The Starting Point

At the end of my last entry, I mentioned that this post would “define the starting point.”  The starting point is simply understanding that there is no such thing as an “objective” or “unbiased” perspective on anything.  We all have a set of values that act as a filter through which we view the world.  Hence, instead of beginning our discussion looking outward at the culture, we will restrict this first look inward toward ourselves and the filter through which we see the world – our worldview.

I hesitate to open this topic for two reasons:  1) The term “worldview” has been overused and has lost much of its meaning.  2)  It is very difficult to fully appreciate the depth of the concept, and I fear that it will not be possible to do the subject justice in the space and time available.  Still, it is not possible to deal with the culture question without reviewing this fundamental concept.

Note:  Trying to cover just enough has made this one of the most difficult posts I have written.  (I am still not satisfied with the flow, order, and content of the post; but I need to finish since I have blown my “post every-other-day” hope right off the bat!!)

Before we consider our impact on culture, we have to evaluate culture’s impact on us.  We have to begin understanding that, based on values we have adopted; our sub-conscience is constantly evaluating the world around us.  Our mind begins to compile and categorize the data before our conscience mind even begins to process the information.  Throughout this process our presuppositions and assumptions are more relevant in determining our judgment than we realize.  With apologies to the individual that originally used it, I am reminded of the following analogy:  does a fish know that it is wet?  Does it have any understanding of the meaning of dry?  Let’s face it; the fish’s worldview is all wet!

Some of us have deliberately cultivated our worldview, but I think the majority of us don’t even know we have one.  Having the “right” worldview requires us to acknowledge having one.  That is why I call this the “starting point.”

What is your worldview?  Christian?  Secular?  How can we even know?  Just because we believe ourselves to be Christian, we cannot assume we have a Christian worldview.  How do other Christians view the issues and events that unfold around us daily?  How did our Christian parents and grandparents understand the world?  What about the great thinkers and leaders throughout the history of the Church – men such as Augustine, Luther and Calvin?  What about the apostles during the first century?

I recommend you visit the following websites to get a much more complete overview of worldviews:

www.americanvision.org/worldviewwar.asp – American Vision will send you a great CD message (FREE) reviewing how American Christians’ worldviews have been compromised and redefined by our godless and humanistic environment.  Highly recommended!

www.christianworldview.net – This site is a terrific review of the impact of worldview in all aspects of life.  It’s a good place to start while you are waiting to receive your CD from American Vision.

www.nehemiahinstitute.com – The Nehemiah Institute is dedicated to evaluating and developing a Christian worldview.  Download their PowerPoint presentation, and if you have $4 to spare, take their online worldview test.

I warn you, after studying these materials you may be surprised at what you learn about your worldview.  Be prepared to be challenged as you recognize ways to think more like a Christian.  I prefer not to get into comparing scores in this forum, rather take what you learn privately and work to apply it in your life.

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Another Move…

 

Picking up where we left off before the flashback, Heidi returned to public school after 2 years of homeschooling.  Before the year was over, however, we were moving to a new state once again – from Wisconsin to southern Ohio.

 

This time, Heidi had matured emotionally and was not influenced by the fear of fitting in with a new group of peers.  Lori and I still did not have the conviction necessary to reject public schooling out of principle.

 

For the remainder of that year and the entirety of the next, we were not what most people would consider a homeschooling family.  Sean, who was living with his mother, attended public school; Heidi attended public school; and Morgan was pre-school age at four.  Peyton arrived on the scene during the summer between the two school years.

 

In spite of not actually homeschooling during this time, it was then that we (by God’s grace) became functionally aware of one of the great truths of education – that education is not something that only occurs between bells ringing in hallways.  We are learning during every waking moment.  Education is something that occurs from the time you rise up to the time you lie down. 

 

“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”  Deu 6:7 (ESV)

 

I say “functionally” to distinguish our awareness from that to which all people would agree.  In conversation, all parents would acknowledge and agree that from the moment they are born, children begin learning.  Indeed, it is within the care of parents that children learn to walk, talk, eat, etc.  Proactive Americans have even been known to begin training their children in the womb with things such as soothing music.  In spite of this awareness, there is a sense that parents are not directly responsible for certain fields of learning.  Mathematics, science, grammar, history and such are left to “professionals.”  This belief will be the topic of several upcoming posts.  For now, I will summarize this functional awareness as the recognition of education as a life-long lifestyle as opposed to a season of life.  It is a walk-along, talk-along method of training that is holistic in that all areas of education support, rely on and overlap other areas.  It is the acknowledgement that education serves a purpose other than merely preparing for the next step in education – there is an end goal toward which education is aimed that is beyond the pursuit of “personal peace and affluence.”

 

Failure to grasp this distinction leads to parents becoming disconnected from the learning processes that their children are experiencing and comatose in their own ability to continue learning.  In our nanny-state mentality – in which we increasingly rely on government to provide all our needs – it has resulted in a virtual abdication of parental responsibility in the academic training of our children.  If our children can’t read or write (and many of them cannot), the schools are at fault.  Poor ACT and SAT scores are the result of under funded school districts.

 

A second aspect of this awareness was the realization that learning consists of much more than academic subjects.  Our presuppositions are formed by the constant exposure we have to our environment.  What constitutes “normal” behavior?  What is the model for family life?  What is my place in the family?  How do I balance my place as an individual with my role as a member of a group?  How do I respond to authority?  What is truth?  All of these questions are answered by our daily interactions with people, not in a classroom.  The underlying assumptions about life are formed subconsciously moment by moment and become a set of “absolutes” that are much more difficult to reshape if necessary.  This “sacred” nature of our presuppositions is firm in our thinking largely because we are seldom aware that they even exist!  They are the subconscious framework through which we evaluate everything around us.  They are the foundations of our worldview.

 

This realization has been the key for us.  An understanding of presuppositions and the establishment of a Christian worldview automatically excludes public school as an option.  Regardless of how well the government system might be able teach the mechanics of mathematics, it does so using a model that explicitly excludes God.  The presupposition is that God is irrelevant and has no place in education.  It teaches anti-Christian values by ostensibly excluding our Creator from the process.  True education cannot be achieved because “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” Proverbs 1:7a (ESV).  There is no fear of the Lord in the public school system, therefore true knowledge cannot even begin in that setting.

 

It was during this time and for these reasons that the homeschooling option became less preference and more conviction.  We began to realize our desire was rooted in more than the obvious issues of carrying guns, distributing drugs, teaching evolution, and applying peer pressure.  My resolve was still inadequate to address Heidi’s schooling, but this was when I knew that I would do anything within my power to retake the responsibility and the authority that God granted parents to train our younger children for His purposes.

 

David