HeartReachers

Worldview simply is a way of looking at the world, how we view life experiences.

We all have a primary worldview, the glasses through which we look at and interpret
thoughts and events. A worldview is a comprehensive way of looking at life that
connects the parts into a whole.

Everyone has a worldview regardless of their awareness of its existence. Everyone has
a way of patterning their worldview and many organizations exist that attempt to make
sense out of worldview thinking.

Most worldview systems center on various systems of thinking that have developed
through the efforts of mankind. Then typically, they are compared to a biblically-based
worldview.

Within this structure of comparing worldviews, conclusions are drawn regarding how
they differ from biblical revelation. For example, Summit Ministries (www.summit.org)
produces a worldview system based upon the categories of biblical Christianity, Islam,
secular humanism, Marxism-Leninism, cosmic humanism, and postmodernism. As a
discipline-based system of worldview thinking, Summit Ministries is effective in its
approach and thorough in its research. They are recommended as a resource for this
type of comparison.

The Hebraic Life Alliance, home of HeartReachers, takes a different approach
towards worldview thinking.

Our methodology, developed through nearly two decades of research, presents
worldview thinking based upon the capacities of humans according to the design of
our Creator.

These worldview centers, now called Microworldviews©, take into
account our capacity to think (mind), to feel (emotion), and to obey (will).

By using this pattern rather than an alternative philosophical or religious basis, all
systems of thinking and believing can be assessed regarding what basis they claim
and how they differ from biblical revelation. And they apply to the individual regardless
of what macro worldview (big picture) they hold.

Torah and Will

Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word that means teaching and instruction and within that
teaching, it may contain the concept of law as something that must be done, but it

From the beginning, God has given us His teaching and instruction regarding life, and
we recognize that from the beginning this instruction has been morally based, effecting
the will of His creatures. In the garden, He commanded His creation, Adam, regarding
his connection to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

“The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may
freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in
the day that you eat of it you will surely die.’” (Genesis 2:16-17)

The expectation from God was obedience to the command “you shall not eat.” In the
balance was whether Adam and Eve would follow this command or react based on an
interpretation of the command in some other way.

In the temptation of Eve, we can understand for the first time the conflict between a will-based
worldview and those based upon the mind (how she thought) or emotion (how she felt).
The description of her response to the temptation is found in the next chapter of Genesis.

“When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the
eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and
ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. The eyes of both of them
were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” (Genesis 3:6-7a)

The challenge of the Tempter came through an appeal to her emotions, the experiential
center. She “saw that the tree was good for food” and “that it was a delight to the
eyes” and both appealed to her desire for the experience of the tree.

In addition, it was “desirable to make one wise,” an appeal to her mind, to having
knowledge she did not presently possess. The one worldview center the Tempter left
off was the will, the center of obedience.

In this area, what could he have said? “I want you to obey me (another creature) rather
than the one who created us both,” would only have highlighted his request to shift her
worldview center from her will (“you shall not eat”) to another center. The Apostle John
refers to these worldview centers in his first epistle, acknowledging the same pattern.
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s. The world is passing away with its lusts, but he
who does God’s will remains forever.” (John 2:16-17)

The world as a system of understanding makes its appeal through knowledge and
emotion as the primary means of creating a worldview system. God’s “worldview system”
-His revealed will – is based upon the obedience of His creatures. “The world is
passing away with its lusts,” is a dead-end system of living, however, the one “who
does God’s will abides forever.”

Worldviews In Conflict

These are the worldview battles as defined from the beginning and the resources of
Answers in Exodus are here to help you understand the importance of living from a will-based
worldview and through that interpreting the others.

We provide materials to help understand how to interpret and communicate across
worldview centers including communication skills training (HeartReachers), and
Microworldview© content to help understand how to communicate across worldview
centers.

The following is HeartReachers’ basic Microworldview© Chart that shows how different
topics differ whether based on the will, mind, or emotions. These differences are the
basis of HeartReachers’ “Straight To the Heart” communication skills workshops.