Understanding
Another Worldview
Part
II
By Weston Leibee
In Part
I in the previous issue we noted that a worldview
is how we view the world around us; it is the core of our
value system. Our beliefs and behavior flow out of the
way we think in our hearts. Our culture and upbringing
shape our worldview. Some values line up with Scripture,
but some values do not. In some cultures it is okay to
lie to save face for your family or community. Yet this
is contrary to the Bible. The gospel goes beyond just saving
our souls; it changes our lives and makes all things new.
This is a work that God does in the life of each believer,
doing it from the inside out as He brings conviction to
our hearts. Our aim is to have God’s view on all things.
Also in the first part we
looked at the physical example of food. We saw the clear
differences between the way Konkombas and Americans view
food. The values
of each group were shaped over many years by the availability of food, the
ease or difficulty of producing or acquiring it, famine,
etc. The Konkombas take great
care in preparing food and serving it respectfully, because for them it is
hard work and not always readily available. On the other
hand, most Americans have
never experienced starvation, and with our history of prosperity, we take food
for granted. We have an abundance, and even great variety.
In entering a new and different
culture, we saw that if you are not sensitive about the
other’s worldview, you might get offended or offend others.
This
could cause strained relationships and damage to the gospel. Understanding
the values
of others will help you work through these difficulties.
Animist Worldview of Sin
In this article we will look at some spiritual aspects
of worldview. This brings us to a crucial part. In fact,
if we fail to understand another’s worldview when we are
teaching him spiritual things, we may end up with syncretism,
not conversion.
Syncretism is adding truths
to your worldview rather than changing your worldview.
For example, as an American I can hand food to another person with two hands
(as the Konkombas do), but this is not going to change my worldview about
food. I simply added to my behavior the outward practice
of how I handle food without
changing my heart attitudes about food. The same can also happen spiritually.
There is one vital concept
we must understand if we are going to come to God: SIN!
Do you know that there are many worldviews on sin? Interestingly,
there’s
no word for sin in many languages, or the word sin means something vastly
different than the biblical concept of sin. If you just move into the Konkomba
culture
and (without changing the worldview) start preaching “stop sinning,” what
you are meaning to them is “stop offending various people’s taboos.”
There is a vast distance
between the biblical view of sin and the animist worldview.
At the core of their worldview, animists believe that
every
soul that exists
also preexisted in eternity past with God in the land of the ancestors.
There is no heaven and hell in their mindset. All dead people go to the
land of
ancestors, and that is where the Creator God is.
In their worldview when it
came time for them to be created in the world, they went
to God and asked Him if they could choose their destiny,
and
God said
“yes.” Maybe they said to God that they would like to marry two wives,
bear seven children, and have a farm. That in their view is being a
good individual.
So God agreed and allowed that man to go.
Some other souls, by way
of evil contracts with evil spirits or by influence of
witches, are outside the realm of the world of the ancestors,
but
occasionally make parasitical visits. So by the influences of witches
(who came to God
and asked to be something evil), others became evil (e.g., a murderer,
a thief,
a rapist); to those God also agreed, sending them into the world.
That
is the Konkomba concept of predestination.
The values then are placed
upon pleasing the ancestors, because the ancestors exist
in this world, and existed in the previous world.
To the Konkombas
all of the future moves to the past. When you die, you go back
to the ancestors. So their eyes are always turned backward.
Their belief is that sin
is “offending anything that the ancestors would not like.”
I’m not talking just about moral sins here; this
extends even
down to
the foods you eat. If the ancestors prefer the chicken to be
butchered a certain way, to not do it that way would
be offending that taboo.
This belief leads to a behavior
that has little consciousness of guilt for moral sins.
It results in a fatalistic mentality.
In
other words,
when you
see a man who is a thief, you can only think, “That’s terrible.”
But what can you say, for “he was born a thief.”
This is the backdrop we find
upon entering this culture. If we just come with an American
gospel saying, “Repent of your
sins,”
what
sins are
they going
to repent of? It will be those “sins” of offending the ancestors
(going against the tribal norms).
Traditional
Konkomba View of Sin
Worldview -
pre-chosen destiny
Values - pleasing the ancestors
(who are in the God-world)
Beliefs - sin is entering
someone’s taboo, or breaking away from the
pattern of the tribal norm
Behavior - fate-based mentality,
lack of personal responsibility, minimized
guilt
|
Biblical
View of Sin
Worldview -
original man created without sin; free will
Values - man born in sin;
God is perfect, holy
Beliefs - sin keeps us from
God; a holy life is possible only in Christ
Behavior - man is responsible;
repentance, turning, living right
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Missionary’s Cultural Worldview
The missionary also has a cultural worldview of repentance
that may not be necessarily biblical. For example, to some
of us the word repent is automatically tied to a meeting
where a soft song is sung at the end and people stand to
their feet, walk down a long row, and kneel in front of
a speaker’s platform. They go with a counselor to a private
room and kneel down and pray. That may be what comes to
our mind when we think of repentance.
If we add this thing called
“altar-call-repentance” to the Konkomba culture, they
will do what they feel is expected of them. But as you
watch their life,
you will find it clashes with the biblical worldview. They have simply added
a new behavior onto their worldview. Deep down inside, the idea that sin
is going against the tribal norm has not changed. We
end up with syncretism (mixing)—not
conversion.
Core Conversion
Where does it go wrong? The core is wrong; thus, all
that works out from that core is in error. The behavior
reflects the wrong thinking is his heart. The problem is
with the Konkomba’s worldview of sin and must be replaced
with a true change of heart. God wants to change from the
inside and burst outward in newness of life. God wants
to change the worldview!
The term worldview is not
in the Bible, but there are many passages in the Bible
that speak about our inward parts. Jeremiah 17:10, right
after that verse
on the deceitful heart, it says, “I the Lord search the heart, I
try the reins….”
We use reins to drive a horse; the reins are what steers everything. God searches
that which governs our values and our behavior—this is the worldview. The rest
flows out of this. The verse goes on to speak about a man’s ways (beliefs)
and his fruit (behavior). Do you see the pattern? God doesn’t just look at
the behavior. He sees right through to the core.
Psalm 5:8-9 has the same
pattern: “…Make thy way straight…”— that’s their behavior. “…Their inward
part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulcher;
they flatter with their tongue.” In the Hebrew language that phrase inward
part means “the kidneys”; the Jews considered that the most inward part. The
Konkombas call it “the stomach.” They refer to it more like the Greeks do:
“the bowels.” The Bible also uses the analogy of “the heart.” Nevertheless,
it is the inner part that directs you.
Psalm 64:2: “Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked…” (David’s enemies).
“They encourage themselves in an evil matter… They say, ‘Who shall see them?’
They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward
thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep” (verses 5, 6). David
says, “My enemies want to slay me.” But rather than directing his words to
the behavior (murder) David goes directly to the inward thought, the inward
part, and says “the heart is deep.” There is a deep-seated falseness to their
pattern of behavior.
God tells us in Proverbs
23:7, “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he….” There
is a direct connection between the worldview and the behavior. Many will change
their behavior— but are we going to be content with only behavior change? No,
because God is going to say, “I never knew you.”
“Lord, but we did many wonderful works!”
“I never knew you.”
Somehow their worldview did
not change. (See Mt. 7:21-23.)
Look at David’s prayer of repentance, after he fell into grave sin: “Behold,
Thou desireth truth in the inward parts…” (Psalm 51:6). David sees that it
is not just his behavior that is wrong, but that God wants truth inside him.
Truth is the eradication of falsehood. Then what springs from within will be
a holy behavior that God so desires. “For I delight in the law of God after
the inward man” (Romans 7:22).
Biblical Worldview of Sin
We looked at the animist worldview of sin, now let’s
look at it from a biblical worldview. Sin originated at
the fall of man. Was it a predestined choice of God? No,
the choice was totally man’s. God created man perfect,
but man broke his part of the covenant. God’s values always
were, and still are, perfection. That leads to a belief
that only God can enable us to live a holy life. It is
not by fate, and that translates into a behavior that says,
“I will, by the power of God living in me, live a holy
life.” That is the biblical worldview of sin.
From where in the Bible are
we going to teach to correct the animist worldview of
sin?
We are going to use Genesis to show them the beginnings, the Law (Exodus)
to show them sin and holiness, the Old Testament stories to show God’s justice
and faithfulness, and the Gospels to show them Jesus! The Epistles will then
come in for discipleship. God’s Word is beautiful; it is all there!
The
Worldview of Slavery
Worldview -
a man should advance at the expense of others
Values - on things and
success, disvalue of people
Beliefs - people
are to be used for one’s own
purposes, some people are worth
more than others
Behavior -
slavery
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Example of Slavery
Let’s look at one of the ugliest behaviors known to man:
slavery.
