A number of years ago, my sister and I went on a mission trip to Mexico with our church youth group. On the last day of our trip we went shopping to buy any souvenirs that we wanted to help us remember this trip. But before we took off into the streets of Mexico, our translators told us that we should never ever pay full price for anything. They said that we need to bargain with the person and get the item for as cheap as possible. As I was walking around to different shops with my sister I couldn’t get this foreign idea of bargaining with people out of my head. Usually I would just go to my local Wal-Mart, look at the price, and then buy the item for what it was marked at. It felt awkward, but I wanted to give bargaining a try. So I walked up to the lady with a firm look and offered her half the price of what the item said. She looked at me and came down in her price a little. But I was determined to get the item for as cheap as I could, so I stuck to my original price. A little frustrated, the lady came down a little more, but I just looked at her and said the price again. She finally just told me no. I was a little bit overwhelmed that she had turned me down, but I heard that if you start to walk away then they will call you back and give it to you for that price. So I gave it a try, but to my disappointment the lady never called me back. As I walked over toward my sister I saw she also was getting ready to buy something. The man gave her a price and I was expecting her to try to bargain with the man, but it must have slipped her mind because she told him that she would be right back after she got the money. As she started to walk away, the man yelled out an even lower price. Excitedly she said yes, but she would have to go and get the money. He must not have understood her because he once again yelled an even lower price to her. She came back to the man and paid him because he had brought it down so low that she had just enough money for it. I couldn’t believe what had just happened! Bargaining was a rich cultural experience, yet it obviously wasn’t my thing. My sister on the other hand thought it was great; she was excited for the next time she would get to do it again. So it all depends on your perspective. As the day went on I looked around at the culture I was in and at how everything was so different from my own. My worldview had changed and is something that continues to change even today.
A worldview is the way in which you see the world and understand the way in which it works. It shapes and guides our lives and helps us to explain the world in which we live. The worldview that we have has been shaped by assumptions that we have made which are generally sub-conscious. With this in mind, our worldviews are going to affect the behavior we have and the way we act towards this world. With all of the differing worldviews today which one should we pick? Can there be more than one worldview that is correct? Like we mentioned in our story earlier, our worldview is constantly changing when we learn new things. It is our belief that the model of the perfect worldview is to have the mind of Yeshua. This essentially means that one would think like Yeshua; love like Yeshua; act like Yeshua; and walk like Yeshua. And on top of this, have the humility, patience, longsuffering and all of the other fruits of the Spirit. Christ would not only be the model but the individual’s worldview would be an exact copy. That is the final target of any Christian Disciple's process of becoming more holy.
Now you may be wondering why I chose this story to talk about all of this and why it really matters. It matters because our God is the Father of TRUTH and Satan is the father of lies as it says in John 8:44,
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
We need to rid ourselves of the lies of the world that Satan has gotten his hands on and turn to truth. We need to change our worldview to look more and more like Christ's worldview.
Posted By: Jeremy Gipe
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