Earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in “Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Et Al.” This case involves religious school employment and the matter of a ministerial exception, who is covered by it, and so on. While the decision issued by the Court will potentially have implications for Christian schools, the case itself is not what I am interested in writing about today. Rather, I am interested in some of the discussion during the oral arguments.

In the process of questioning one of the attorneys, Chief Justice John Roberts asked a question that began this way: “Well, let’s say it’s a teacher who teaches only purely secular subjects….” Now, I am not going to criticize the Chief Justice. My understanding is that he is a devout Catholic, and I suspect that on a personal level he may agree with me when I say that my contention is that there is no such thing as a “purely secular subject.” Mr. Roberts was involved in the process of parsing intricate legal arguments in an effort to determine whether or not someone who is a minister is or is not entitled to certain protections or statuses under the law when his or her primary job responsibilities to do not involve matters of a specifically-ministerial nature. And as I said, that issue is beyond the scope of what I am interested in for the purposes of this discussion (and, I suspect, beyond the scope of what you are interested in reading about!)

What does interest me is this idea of “purely secular subjects.” It is a position held by many, whether professing Atheists, professing Christians, or professing adherents of any number of religions. Unfortunately, it is a position held by many churches and Christian schools, too. There are far too many “Christian” schools that start the day (or even each class) with prayer, include a chapel service for students and probably a Bible class, but go about the rest of their academic instruction and curriculum development as if English, math, history, science, physical education, art and music are “purely secular subjects.” There are some Christian textbook publishers who seem to hold to this position, as well. Their books contain no recognizable difference from those written by secular publishers and used by public schools or, at most, have an occasional Bible verse printed along the bottom of a workbook page.

The reality is, there is no such thing as a secular subject. The dictionary (dictionary.com) defines secular as “of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred; temporal.” The definition even includes a specific reference to schools and education and says that secular means “concerned with nonreligious subjects.” Someone who is a follower of Christ, someone with a biblical worldview, will reject the argument that there can be any subject that is purely temporal and unconnected to God. The fact that a specific area of study may be pertaining to “worldly things,” by which the definition means things that are of this world and in this world, does not mean that said subject is completely disconnected from things that are not temporal or “of this world.”

Colossians 2:8 says “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (ESV). If we allow ourselves to be sucked into the argument that there are subject areas that are “purely secular” we are throwing open the door to the influences of empty deceit and worldly philosophy in accordance with human tradition. When we do that we are allowing ourselves to be pressed into the mold of the world. Paul, however, instructs believers this way: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2, ESV). We can only transform our minds by approaching every subject from a scriptural position, interpreting all subject matter and academic instruction through the lens of God’s truth. Whether we’re talking about reading a piece of literature, evaluating a painting, or studying the events of history, there simply is no such thing as a purely secular subject. You either recognize God’s presence and involvement or you deny it. Either way, though, it’s “religious.”

In the April 2011 issue of Tabletalk magazine from Ligonier Ministries (www.ligonier.org) there is an interview with R. Albert Mohler, Jr., the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  In the interview Dr. Mohler is asked about what the church can do to better prepare its members to meet the cultural challenges of the 21st century.  His answer is excellent, and is just as applicable to the Christian school as to the church.

“For far too long, evangelical churches have simply assumed that it is our task to give our church members a basic level of biblical knowledge, to create opportunities for Christian fellowship, and to encourage parents in the Christian nurture of their children.  But what we have failed to understand is that Christians in the twenty-first century are being thrown into a world in which just a little bit of Bible knowledge is simply not going to be enough.  Simply having positive fellowship and nurturing experiences in the church and in the Christian family will not be enough.  The church must prepare people to be able to think Christianly in a world where the intellectual rules have fundamentally changed.  They are going to have to learn to be faithful in terms of every-day decision making, in terms of profound moral questioning, and in terms of political, economic, and cultural issues.  It is not that the church needs to be constantly talking about the culture; rather, it is that with the cultural challenge around us, we need to talk more and more about the Bible and coming to a deeper understanding of the Scriptures.  The church must equip its members to be deeply biblical so that the theological mode of thinking is something that comes naturally to believers.  Such Christians will be saturated with biblical truth, sustained by the life of the congregation, and encouraged into faithfulness by the communion of the saints.”

What Dr. Mohler describes is exactly what effective Christian educators and Christian schools seek to instill in each of their students.  A biblical worldview is the ability to think Christianly–it is the lens or the filter through which we see and understand everything around us.  Some Christian schools (and some churches) are content to sprinkle their classes (or their services) with a few Bible verses here and there, probably a prayer, and then to spend the rest of their time trying to act like, look like, and be attractive to the world.  The Bible makes it very clear that we are not to be of the world.  A deeper understanding of Scriptures is exactly what is needed if we are to make an impact for Christ.

At Sunshine Bible Academy, and at other Christian schools faithful to God’s design for education, every subject is presented with a biblical worldview.  We do not hide from or ignore the realities of the world around us, but we ensure that our students understand what is taking place in the world by understanding how it fits into God’s plan and/or is a result of man’s fallen nature.  Every subject is interconnected–to each other, and to the Bible.  Yes, there is a Bible class that each student takes, but biblical instruction is not restricted to that class.  When  instructors teach math, science, history, literature, music, physical education and art they do so with a biblical worldview.  Students learn to see the orderliness of God in math, the power, wonder and majesty of God in His creation, the importance of good health in maintaining our bodies for the Lord’s service in physical education, and so on.

Education from a biblical worldview equips students to meet the challenges of the 21st century, both academically and biblically.