Chapel bibliology, American Baptist social justice, Ignatian exercises, Benedictine rule, and contemplative Christianity blended into a worldview that values intimacy with God and service to those Jesus called the least of his siblings (Matthew 25). 

Kierkegaardian existentialism is in the mix as well – the individual standing before God in daily life, the rejection of dead state religiosity, the necessity of radical conversion. 

Add to that a layer of Jungian psychoanalysis that seeks to integrate the unconscious with the conscious life and move towards wholeness. 

And age. I’m in my mid-70s. I’ve tried to keep my eyes open and learn a few things.

And yet, there are times when I think, “Is this all wishful thinking?” Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum; or, as Augustine put it, Si fallor, sum. Can doubt become a worldview? Along with Kierkegaard I would answer “No.”Doubt is useful, but permanent doubt is paralysis. Faith is not the opposite of doubt. Faith is what one does after honest doubt. Augustine moves beyond Si fallor, sum. Existence is only the beginning. Love is the destination.

Conclusion

A beautiful worldview is one that is filled with curiosity, humility, compassion, courage, humor, gratitude, and a willingness to be corrected. Every human being lives from a worldview, whether consciously or unconsciously. We cannot avoid having one. The real question is not whether we possess a worldview, but whether our worldview possesses us. Does it make us more truthful or more self-deceived? More compassionate or more fearful? More open to reality or more imprisoned by ideology? A worldview should not merely explain the world; it should enable us to inhabit it with greater wisdom, courage, humility, and love. The lifelong task is not simply to inherit a worldview, but to examine it honestly, relinquish what is false, and continually reshape it in light of truth wherever it is found.