Which worldview is best?

There is so much going on these days about competing worldviews. I have published a few blogs on this like my grandson's experience at The Summit. Christian apologists have made it their career to discuss and publish perspectives on worldview and these approaches take several different forms, but mainly stay on theological and philosophical tracks, such as origin of the Universe, is there a God, purpose of life, etc.

I too think worldview is very important because it is simply the orientations we have that cause us to think, feel, and act in the way we do. Most people want to do what is right, but how do we determine what right is? However, I have taken a more fundamental approach. I have explored core assumptions that people have from which all of their sense-making is derived. Core beliefs are more fundamental than practice oriented beliefs, such as culture, and the system of beliefs that explain the material and invisible world. In fact, I believe worldview is so fundamental that there are only two, one from the carnal mind and one from the Kingdom mind. The carnal mind is the core assumption that my happiness is the result of successfully exchanging with the world around me, the norm of reciprocity. The result is an obsession with justice, reward systems and punishment. The Kingdom mind is the core assumption that God has given me unmerited favor and that I must simply receive what he has done in faith. My motivation is to receive and reflect, not pursue and produce. Its His glory that matters, not outcomes of my actions. The result is a life of thanksgiving. The focus is on the reward giver, his nature and his purposes.

Let's illustrate how this works.

When you hear the word "LAW", what do you think, feel, and do? Does "law" mean to you a rule to control your actions by declaring offense when you violate its conditions?  Or does "law" mean to you a ruler to inform you that your actions are off target and that outcomes of these actions will not be the best for you. The carnal mind automatically orients our thoughts and feelings to the former. Thus, law is a form of bondage since reward and punishment are related to what we do. The later orientation is the kingdom mind. Law is given to us by God to show us first that exchange is not His plan but more importantly how the Kingdom works so we can experience the privileges and provisions of The Heavenlies.

The Gospels are full of stories Jesus tells to explain The Kingdom. Some are difficult to grasp, but mainly they are difficult when we see them through the lenses of exchange (carnal mind). Here's one of the tough ones. Peter asks Jesus about how many times he should forgive his brother's offenses against him. The Jewish law claimed we must forgive offenses made against us 3 times. Peter offers more than twice as much, SEVEN. Peter's view of the law as a rule is the context for his question. Peter is trying to gain favor with Jesus (context of this passage) so he presents a better exchange, Jesus responds with a story in which He starts by saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king.." Then the story goes like this:

As the king was settling accounts with his servants, one was brought to him that had a debt that was impossible to pay. The master was going to sell him and his family into slavery to settle the debt but the servant pleaded for mercy and patience. the servant swore to ultimately pay back the king but the debt was too big to ever be repaid. Out of his heart for the servant, the king forgave the debt and sent him on his way a free man. The free servant immediately went to one who owed him a much smaller debt and demanded payment. When the debtor of this servant could not pay the debt, the servant had the one indebted to him cast into prison. When the king heard of this, he summoned the servant to him, scolded him because of the servant's response to the king's forgiveness, and delivered him to prison until he could pay his debt in full (which was never).

Jesus concludes the story with these words, "So my Heavenly Father will do to everyone of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."

If we approach understanding this story about the Kingdom with a carnal worldview (exchange), we will conclude that God demands us to forgive according to His expectations (the law) or he punish us. After all, that is justice. If we approach this story with a Kingdom mind, we will hear God's heart for us. The law of forgiveness is like a ruler that informs us that since we have been forgiven much, we have God's provision to forgive others, which is btw, a much smaller debt. The point is NOT - if we disobey God, He will cast us away. But rather if we live outside His design, we will forever be in bondage to exchange. How we grasp God depends on which one of the two worldviews we hold.

This is also illustrated by the servant in the story. He made sense of the king's action with a carnal worldview. His actions show that he thought he could maybe appease the king if he could repay him some of what he owed and so he treated others for his own purposes of exchange. This action stood in stark contrast to the absence of thanksgiving. Implied in Jesus's story is that the provision of Grace is a thankful heart, ready to forgive offenses others have made against us. In fact, Jesus' lesson on forgiveness is that the law of forgiveness is not a quantity of times to forgive others but a heart that sees actions of others as no offense at all, given the Grace we have received from THE KING. The Kingdom bias is the source of all things, not the outcome of things.