Worldviews are a very complex phenomenon. A worldview is really a web: the convergence of ideas, culture, and history. Our worldview webs are the social and mental matrix in which “we live, and move and have our being,” as Paul says (Acts 17:28).

People are not simply “blank slates” that we write upon with the biblical worldview. They present themselves already locked in a maze of preconceptions and cultural expectations. Those with whom we engage are not simply “empty” or “neutral,” just waiting for us to enlighten them. No. They perceive the world and themselves with sinful biases and idolatries. People are formed by ideas and cultural norms that skew how they view reality, the Bible―and us.

Moreover, worldview formation is difficult to understand because it involves a mix of complex, theological factors. First, there is our post-fall spiritual context: sin complicates everything. Paul mentions in Ephesians 2:1–3 three negative dimensions of human existence: our sinful nature, the world, and the devil.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of  the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Together, these produce evil “desires of the body and mind.” Paul says in Galatians 1:4 that we live in “this present evil age.”

Second, there is God’s common grace (Ps 104, Acts 14:17), which often restrains evil for his purposes, and amplifies the beauty and potential of this world, even though it is fallen into sin.

Third, there is the gospel itself, which has the power to transform lives and communities.

But fourth, there is the enigmatic concept of divine providence. Consider Acts 17:26–27.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.

What does verse 26 mean considering the history and cultures of South America, for example, since God “determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God”? Remember that South America was colonized by Catholic empires. Imagine, however, if the continent had been colonized by Protestant nations. Imagine, also, what might have happened if there had been a Protestant Reformation here. Think about the social, political, economic, and intellectual implications that might have occurred.

Sadly, what really did happen is that millions of people in this continent died, through violence and disease, because of the lust for empire and its cousin, colonialism. Lands were acquired. Peoples were dispersed or enslaved for purposes of security, gain or glory. Millions of Africans were brought as slaves to Brazil.

And Christianity? It was often affiliated with the powerful and prosperous, with empire and colonialism, and overlooked the victims: the poor, exploited, enslaved, abused, and condemned.

We could name other enigmas of history and continue speculating. The matrix of evil, common grace, gospel, and divine providence in human history and worldview formation is very complicated.

We need a lot of humility, wisdom, and compassion to discern the intricate worldview web we encounter in cultures through evangelism, church planting, and missions.

Why? Because people are pre-packaged by ideas and cultural norms in complex ways that distort their worldviews before we arrive. We cannot simply overlay the Bible, assuming that people are open or neutral. They are often wounded, confused, indifferent or hostile.