How to understand people from different world views

“Never try to figure out an Arab mind”, someone had said to Roland, but slowly figure it out he did, and astutely enough, to be able to teach it to a room full of eager listeners. His first proposition to us as messengers of the good news is how we have misunderstood the disease of sin. When we look at Genesis 3 where it talks about the consequence of sin, we often focus on the discipline that God meted out because of their disobedience. ”the snake was cursed to crawl in the dust on its belly, Adam will work by the sweat of his brow, Eve will experience sharpened pain in childbirth and they were banished from the Garden. But what we sometimes miss is the effect sin had on Adam and Eve.


Genesis 3:10, “I heard you in the garden and was afraid” (fear), Genesis 3:7 “At that moment their eyes were opened (guilt), and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.” (shame). (New Living Translation)

Muller asserts that these three effects of sin form the basis of the three primary worldviews present in cultures today. What was interesting is that although all of us have a mixture of all three, generally one of the world views is predominant in any given culture.

“There is no such thing as a Biblical worldview, but the Bible does speak into my worldview”, Roland clarified, “because the Bible speaks to all worldviews.”

North American culture is obsessed with defining what is right/wrong And so their world view can be defined as guilt-based. Cultures with this world view have this paradigm expressed in different ways:

- Guilty vs innocence

- Right vs wrong

- Good guy vs bad guy

People in this culture are looking to avoid being wrong, or guilty. They desire someone to relieve them of their guilt, to pay their penalty, to justify them and bring them into right relationship with the authority. The book of Romans, which was written by Paul, a teacher of the law, proclaims the truth of justification by faith, which is a great message to anyone with a guilt-based world view.

Other cultures have a wold view that is more Fear-based. In this paradigm, the key issue is:

- Fear vs Power

People are looking for power over the things which make them afraid. Often these are things over which they feel they have little control: diseases, demons, curses. Many times they will turn to witch doctors, and seek supernatural forces for the power to overcome what they fear. Buddhism, Animism, Ancestral worship and Hinduism are some examples of fear-based religions. When speaking with people with a fear-based world view, they will be drawn to Jesus who performed many miraculous demonstrations of his power, culminating in his resurrection from the dead.



The third primary world view can be described as Shame-based. Cultures with this worldview likewise have a strong paradigm:

- Shame vs Honour

- Unapproved vs Approved

- Disrespect vs Respect

What is most important to people with this worldview is to keep their honor intact. Shame and honour can be attached to an individual, families, a nation, race or even religion. When dealing with a circumstance that brings shame, they may start by covering it up, then denying it and if it cannot be ignored or hidden, they might go so far as to take revenge on the person who has shamed them. Some might commit suicide, leave the family or country in order to regain honour or to find release from their shame. Islam is a religion that relates well to a shame-based world view. The portrayal of God as one who removes shame and restores honor, as in the story of the prodigal son, can give great hope to those with a shame-based world view.

Muller observed that world views within cultures are subject to change. He feels the North-American worldview is presently changing from guilt-based to shame-based. Take for example the typical school-aged child who desires to be “cool more than to do right“. What they seek is approval, honour, and respect from others. Most North-American churches are still thinking and dealing exclusively from the perspective of a guilt-based world view which may be one reason why many Christians don’t quite know how to share the Gospel with people from shame and fear-based cultures, which dominate the 10-40 window.

Questionnaire to your pastors

1. How is your church reaching out to new immigrants?
2. What are you using as a means of communicating the Gospel to new immigrants? (Alpha program/ hospitality/ investigative Bible Study/ other tool?)
3. What has been successful?
4. Can you describe any other approach that you've found effective?
5. In your opinion, what are the difficulties in reaching out to new immigrants?
6. What do you think would be helpful to your new immigrants ministry if it were available? [eg. a resource, tool, training material, etc.]

Questionnaire closes Nov 12