Like Riding a Bike

When was the last time you rode a bike? Nobody is asking you to take a little adventure today.  But even if this was the goal, you would not fear because years ago, you mastered this challenge. Sure, the handle bars might shake a little and you might not travel in a ruler-precise straight line for the first few seconds but you’ll quickly remember and begin riding as well as you did the last time you tried.

This is good news!  On to bigger and better things, then.



Our brains are wired this way and it isn’t just with physical activities.  We are all products of our upbringing.  We are products of our experiences.  We are products of our friends, families and geographical locations.  We are influenced by all that we see and do and hear.

This is who we are. Our worldview is set.  We’re comfortable in our own skin.  On to bigger and better things, then.

But is this good news? Here are two expressions that you’ve probably heard;

• Once you learn to ride a bike, you'll never forget.
• Your map is not the territory.

Both are true.

The first is physical.  It involves muscle memory and brain mapping which allows us to accomplish the feat without being required to learn it every time.  It’s a lot like walking.

The second is more subtle.  We will, in many cases, not even realize that what we believe to be true, correct and incontrovertible might just be questionable after all.  Should our worldview be in conflict with that of another, we will go to great lengths to defend it – with or without factual data.

This is what we are doing when we say;

• “Those ______ (name your group of people) are all criminals.”
• “Why are those people so lazy?  All they need to do is get off their duff and get a job!”   
• “They all drive like idiots.”  
• “I’d never let my daughter date one of them.”  
• “Ship them all back to where they came from.”
• “Every (Democrat / Republican / Independent) is out of touch and promotes absurd ideas.”
• "She has no right to act that way.”  
• "You buy JIF?  I can't believe you don't buy Skippy Peanut-butter!"

The lead sentence above the last set of bullet points could be re-written to say, ‘This is how we are judging when we say. . .’

Leave judgment to God.  All of us know this already but it is truly difficult to live in this fallen world without proclaiming absolutes as these indisputable ‘truths’ are part of who we are.

How can we change this? A few suggestions for us:

• If you’re a CNN news reader, spend some time on FOX.  Did that make you shudder?  But remember, the reverse is also true.  If you’re a FOX follower, spend some time on MSNBC.
• If you spend all of your time in homogeneous surroundings, shake it up a little.  Volunteer in a place more diverse.  
• Find a Sunday service where the racial majority is not your own.
• Give your Republican / Democrat friends (if you have any) a chance to talk.  A question like, “How did you come to that feeling, decision, viewpoint?”  The trick here is to listen closely and to choose not to begin arguing your own worldview. 

The goal for each option is to spend time with someone holding a different worldview, listen to them and find a way to honestly say, “I’ve never thought of it that way.”

Did Jesus balk at having a taboo discussion with the woman at the well?  Did He remove himself as unclean when the bleeding woman touched the hem of His garment? Did He refuse to heal on the Sabbath? These things fly in the face of the religious worldview in which He spent His time.  Should we do less?

He was teaching us that we need to have a new outlook – a new worldview.  We need to discard the rules of old and embrace the love of the new.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  Romans 12:2

Full circle now:  Have a peek at this video called “The Backwards Bicycle”.

Although this experiment speaks to our physical brain mapping for successfully navigating the road on a bicycle, it can also point us to the fact that what we believe is an unassailable worldview might be just the opposite.  It teaches us that we can change our view and interestingly enough, teaches us that when we do, we will need to fight just as hard to change it again.

However, I’m thinking that if I can change my worldview to match that of Jesus, I won’t need to worry about changing it again.


Photo credit: Ed Yourdon on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA