Psalm 24:1-2 (NIV): The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
This is an area where worldview plays a massive role. Those whose worldview is based on completely on naturalism and evolution will not easily accept God’s ownership of them or the right to call the shots in their lives. If they believe that people came about by purely natural processes without any divine intervention, then what right does God have to exercise Lordship over them? Their rejection of God (often of His very existence) and of His authority is consistent with their worldview. But until their worldview changes, their hearts will not be open to the full meaning of the gospel. (Worldview is not the only reason why people reject the gospel, but there are definitely some worldviews that, by their nature, are closed to what the Bible presents as the truth.)
On the other end of the scale, those who understand and accept that God created the universe from nothing; not using natural process, but by the words of His mouth; not over vast times, but each step instantly created over the course of a mere six days; the ones who understand this truth have little or no problem believing in God’s sovereign ownership of every created thing, including themselves. They don’t always submit to God’s will, but belief in His ownership and rule over all that is is consistent with their worldview.
There is no one who is free from the bias imposed on their perceptions and thought processes by a worldview. These are two extremes, but there are many shades in between. What we believe about how the universe began, where life came from, the reality of the spiritual aspects of creation, and even of God’s own existence, colors the way that we perceive everything, the way that we think about the big questions of life, and even the way that we do science and interpret scientific “facts.”
As I said, there is no one without the bias of a worldview, and some worldviews are much more open to the truth of the gospel than others. Worldviews cannot be argued into change, or changed merely by presenting “convincing proofs.” (Even the way that “proofs” are examined and accepted is colored by worldviews.) Instead, they can usually only be modified by much prayer and patient love applied liberally. As a person with a worldview that is biased against the gospel is prayed for, as they experience large amounts of unconditional love from Christians around them, their foundations can begin to shift, and small openings are created in which the seeds of the gospel can begin to take root and grow up to eternal life.
Father, this explains why some people seem to be so resistant to the gospel. But, far from having to just give up on them, there is much that we can do. Help us to love and pray for those in our lives with contrary worldviews so powerfully that their hearts begin to open up to the possibility of an eternity with You. Amen.