Resources to Help Grow Your Worldview
May 9, 2023
Katherine Schultz
Many leaders in Christian organizations wonder if their students have a mature biblical worldview in their beliefs, behaviors and attitudes. But when they start to think more about it, they wonder if they themselves have a mature biblical worldview, and then they start to look for help growing their own worldview. So what resources are available?
Bible Reading and Study
Let’s start with the most obvious. If you want to grow your own biblical worldview, and you are not yet spending deliberate time reading and studying the Bible, that’s the first step.
Reading the Bible on a daily basis is essential to getting to know God. It is his word, and he wants us to read it so we can know him better, and understand his will for how we should live our lives. This can be by picking up the physical book, reading a digital version, or listening to audio versions. Many Bible apps exist, and most have reading plans that allow you to pick long or short passages each day, as well as topical studies. Some also have devotionals, but don’t neglect the Bible text itself. I personally like to mix it up, sometimes reading several chapters a day to get a big picture of the text, and others focusing on just a few verses to get a deeper view.
In addition to bible reading, it’s important to spend time studying the bible. So what’s the difference? Bible study invites you to explore history, context, and other passages that relate to the ideas in the verses you read. It is usually helpful to make use of resources for bible study like a study bible, concordance, commentary, language resources, and other tools. It can also be helpful to use sermons, podcasts, and study guides. You may do some of your study alone, and some in groups or with your church.
Both bible reading and bible study will help grow your biblical knowledge, your relationship with God, and your biblical worldview as you are better informed of the word, and know God better through it.
Worldview Training Organizations
Sometimes a person is looking for a deeper, guided, and deliberate study of worldview. Here are a few:
Truth Project of Focus on the Family. Introductory. Small group study format designed to help develop a biblical worldview in daily life.
Summit Ministries has summer sessions every year for teens to young adults, but they also have a (free) 1-day adult seminar at various times during the year. Check out Summit Basecamp.
Understanding the Times, also from Summit Ministries, is a course designed to study prominent worldviews in comparison through the ways that each of them understands a major component of life, from theology and philosophy through to history and sociology. Can be used as a class in a school, small group, or church setting.
Worldview Academy runs events of their own and hosted by churches around the country.
Renew a Nation focuses on working with the whole family to develop a biblical worldview.
Colson Center has multiple options, from introductory to intense. They offer several free) digital courses on topics like Worldview Formation, Cultural Fluency, and more. They also have a 10-month intensive Colson Fellowship program for those wanting to go deeper.
A few more for teens and young adults are listed here.
Blogs
In addition to the blogs for the above organizations, here are couple that focus on worldview research.
Barna does loads of research on Christianity and worldview, and makes the results available on the website and through its various products.
Arizona Christian University’s Cultural Research Center shares its research as well.
Podcasts
Check out the podcasts of any of the above organizations, as well as these, for a start:
The Christian Worldview
Basecamp Live
First Things
The Antithesis
Just Thinking
On the Pedagogy Side
Check out these books:
- See Rob’s story: Client Story: Rob L and the 3-D Worldview Survey
Now What?
These resources are just a beginning, a place to start gaining a better understanding of worldview, and all the areas that it affects. Take the time in your regular life and on special occasions to go deeper into an understanding of a mature biblical worldview through study of the word, as well as courses and events designed to help. Ask yourself questions, and search for answers to them in the Bible. Maybe even a tool like the 3-Dimensional Worldview Survey to see how well developed your biblical worldview is.
- What Is the 3-D Worldview Survey?
- Take the 3-D Worldview for yourself
Not yet ready to do the whole survey? Check out the pdf below for some questions to get you started.
