Protecting the Sheep, Part 3: The Importance of Individually Developing and Communicating a Christ-centered Worldview
Written by Charles Schneider, Ed.D.
Frank Gaebelein, in The Pattern of God’s Truth wrote, "The fact is inescapable; the world view of the teacher, in so far as he is effective, gradually conditions the world view of the pupil. No man teaches out of a philosophical vacuum. In one way or another, every teacher expresses the convictions he lives by, whether they be spiritually positive or negative."
A powerful statement that stands as a constant reminder to those of us who serve the Lord in a Kingdom School ministry, a reminder of the importance of our developing and visibly maintaining a Christ-centered worldview before the students placed in our care. We have been given the privilege of partnering with the home and the church in the significant process of developing a child’s character and worldview. Unfortunately, there are numerous other forces, both negative and positive vying for the attention of our children. As educators we must recognize that God has placed us in a setting that gives us far more time during a child’s formative years than the home and church combined have to impact the child’s character and worldview. As our culture becomes increasingly more secular the role the teacher plays in supporting the home and church becomes exponentially more significant.
With all of this said, what can you do to ensure that you present a consistent, Christ-centered, worldview in your school and in your classroom?
- First, we must recognize the need for constant evaluation of what we teach, why we teach it, and how we communicate the information to our students. Many of us have received all of our formal educational training in secular institutions and can quite unintentionally find ourselves thinking, acting and teaching from a less than Christ-centered perspective.
- Secondly, we must realize that without a well-defined action plan we can not assume that what we desire to communicate will be heard (seen) by our students. We need to take the time to develop and implement a daily, unit and finally yearly plan that clearly indicates our intent to actively build Godly character and worldview in our students.
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Finally, we must commit ourselves to be (become) students of the scripture. Our success at consistently communicating a Christ-centered worldview to our students flows directly out of our commitment to know Him on a personal, intimate level. To help you in the evaluation process I have provided a simple check list that will help you focus on those areas that need our constant scrutiny.
WORLDVIEW CHECKLIST
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I have thought through and developed a biblically based worldview. God’s word forms the basis for my understanding of the nature of God, the nature of man, the nature of knowledge, how I view right and wrong, and how I view the future.
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I diligently apply my God-centered worldview to my daily life and teaching.
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I make a consistent effort to display godly character in and outside my classroom.
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I clearly communicate through my lifestyle and spoken and written word the importance of developing an intimate relationship with the Lord.
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I am able to relate the subject(s) I teach to God’s truth.
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I am able to naturally integrate the subject(s) I teach into the whole pattern of God’s truth.
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My lesson plans are designed with a clear and distinct outline of how I plan to integrate God’s truth into what I teach on a daily (unit) basis.
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