The Role of Your Worldview
The very first week after I finished school found me involved in a similar, yet in ways much more intense, occupation. Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota hosted the staff of Worldview Academy, a ministry based in Texas, and around 200 teenage students who flocked there to attend the 2005 Leadership Camp which the academy puts on every summer at various colleges across the nation.
It started on a Sunday afternoon and lasted through Friday morning. As with most new experiences, I had no idea what I was getting into beforehand. As we drove up, camp counselors in red STAFF shirts waved, danced, and hollered “Welcome to Worldview Academy: the best week of your life!” They helped us bring our luggage into the dormitory, where everyone received a colored bracelet for the team competitions and a room key.
A diverse group of kids came to the camp, but it is interesting to note that a large percentage of them were homeschooled. For example, one of my roommates was homeschooled and my small group consisted of seven people including the twenty-year-old counselor. Of them, four were currently being homeschooled, one had done a Christian school, homeschool, and was now in a public high school, one had never been taught at home, and one graduated with the homeschool class.
No matter our background, who our roommates were, whether we had a large breakfast that particular morning or a small one, it didn’t even matter what color team was winning the competition for the Spamley Cup, we all seemed to get along pretty well. Of course, the counselor’s job was to make sure everybody “got something” out of the lectures, so in order to answer his questioning in the right, one had to make sure to listen carefully and take lots of notes.
We attended two lectures each morning and three in the evening with the afternoons being free. The topics, which ranged from author Jeff Baldwin’s “Ten Biggest Decisions of Your Life” to his “Christianity and the Arts”, were divided into three groupings: Worldview, Leadership and Apologetics.
Included were a briefing on Pseudo-Christian Cults, “Seven Sweet Lies You Already Believe” and talks on Evolution, Critical Thinking, the Reliability of Scripture, a Christian’s role of cultural contribution, and “The Twelve Trademarks of Great Literature.”
We started with an introduction to worldviews in which Jay Winslow, an English teacher in the public schools, taught that one’s worldview is his framework for understanding existence, and that everyone has a worldview, whether they know it or not. He said that our ideas have consequences, and our worldview will be apparent in the work we produce. For example, Shakespeare had a strong biblical worldview as evidenced in his masterpieces (along with Handel, Bach and Michelangelo.)
Ernest Hemingway, on the other hand, had a terrible worldview, believing there was no purpose for life or suffering. He is joined by Pablo Picasso with his abstract art, Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, and John Cage (who believed music happens by chance).
Brandon Booth, the camp director, reminded us that leadership is influence and communication. He shared by saying that in order to be a servant leader we must have: meekness, which is controlled power, integrity (the quality of being complete and undivided) and vision (or the ability to see Yahweh’s [the LORD’s] presence, power and plan in spite of obstacles).
The Charisma Driven Leader seeks recognition, demands his rights, and is influenced by the people. But the Character Driven Leader seeks righteousness and responsibilities, influences the people and is focused on them.
Mark Bertrand entertained the class with his jokes, comics, great PowerPoint presentations, and interesting details. In his lecture “WISDOM is not what YOU THINK” the writer and teacher taught that our assumptions about wisdom are utterly wrong. He said that wisdom does not come from within us; instead it comes from outside. It is not what we THINK; it stems from obedience, not intellect. It is measured by deeds, not sentiments.
Where does wisdom start? Psalm 111:10 says “The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.” The fear of Yahweh requires seeing with His eyes and a right relationship with Him. In other words, wisdom starts with worldview. It flows from worldview and builds upon it.
With all the activities going on at camp, it turned out to be a jam packed week. Devotions, meals, lectures, competitions, and even an evangelism practicum where we witnessed to visitors at Como Park Zoo filled up our days. And then there was worship, small group time, more food (always enough), visiting during the walks back and forth from building to building, and finally a quite night of sleep (sometimes not! Heads reeling with questions in need of answers; and never long enough!)
But looking back I see it was good. The best week of my life? No, home life gets me that. But at the Worldview Academy Leadership Camp, I did learn some important stuff, namely the fact that we are expected by our Creator to think in terms of worldview.
This means that our Christian worldview, because it is rooted in the scriptures, is stronger than and can overthrow false beliefs, man’s reasoning, and anything that is not Truth.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not fight according to the flesh. For the weapons we fight with are not fleshly but mighty in Yahweh for overthrowing strongholds, overthrowing reasonings and every high matter that exalts itself against the knowledge of Yahweh, taking captive every thought to make it obedient to the Messiah…”
With this in mind, we need to encourage people to be consistent in their worldview, no matter which category it happens to fall under. Theism or atheism; polytheism or pantheism. One god or none; many or everything. For if they try to be consistent and their beliefs are untrue, their whole religion will fall apart because only Truth will bear inspection. Pray that they will find the Truth that they might be set free.
It started on a Sunday afternoon and lasted through Friday morning. As with most new experiences, I had no idea what I was getting into beforehand. As we drove up, camp counselors in red STAFF shirts waved, danced, and hollered “Welcome to Worldview Academy: the best week of your life!” They helped us bring our luggage into the dormitory, where everyone received a colored bracelet for the team competitions and a room key.
A diverse group of kids came to the camp, but it is interesting to note that a large percentage of them were homeschooled. For example, one of my roommates was homeschooled and my small group consisted of seven people including the twenty-year-old counselor. Of them, four were currently being homeschooled, one had done a Christian school, homeschool, and was now in a public high school, one had never been taught at home, and one graduated with the homeschool class.
No matter our background, who our roommates were, whether we had a large breakfast that particular morning or a small one, it didn’t even matter what color team was winning the competition for the Spamley Cup, we all seemed to get along pretty well. Of course, the counselor’s job was to make sure everybody “got something” out of the lectures, so in order to answer his questioning in the right, one had to make sure to listen carefully and take lots of notes.
We attended two lectures each morning and three in the evening with the afternoons being free. The topics, which ranged from author Jeff Baldwin’s “Ten Biggest Decisions of Your Life” to his “Christianity and the Arts”, were divided into three groupings: Worldview, Leadership and Apologetics.
Included were a briefing on Pseudo-Christian Cults, “Seven Sweet Lies You Already Believe” and talks on Evolution, Critical Thinking, the Reliability of Scripture, a Christian’s role of cultural contribution, and “The Twelve Trademarks of Great Literature.”
We started with an introduction to worldviews in which Jay Winslow, an English teacher in the public schools, taught that one’s worldview is his framework for understanding existence, and that everyone has a worldview, whether they know it or not. He said that our ideas have consequences, and our worldview will be apparent in the work we produce. For example, Shakespeare had a strong biblical worldview as evidenced in his masterpieces (along with Handel, Bach and Michelangelo.)
Ernest Hemingway, on the other hand, had a terrible worldview, believing there was no purpose for life or suffering. He is joined by Pablo Picasso with his abstract art, Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, and John Cage (who believed music happens by chance).
Brandon Booth, the camp director, reminded us that leadership is influence and communication. He shared by saying that in order to be a servant leader we must have: meekness, which is controlled power, integrity (the quality of being complete and undivided) and vision (or the ability to see Yahweh’s [the LORD’s] presence, power and plan in spite of obstacles).
The Charisma Driven Leader seeks recognition, demands his rights, and is influenced by the people. But the Character Driven Leader seeks righteousness and responsibilities, influences the people and is focused on them.
Mark Bertrand entertained the class with his jokes, comics, great PowerPoint presentations, and interesting details. In his lecture “WISDOM is not what YOU THINK” the writer and teacher taught that our assumptions about wisdom are utterly wrong. He said that wisdom does not come from within us; instead it comes from outside. It is not what we THINK; it stems from obedience, not intellect. It is measured by deeds, not sentiments.
Where does wisdom start? Psalm 111:10 says “The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.” The fear of Yahweh requires seeing with His eyes and a right relationship with Him. In other words, wisdom starts with worldview. It flows from worldview and builds upon it.
With all the activities going on at camp, it turned out to be a jam packed week. Devotions, meals, lectures, competitions, and even an evangelism practicum where we witnessed to visitors at Como Park Zoo filled up our days. And then there was worship, small group time, more food (always enough), visiting during the walks back and forth from building to building, and finally a quite night of sleep (sometimes not! Heads reeling with questions in need of answers; and never long enough!)
But looking back I see it was good. The best week of my life? No, home life gets me that. But at the Worldview Academy Leadership Camp, I did learn some important stuff, namely the fact that we are expected by our Creator to think in terms of worldview.
This means that our Christian worldview, because it is rooted in the scriptures, is stronger than and can overthrow false beliefs, man’s reasoning, and anything that is not Truth.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not fight according to the flesh. For the weapons we fight with are not fleshly but mighty in Yahweh for overthrowing strongholds, overthrowing reasonings and every high matter that exalts itself against the knowledge of Yahweh, taking captive every thought to make it obedient to the Messiah…”
With this in mind, we need to encourage people to be consistent in their worldview, no matter which category it happens to fall under. Theism or atheism; polytheism or pantheism. One god or none; many or everything. For if they try to be consistent and their beliefs are untrue, their whole religion will fall apart because only Truth will bear inspection. Pray that they will find the Truth that they might be set free.
posted by Seth @ 2:52 PM
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