Your Weltanschauung Is Showing
Greetings from Malibu, California. I'm sitting in a cafe at Pepperdine University overlooking the Pacific Ocean -- reflecting on my day. I'm here at the Pepperdine Lectures to speak Friday morning. They gave me one class to teach How Now Shall We Live As Parents? One class to teach a 70,000 word book.
Great.
It's amazing to me that there has been so much talking and writing done in Christian circles on the importance of understanding our worldview. And yet the tribe of my heritage (the Churches of Christ) still hasn't much of a clue about the whole thing. You should see people's eyes glaze over when I tell them what the book is about.
"Oh, it's a book about parenting? Can you tell me how to get my kids to sit still at the dinner table?"
"Well, actually it's more about how parents can help their kids grasp a Christian worldview."
"Great! Worldliness is a big problem with kids these days. Most of them don't even want to come to church on Sunday nights."
"Yeah...uh...it's less about behavior and more about thinking and interpreting the world properly."
"I know all about that. I did a devo for the teens a couple of months ago about how dangerous the world is and what a slippery slope listening to rock-and-roll music is and going to the R-rated movies."
Helping your children develop an accurate worldview (from the German Weltanschauung) is not about behavior modification. It's not about getting them to sleep through the night or training them like dogs (I seriously get this from a lot of damaged parents -- they think they're supposed to train their children like dogs or horses or some other animal).
It's about helping them see the world as it really is. It's about helping them develop a filter through which they can interpret life as it is happening.
Your worldview shows up in why you vote, what you watch, where you shop, how you drive. Your worldview determines how you talk to yourself and others -- how you treat your neighbor and whether or not you can forgive your enemy. Your worldview is demonstrated by your thoughts, feelings, words and actions.
And here's the scary part: If you say you believe one thing, but your behavior reveals something completely opposite -- guess which one your kids will remember.
Great.
It's amazing to me that there has been so much talking and writing done in Christian circles on the importance of understanding our worldview. And yet the tribe of my heritage (the Churches of Christ) still hasn't much of a clue about the whole thing. You should see people's eyes glaze over when I tell them what the book is about.
"Oh, it's a book about parenting? Can you tell me how to get my kids to sit still at the dinner table?"
"Well, actually it's more about how parents can help their kids grasp a Christian worldview."
"Great! Worldliness is a big problem with kids these days. Most of them don't even want to come to church on Sunday nights."
"Yeah...uh...it's less about behavior and more about thinking and interpreting the world properly."
"I know all about that. I did a devo for the teens a couple of months ago about how dangerous the world is and what a slippery slope listening to rock-and-roll music is and going to the R-rated movies."
Helping your children develop an accurate worldview (from the German Weltanschauung) is not about behavior modification. It's not about getting them to sleep through the night or training them like dogs (I seriously get this from a lot of damaged parents -- they think they're supposed to train their children like dogs or horses or some other animal).
It's about helping them see the world as it really is. It's about helping them develop a filter through which they can interpret life as it is happening.
Your worldview shows up in why you vote, what you watch, where you shop, how you drive. Your worldview determines how you talk to yourself and others -- how you treat your neighbor and whether or not you can forgive your enemy. Your worldview is demonstrated by your thoughts, feelings, words and actions.
And here's the scary part: If you say you believe one thing, but your behavior reveals something completely opposite -- guess which one your kids will remember.
posted by john alan turner at 1:26 AM
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