Seeing Through a Different Lens
We all have a worldview, either by design or default.
Neutrality is an illusion.
-Ravi Zacharius
The rainy season that year had been the heaviest ever and the rivers had broken their banks. There were floods everywhere and the animals were all running up into the hills. The floods came so fast that many of those animals drowned, except the lucky monkeys who used their proverbial agility to climb up into the treetops. These monkeys looked down on the surface of the water where the fish were swimming and gracefully jumping through the water.
One of the monkeys saw the fish and shouted to his companion: “Look down, my friend, look at those poor creatures. They are going to drown. Do you see how they struggle in the water?”
“Yes,” said the other monkey, “What a pity! Probably they were late in escaping to the hills because they seem to have no legs. How can we save them?”
“I think we must do something. Let’s go close to the edge of the flood where the water is not deep enough to cover us, and we can help them to get out.”
The monkeys did just that. They started catching the fish, but not without difficulty. One by one, they brought them out of the water and put them carefully on the dry land. After a short time, there was a pile of fish lying on the grass motionless.
One of the monkeys said, “Do you see? They were tired, but now they are just sleeping and resting. Had it not been for us, my friend, all these poor creatures without legs would have drowned.”
The other monkey replied, “They were trying to escape from us because they could not understand our good intentions. But when they wake up, they will be very grateful.”[1]
The monkeys’ worldview was totally different from that of the fish. The monkeys could not comprehend another creature living in water and not drowning. As land animals, they could only understand living beings surviving on land.
As humans our worldview also controls how we see the world. Researchers of culture often equate our worldview to glasses we wear—often without awareness—over our eyes. The lenses of our worldview affect what we see, how we see, and what we do not even notice.
Worldviews answer life’s biggest questions. These include: How did the world begin? What is my purpose in life? What are the problems in life and how can they be remedied? Are there morals? If so, how are morals determined?
Ravi Zacharius notes, “we all have a worldview, either by design or default. Neutrality is an illusion.”[2] When we answer big questions in life, we answer from our worldview assumptions.
If our “glasses” have the wrong prescription, our vision gets distorted. Our perception of reality is warped. Truth can look false and false can look true. How then do we make sure our prescription is correct?
As Christians the short answer for visual clarity is God’s Word. Through reading, studying and meditating on God’s Word, we gain insights into God’s values, how He thinks, and how He sees our lives. God’s word is a safe place for Christians to gain His perspective. (We will develop this more in a future edition.)
Christians are also called to be salt and light, engaging with others whose worldviews do not reflect God’s. As we engage, it is good to keep worldview principles in mind. Ravi Zacharius notes several qualities of a good worldview:
1. A good worldview has factual support.
2. A good worldview has a high degree of coherence or internal consistency.
3. A good worldview has explanatory power (i.e., Why are we here? How did the universe begin?).
4. A good worldview is neither too simple nor too complex.
5. A good worldview has more than one line of evidence. Cumulative evidence converges from several sources of data.
6. A worldview is not complete in itself until it is able to refute contrary worldviews. 3
These tests serve as guidelines for examining whether a worldview is worth following. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Secularists all have worldviews which greatly differ from a biblical or Christian worldview. Seeing the world differently also leads to different understandings of what is important and what truly leads to human flourishing.
The monkeys unwittingly caused great damage to the fish. Their skewed worldview caused chaos and death. In the same way, when we have a faulty worldview or skewed view of reality, we end up tolerating, condoning, and possibly promoting ideas and actions that are against the heart of God and harmful to humanity. Our worldviews totally affect how we live life and the impact our actions. We must prioritize making sure our worldview aligns with God’s Word.
[1] Johnson, Jean. We Are Not the Hero (Kindle Locations 338-352). Kindle Edition.
[2] Zacharias, Ravi. The Real Face of Atheism, The (p. 114). Baker Book Group - A. Kindle Edition.
3. Zacharias, Ravi. Real Face of Atheism, The (p. 174). Baker Book Group - A. Kindle Edition.