Why Developing a Christian Worldview Is the Missing Piece in Discipleship

I first started following Jesus when I was sixteen. But just because I confessed my sin, put my faith in Jesus, and got baptised didn’t mean I suddenly saw the world the way He did.

When I left high school early and headed off to Bible college, my seventeen-year-old logic was simple: I had a lot of Sunday school to catch up on. Somewhere deep down, I knew that taking this faith seriously would require immersion —not just in the Bible but in the biblical world —learning to make sense of life in light of it. The only problem? I didn’t even understand what a worldview was.

I still remember that first-year class on worldviews. I was seventeen, half lost, half pretending not to be. The professor started talking about paradigms, lenses, and frameworks. I remember thinking, “I don’t have a worldview; I see the world as it is.”

It took that class, and the next twenty years of ministry, to realise how wrong that was. We don’t see the world as it is; we see the world as we are. Everyone of us wears glasses. We all look through stories, experiences, fears, and hopes that shape how we see everything.

And here’s the thing: our worldviews matter far more than we give them credit for.

Why This Matters for Discipleship

If we’re serious about discipleship, we have to wrestle with worldviews. Too often, discipleship gets reduced to doing the right things, reading Scripture, praying, serving, and giving. Don’t get me wrong, those matter deeply. But they flow far more naturally when our worldview shifts, when we start to see reality through the eyes of Jesus rather than just copying His behaviour. It’s hard to think like God morally if you don’t first think like God about the nature of the world, humanity and flourishing.

I’d go so far as to say the discipleship crisis in the Church is really a worldview crisis.

We talk a lot about following Jesus, but few of us have learned to think like Him. Discipleship isn’t just moral formation; it’s mental re-formation.

As Paul wrote, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2).

You can’t live Christian if you don’t think Christian.

The Reality Check

A recent study by Barna in the U.S. found that of the 51 percent of adults who claim to have a biblical worldview, only six percent actually do. And the younger the generation, the smaller that number gets. Which means even in our churches, only a small percentage of people actually see the world, and themselves, the way God does. The trend isn’t improving.

That’s sobering.
It means our mission as pastors and leaders isn’t just to help people behave biblically; it’s to help them see biblically.

The Six Pillars of a Worldview

My friend @elijahlamb introduced me to six pillars that help frame how every worldview hangs together:

Every comprehensive worldview must answer these questions.

1. Cosmology – how the world began and what it’s made of

2. Epistemology – how we know what we know

3. Ontology – the nature of being

4. Morality / Ethics – what’s right and wrong

5. Teleology – purpose and design

6. Eschatology – where everything is heading

If we’re going to disciple people toward maturity, we need to help them think biblically about each of these. Because the battle for discipleship isn’t fought in church programs, it’s fought in how people make sense of reality.

Two Stories, Two Lenses

When you place a Christian worldview next to secular humanism, the unofficial belief system of our age, you don’t just get two sets of ideas. You get two competing stories about everything.

• Cosmology asks where it all began. Christians believe the universe started with love, a Creator singing beauty into being. Secular humanism says it began with chance, no composer, just chaos that learned to hum in tune. Both tell a story of beginnings, but only one has a storyteller.

• Epistemology asks how we know truth. The Christian says truth is revealed, it’s discovered, not invented. The secularist says truth is constructed, we write and edit as we go. It’s the difference between receiving light and building a flashlight.

• Ontology asks who we are. Scripture says we’re made in the image of God, reflections of divine glory. Humanism says we’re complex animals, astonishing, yes, but temporary. One says identity is a reflection; the other says it’s a construction.

• Morality deals with right and wrong. The Christian sees moral law anchored in the unchanging character of God. The secular view evolves with culture, what’s good today may not be tomorrow. Both want a better world, but only one believes there’s a fixed definition of better.

• Teleology asks why. Christians believe our purpose is to love God and join His redemption project in the world. Humanism says meaning is self-made, create it, chase it, define it. Both can sound noble, but only one can outlast you.

• Eschatology asks where this all ends. Christians believe history is headed somewhere, toward resurrection and renewal. Humanism believes the story ends with us; no sequel, just credits. One ends in hope, the other in exhaustion.

In the end, both stories promise freedom, just in different directions. One trusts a sovereign God; the other, the human spirit. One begins and ends with God; the other begins and ends with us.

Maybe that’s the quiet miracle of faith, that the story we’re invited into isn’t about finding ourselves at the centre, but discovering we’re already loved by the One who is.

The Challenge Ahead

The challenge for discipleship today is shaping worldviews, not just adjusting behaviours. It calls for a kind of preaching that doesn’t just tell people what to do but teaches them how to see. That means wrestling with Scripture, speaking to culture, naming the false stories people live in, and constantly helping them unlearn one story while learning another.

Discipleship isn’t just about better habits; it’s about clearer vision.
And vision, real, redeemed vision, changes everything.

I’ll write next time about the power of story to shape world view, until then… drop me a comment