When a Biblical Worldview Is Out of Balance…
September 19, 2023
Katherine Schultz
If you teach a biblical worldview, you know that a worldview can get out of balance. Particularly if you use the 3-dimensional concept of worldview, addressing beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes. You may have students who have a highly uneven development in the three dimensions.
Beliefs: Propositional Dimension
Most people who teach biblical worldview start with the basic knowledge and beliefs a Christian should hold if he or she is to be aligned with the Bible. It includes everything from doctrine and theology to history, economics, politics, government, and one’s views on the sacraments. It includes how one thinks about art, music, math, science, justice, diversity, and marriage. And it forms a foundation for understanding how a believer is to live out his or her beliefs, so it affects the other dimensions of worldview as well.
The propositional dimension of a 3-dimensional worldview covers knowledge and beliefs about what the Bible teaches. It’s the information about the Christian faith that comes from studying the Bible, listening to sermons or podcasts, reading books, blogs, websites, and articles, or being around Christians regularly. You can think of it like this: “a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true, or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality” (James Sire, Naming the Elephant, 2004, p. 122).
A person with a strong knowledge of the Bible and doctrine will be better prepared to be in the world, but not of it (John 17:14-15). But it has with it the danger of pride. And when it is a person’s weakest area, it puts him or her at risk of being more readily distracted or deceived.
| Propositional | Commendation / Recommendation | Caution |
| When Propositional is Highest Dimension of Worldview | When the propositional dimension is your highest score, you are to be commended for how well you are learning about the Bible and God. Continue to “present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). | When the propositional dimension is your highest, be careful to keep your knowledge in perspective: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). |
| When Propositional is Lowest Dimension of Worldview | If you want to improve in the propositional dimension, think about how you can be more intentional in your studies, even if it becomes difficult: “we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:3-5). | When the propositional dimension is your lowest score, you would probably benefit from a more intentional effort to study the Bible: “train yourself to be godly” (1 Timothy 4:7). |
Behavioral Dimension
In addition to the propositional dimension of worldview, a 3-dimensional concept includes a person’s behaviors. This is because behaviors and beliefs interact, and impact one another. A person who consistently acts in a certain way will affect his or her own beliefs, forming convictions beneath the surface that are in line with the outward actions. And of course, a person will act out what he or she truly believes.
Biblically aligned behaviors will include everything from bible reading and attending church, to how we handle money or treat others. You can think of it like this: how we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28).
When a person’s behavior is aligned with the Bible, it’s usually a good thing! But it’s also possible he or she is caught up in a cycle of trying to earn salvation by good works, which the Bible teaches is impossible, because it is by grace that we are saved, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). And when biblical behavior is a person’s weakness, it has the air of hypocrisy, and can be harmful to the person (who may be self-deceived) and to others (who discount him or her as a witness and reject the gospel).
| Behavioral | Commendation / Recommendation | Caution |
| When Behavioral is Highest Dimension of Worldview | When the behavioral dimension is your highest score, you are to be commended because you have probably come to understand that “To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22). | If you want to improve in the behavioral dimension, think about how you can connect what you know with what you do: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22). |
| When Behavioral is Lowest Dimension of Worldview | When the behavioral dimension is your highest score, be careful that you do not become like the Pharisees: “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27). | When the behavioral dimension is your lowest score, you would probably benefit by remembering that we are warned against “having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:2-5). |
Attitudes: Heart-Orientation Dimension
The worldview dimension that ties together beliefs and behaviors is actually the heart orientation, a person’s attitudes. There are 4 parameters of heart-orientation in a 3-dimensional worldview: worship, embodiment, symbol, and ritual. You can think of the heart-orientation dimension of a 3-dimensional worldview like this: our attitudes, intentions, hopes, desires, will, and internal motivations.
If a person’s strongest worldview dimension is his or her heart-orientation, it often means eagerness for knowing and loving God more. But if the person lacks biblical knowledge, or doesn’t live out his or her faith, it will be too easy for that eagerness to fade, or to mislead a person into false worldviews. And it’s also good to remember that different expressions of faith are still pleasing to the Lord.
| Heart Orientation | Commendation / Recommendation | Caution |
| When Heart Orientation is Highest Dimension of Worldview | When the heart-orientation dimension is your highest score, you are to be commended because you have probably discovered “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). | If you want to improve in the heart-orientation dimension, think about the role model of Jesus, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing” (Philippians 2:5-7). |
| When Heart Orientation is Lowest Dimension of Worldview | When the heart-orientation dimension is your highest score, be careful that you remain humble: “The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:11). | When the heart-orientation dimension is your lowest score, it would probably be good to remember that “the good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart” (Luke 6:45). |
Now What?
A person’s highest worldview dimension is often an indication of how they approach God naturally and most comfortably: through their mind, their actions, or their emotions/attitudes. This can be a helpful insight as we challenge students to develop a more mature biblical worldview, because it gives us a way to help them expand their investigation and investment through avenues they may not previously have considered. And because all the dimensions are still interacting to develop a holistic 3-dimensional worldview, they will bolster one another and help the person grow in all aspects of their worldview.
The 3-D Worldview Survey is designed specifically to uncover a person’s worldview beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes. It’s a great place to start as you work with students, because it gives you and them a better understanding of where they actually are in their worldview.
- What Is the 3-D Worldview Survey?
- Take the 3-D Worldview for yourself
And if you haven’t yet used the 3-D Worldview Survey with your class, check out the pdf below for some questions to get you started.
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