2 Questions to See Worldview Heart Orientation
April 25, 2023
Katherine Schultz
Do you use questions to help you understand the worldview of your students? Getting at their beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes is an important step in helping them to develop a mature biblical worldview because it awakens their own understanding, and gives you ways to guide them. But it can be difficult to come up with questions that help understanding their attitudes, or heart-orientation.
Here are 2 questions that help reveal heart-orientation to get you started, taken from the 3-Dimensional Worldview Survey. They are statements designed to elicit levels of agreement or frequency.
Church Attendance
I look forward to moving away from home so I can take a break from going to church.
This question asks a person to indicate their level of agreement on a 5-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
While it sometimes may be appropriate to be away from church, if a person is looking for excuses not to be with other believers, it may indicate a worldview heart-orientation that it not aligned with the Bible. Scripture reminds us not to give up gathering with the saints (Hebrews 10:25). In addition, establishing habits like church attendance go a long way to forming our worldview, influencing our behaviors and beliefs as we continue to put them into practice.
Worship Engagement
When I watch a sporting event, I get more involved than when I attend a worship event.
This question asks a person to indicate the frequency of this experience from very frequently to very rarely.
Of course, the particular behaviors are likely different. But if a person is at least as eager to participate in worship in a way parallel to his or her eagerness to cheer on a favorite team, it’s likely that the intent – the orientation of the heart – is properly aligned.
Using the questions
Start by just asking your students how they would respond. Getting the conversation going can help you see openness or defensiveness. It can reveal patterns in behavior that you don’t know about if you only see your students in class. And it can awaken their understanding of what God desires for them, and inspire them to engage with him in new ways that they can take with them into their future life after your class.
Now What?
If you want more questions to use in helping you understand someone’s worldview, check out the pdf below to get you started.
