Worldview Wednesday Week 2: Windows, Lenses, and Horizons

Have you ever put on someone else’s glasses just to see what they look like? When I was younger, I remember trying on my dad's glasses. For a moment, everything felt warped. Things were blurry, distant, and distorted—and then my eyes felt fuzzy and my head started to ache. It was lesson on how much the right lenses matter!

That’s how a worldview works. It’s the lens through which you see and interpret everything around you. It shapes how you make sense of life—your purpose, your relationships, your decisions, your view of right and wrong, even your sense of hope. You might not think about it very often, but you live by it every single day.

Everyone Has a Lens

Whether we realize it or not, everyone has a worldview. It’s like a pair of glasses you never take off. It colors everything you see, and no one can live without one.

Your worldview has been shaped by many things—your family, culture, education, experiences, church, and even the media you consume. Like a window that slowly fogs up over time, your worldview can become smudged and unclear if you never stop to clean it with the truth of God’s Word.

That’s why Scripture tells us in Romans 12:2:

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

If we don’t let God renew the way we think, the world will do it for us.

A Few Helpful Word Pictures

To understand worldview, it helps to imagine a few pictures:

🪟 A Window to the World: It determines what you can see and how clearly you see it.

👓 A Pair of Glasses: The same scene can look very different depending on the prescription.

🌅 A Horizon: Your worldview defines the limits of what you can see—and what you believe lies beyond it.

Those images remind us that no one sees everything perfectly. We all need light and clarity—and that comes only when we look through the right lens: the truth of Scripture.

Defining a Worldview

Scholars, theologians, and philosophers have described worldview in different ways:

• N.T. Wright called it “the lens through which the world is seen—the blueprint for how one should live in it.”

• James Olthuis said it’s “the framework through which we view the world and our calling in it.”

• James Sire wrote that it’s “a fundamental orientation of the heart… the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.”

  
  

In other words, your worldview isn’t just what you think—it’s what you believe deep down. It’s what you build your life on.

The Biblical Basis for Seeing Clearly

God designed us to think in an ordered way because He is a God of order, not chaos. Genesis 1:27 says that God made us in His image, and part of that means He gave us the capacity to think, reason, and discern truth. When we think biblically, we see reality more clearly. When we think apart from Him, we begin to lose sight of what’s real.

That’s why Paul told the Corinthians to

“take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Our goal as followers of Jesus isn’t just to believe in Him—it’s to learn to see everything through Him.

Bringing It Home

You already have a worldview. The question is: Is it biblical? Do you see the world as God does, or have you adopted lenses that distort His truth?

Over time, even the clearest glasses can get scratched or foggy. Maybe it’s time to clean the lenses and see life again through the truth of God’s Word.

Reflection Question: What are some of the biggest influences shaping your worldview right now—friends, news, social media, or Scripture?