As I was thinking through the creation of this blog site it became evident that a name was needed. After all you cannot leave the name as the default Site Title. What does that show the reader about my blog, or even about me? Choosing a name became important because it represents the type of material it will contain and the direction it will go. Visitors to my blog will quickly realize that this site is primarily motivated by my love for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and how His Word has and does shape my life and how I think, my Christian worldview.
And don’t be fooled thinking everyone does not have a worldview. They do. So when someone claims that they believe in nothing they still operate from a worldview. Let me share the basic definition of what a worldview is. This definition comes from Paul G. Hiebert in his book Transforming Worldviews as the “fundamental cognitive, affective, and evaluative presuppositions a group of people [and individual] make about the nature of things, and which they use to order their lives” (2008, 15). He goes on to write that “worldviews are what people in a community take as given realities, the maps they have of reality that they use for living (15). Again, everyone has a worldview. And when one comes to faith in Jesus Christ they bring with them their worldview in how they evaluate and interpret the world around them.
But, as followers of Jesus Christ our previous worldviews are being reshaped into a Christian worldview through sanctification. For the Lord Himself prayed the High Priestly Prayer before His arrest that His disciples would not be taken out of the world but that they would remain to be sent into the world [Jn17:15-18]. And it is in verse 17 of this pericope that we see how our worldview is being changed as it reads, “Sanctify them in truth; your word is truth” (ESV). Through God’s Word and His abiding Holy Spirit all followers of Jesus Christ experience a progressive, or a continued sanctification process as we live and serve where the Lord has placed us. Our lives are being changed so that we are growing to be more like Christ [Rom 8:29]. And because of this understanding the Apostle Paul would later encourages Christians to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” [Rom 12:2]. Our mind, our worldview, is being changed in how we evaluate and interpret the world around us. And for the better…or at least it should be! But that is another topic for another day.
As a Christian my previous worldview is continually being challenged through the reading of Holy Scripture, prayer, and work of His Spirit that influences how I see and interpret the events around and in my life. Hence the name for my blog Theologically Exploring Daily Encounters. I want readers to quickly know that whatever the topic may be that it comes from a developing Christian worldview. A worldview that has been impacted by the glorious reality of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Founder and Perfecter of my [our] faith!
Blessings!
Resource:
Hiebert, Paul G. Transforming Worldviews: An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.
Applewood - Thoughts From Home 