...And the Company You Keep - by Matthew McNeil

What "lens" do you see the world through?

A while back I became obsessed with apologetics, which is knowing why you believe what you believe and being able to defend it.  Suddenly, I thought I had the power to prove someone to salvation.  However, something started happening, and I was at a loss as to how to go about handling it.  Even after I presented the best evidence there was to believe the Bible, people still refused!  They would merely reinterpret the evidence I would present, and make it actually hold up their beliefs.  It was as if they had a filter for their brain; whatever jived with what they already believed got through the filter, and anything opposed ricocheted off of it.  That’s when I learned about something called worldview.  I’m not talking about particular world religions, though they certainly fit under the category of worldview.  I’m talking about a system used for interpreting reality, or better yet a lens through which reality is viewed.  Just like a prescription lens changes the way one sees everything around him, one’s worldview affects how one accepts the facts.  For example, Evolutionists believe that since many creatures have similar physical features, they must have come from a common ancestor.  Creationists understand this to show that they didn’t come from a common ancestor, but rather a Common Creator.  Suddenly, one has to start asking the question “Do the facts really make this truth claim, or is my worldview influencing how I see the facts?”

I know some of this is a little deep, so let’s head back to the surface for air.  Everyone gets their worldview from somewhere; no one is born with a particular worldview.  Where do they come from, you ask?  One source is the people with whom we surround ourselves.  Proverbs 12:26 says that “The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them.”  In the Hebrew, the phrase “more excellent” has to do with being a guide.  So another way of reading it would be that “The righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”  Check out these other scriptures on the subject:  Proverbs 13:20; 16:29; and 27:17.  Who are the people who influence you?  Perhaps a better question is, who do you greatly respect?  It doesn’t even have to be someone who is alive.  You could have read something from someone who died long ago, but whose ideas live on.  Where will this guide lead you to in eternity?  Something to think about.