Understanding Your Child's Worldview

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Discuss: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Is It?

What Do We Mean by Worldview?

A person's world view is the way they see and understand the world, especially regarding issues such as politics, philosophy, and religion. (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/world-view)

A worldview is the framework from which we view reality and make sense of life and the world. - Focus on the Family Website

What is a Worldview?

Whether conscious or subconscious, every person has some type of worldview. A personal worldview is a combination of all you believe to be true, and what you believe becomes the driving force behind every emotion, decision and action.

Therefore, your worldview affects your response to every area of life: from philosophy to science, theology and anthropology to economics, law, politics, art and social order — everything. (ibid)

It is not a physical view of the world. It is a philosophical view.

Worldview is developed between the ages of 18 months to 13 years. - Barna (As quoted by Jen Oshman)

A child’s worldview is pretty much shaped by the time they reach the teen years. It may be refined a little during the teen years, but it is pretty much in place by age 20.

Three main influences on a child’s worldview (ibid)

Parents

The media

The law of the land

4% of millennials have a biblical worldview (ibid) - which means the following generation will be even less biblical in their worldview.

Examples of prominent worldviews…(https://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-worldview/)

Naturalism: there is no God; humans are just highly evolved animals; the universe is a closed physical system.

Postmodernism: there are no objective truths and moral standards; “reality” is ultimately a human social construction.

Pantheism: God is the totality of reality; thus, we are all divine by nature.

Pluralism: the different world religions represent equally valid perspectives on the ultimate reality; there are many valid paths to salvation.

Islam: there is only one God, and he has no son; God has revealed his will for all people through his final prophet, Muhammad, and his eternal word, the Qur’an.

Moralistic therapeutic deism: God just wants us to be happy and nice to other people; He intervenes in our affairs only when we call on Him to help us out.

Subjective vs. Objective Worldviews

An objective worldview is based upon an outside standard - in the biblical worldview, God is the one who defines the standard.

Subjective worldviews are based on individual preferences, likes and dislikes. By its nature, no subjectively based worldview is better than another. (What’s true for you may not be true for me.)

We started today by discussing the idea that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Is that concept Objective or Subjective? Is beauty objective or subjective? What if God defined what is beautiful and what is not?

Illus. Standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon

A biblical worldview is based on an objective standard - the Word of God. The Bible is used as the basis for every decision that a Christian makes and the way in which they view the world.

We now live in a post-truth world. It means that beliefs are now defined and determined by feelings rather than facts. Highly subjective!

Cartoon slide

Understanding this reality will help you understand the forces which are shaping your child’s worldview in the 21st century.

Generations

Elders - born before 1946

Baby Boomer - 1946-1964

Generation X - 1965-1983

Millenials - 1984-1998

Generation Z - 1999-2015

Generation Alpha - 2016

TAKE A BREAK

Generations

Generation Z

Hard for us to imagine a Generation that is...

Transgender

Transsexual

Transracial

Transglobal

Transcommercial

Generation Z has never known life without the Internet.

Gen. Zers are...

Dating less

Having less sex

Drinking and partying less

Mental health is declining (higher suicide rates)

Restructuring free speech

Vulnerable to sleep disruption

Generation Z was born between 1995 - 2014

Gen Z infographic.

Communicate with Emojis slide

Christian vs. Non-Christian Gen. Z

The problem of evil is a major barrier to faith for non-Christian teens (29%)

Christians are Hypocrites (23%)

I believe science refutes the Bible (20%)

Christian vs. Non-Christian Gen. Z

I don’t believe in fairy tales (19%)

There are too many injustices in the history of Christianity (15%)

Church is not important to me any more (12%)

I had a bad experience at church/with a Christian (6%)

Atheism doubles among Generation Z

Family is not a priority with Gen Z.

Gen Z spends less time with text-based publishing and more with video. The biggest increase was seen in short-form digital video (57%) (Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat - YouTube)

Gen. Z finds it easier to talk online than in person. Social media is important and their online friends are just as important as friends in real life.

Truth is now regarded as discerning feelings rather than some thing factual.

This is the reason why we now have multiple genders - feelings trump science.

A Christian Response

How do you present truth in a world ruled by emotion?

One of the biggest gifts Christian parents can give their Gen. Z youth is a safe place to ask questions, express doubts, and process what they experience in secular culture. - Josh McDowell

Safe space in today’s rhetoric is a judgment free zone where everyone’s view is accepted and not questioned. A Biblical safe space is a space where questions can be asked without fear of ridicule or anger but the expectation is that those beliefs will be evaluated in light of God’s Word. (illus. Juggalos)

Both parents and the church need to be willing to answer the questions these youth are asking. The worst response you can give is, “You shouldn’t ask questions like that.”

The key to establishing a Biblical worldview in the hearts of your children is discipleship, discipleship, discipleship.

2 Timothy 2:2 ESV

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

For more information about Gen. Z, visit: https://www.josh.org/resources/apologetics/research/

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