Friday, December 22, 2006 at 12:12am
The you who is truly you
Column: For His Glory
As the holiday season rolls upon us, we normally take time to reflect on our past year. We recognize the good and the bad and wish we had a couple of "do overs." Yet something interesting happens during that time of reflection that makes us unique, as no two people interpret an event in the same manner.
Take, for example, Christmas. For some people it is just a day to get time off at work or enjoy a long break. To others it is a time to exalt the birth of a very moral man; still others recognize the child born in Bethlehem as God incarnate. How you look at Christmas depends on your worldview. What is a worldview, you may ask? The dictionary defines it as "a particular philosophy or view of life." Another dictionary defines it as a "set of beliefs about who we are, the way things are, and what we ought to do about it; state of mind, metaphysics, morality."
So how you look at Christmas depends on your worldview, and we all have one, whether or not we are consciously aware of it. With that in mind, when was the last time you sought to understand your worldview? Something so crucial, something that guides our decision-making process, should be evaluated often. Why do we parent the way we do, what do we believe on the war on Iraq, gay marriages, school prayers, etc.? We interpret all of these topics depending on our worldview.
Not understanding our worldview has created major problems in earth's history and offered some solutions as well. You think of Hitler and his worldview that the German race was superior, Jews were inferior, and you can see how devastating that was.
On a more positive note, you take Bono, who believes one man can make a difference and you see him pioneering various charities to raise millions of dollars for AIDS relief in Africa. His worldview declares to him that people need to be helped because we are part of one huge family, the human race. Our worldview is powerful, and we need to understand it in order to know ourselves better.
Think about it, what is the foundational view of life? We need to answer that to be truly honest to ourselves. So as the holiday season rolls around and the new year dawns, let's take this time to understand ourselves more intimately. God bless you and have a wonderful holiday season.
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Gio Marin is an author, currently working on a master of divinity degree at Andrews Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Visit For His Glory, the blog, and send an email to {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © copyright 2006 by Gio Marin
Take, for example, Christmas. For some people it is just a day to get time off at work or enjoy a long break. To others it is a time to exalt the birth of a very moral man; still others recognize the child born in Bethlehem as God incarnate. How you look at Christmas depends on your worldview. What is a worldview, you may ask? The dictionary defines it as "a particular philosophy or view of life." Another dictionary defines it as a "set of beliefs about who we are, the way things are, and what we ought to do about it; state of mind, metaphysics, morality."
So how you look at Christmas depends on your worldview, and we all have one, whether or not we are consciously aware of it. With that in mind, when was the last time you sought to understand your worldview? Something so crucial, something that guides our decision-making process, should be evaluated often. Why do we parent the way we do, what do we believe on the war on Iraq, gay marriages, school prayers, etc.? We interpret all of these topics depending on our worldview.
Not understanding our worldview has created major problems in earth's history and offered some solutions as well. You think of Hitler and his worldview that the German race was superior, Jews were inferior, and you can see how devastating that was.
On a more positive note, you take Bono, who believes one man can make a difference and you see him pioneering various charities to raise millions of dollars for AIDS relief in Africa. His worldview declares to him that people need to be helped because we are part of one huge family, the human race. Our worldview is powerful, and we need to understand it in order to know ourselves better.
Think about it, what is the foundational view of life? We need to answer that to be truly honest to ourselves. So as the holiday season rolls around and the new year dawns, let's take this time to understand ourselves more intimately. God bless you and have a wonderful holiday season.
— — —
Gio Marin is an author, currently working on a master of divinity degree at Andrews Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Visit For His Glory, the blog, and send an email to {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © copyright 2006 by Gio Marin