At Faith Christian School, learning includes robust conversations that prepare students by grappling with the hidden assumptions that power the messages in today's culture.

For the second year in a row, it is my distinct privilege to lead a class conversation with Faith Christian School seniors called “Christian Mind.” I say “class conversation” because this is precisely what it is. Once a week, I give up my Literature class time to sit around a table with our seniors and discuss important topics which shape (and are shaped by) our mindset, or “worldview” as individuals. The class is graded only as a pass-fail course, so the readings, writing, speaking, and listening we do are aimed at strengthening our spiritual muscles, not just achieving a certain grade point average. Relieved of grading pressure, the students (and instructor) are free to range throughout the course content and make personal application as needed. 

A few years ago, we chose for our go-to text a book called Hidden Worldviews which does a better job than most in identifying the stale air of ideas we breathe in our broader culture. In my opinion, a lot of Christian worldview teaching isn’t as useful as it seems it should be. Unfortunately, young people still leave the faith in droves. So I’ve been pleased with the text we have chosen, largely because it looks at systems of thought which are often overlooked. It mentions only briefly such things as atheism and evolutionary biology (and other big things) and spends its time looking at culture-shaping streams of thought which are sometimes less talked about. A few of them: Scientific Naturalism (only matter matters), Individualism (the self as the center of all things), and Moral Relativism (your “truth” is not my “truth”). One of the features I appreciate about the book is that the authors identify both things to affirm and things to deny in every worldview they address. This not only offers a robust view of truth claims that our students face every day but trains our minds in the best ways to push back against unbiblical ideas. Affirming what can be affirmed (even in an errant theory) is a way to demonstrate our own reasonable-mindedness as Christians. Once commonalities are established, we can move into those areas of difference. 

You can check out the book here. Its subtitle really explains what it’s all about: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives. I highly recommend it. One student even told me at the end of last year’s class that she ordered the book as a graduation gift for several friends! That’s a powerful recommendation, and I encourage you to take a look as well!

As a Christian and Classical school, we spend our days trafficking in ideas, and we seek to uphold the best of the world’s great thought systems, viewing them all through the lens of God’s Word. I believe this Christian Mind “conversation” is an opportunity for our seniors to think with discernment about the world into which they are entering and to exert a godly influence therein. One of our Basic Understandings summarizes the goal very well: “…in a constantly changing world…students are able to determine, promote, and defend those things that are worth loving.”

So may it be!

- By Thomas Mann