What does it mean when we say we are Christian teachers? Is Christian merely an adjective, or is Christian teaching cohesively a verb in itself? Teaching Christian-ly is not primarily equipping churched children to have the right knowledge and skills, but is teaching from the viewpoint that these students are image bearers of God; eternal souls loved by God. Just as it would be considered negligence for a parent to feed a child candy and pizza as their whole diet, so too, it would be negligent to offer a curriculum that does not feed the whole person–mind, body, and soul. This task relies on the personal faith of the teacher to serve as the guide, the aligning of curriculum to show Christ as the author and sustainer of life, and the community of believers upholding the students.
Agricultural metaphors pertaining to the Christian life are plentiful in the Scriptures. The image of the tree planted by streams of water in Psalm 1 illustrates the need for a constant sustaining source, which the psalmist attributes to "delighting and meditating on God’s law day and night" (Psalm 1:2). If a Christian teacher is to be genuine in their goal of encouraging the growth of Christ-followers, our roots must go down to the living water, to Christ and His word, taking time to abide in Him and His love (John 15). As we pursue the beauty and holiness of God, we find who we truly are as children of God, as beloved by the Father.
As renowned educator Parker Palmer puts in his book The Courage to Teach, “Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.” A genuine desire to know and follow Christ personally that spills into our teaching organically will be what our students will remember, likely more than any project or assignment.
C.S. Lewis, in his "Meditation in a Tool Shed," paints a picture of an old shed where a beam of light shines through the crack in the wall. His observation of the motes of dust floating in the air allows him to see the beam – he is looking at the beam. But when he moves into the beam of light and looks along it, the tool shed disappears in the brilliance of the light, and he partially sees the trees sunbathed in the breeze outside, and even further away, the sun itself.
Much of the curriculum teachers have been given to teach is like looking at the beam – it is a world of facts, of proofs, of details, and observations – important things to learn. However, another perspective that leads to understanding is experiencing the beam itself – what are the implications to our lives as Christ followers. One can look at cell division and mitosis, learn the steps of prophase and metaphase, and even carcinogenic causes of mitosis gone awry – cancer. These are good and important things to learn. But we can also look along the topic, diving into the reality of suffering, disease, and death. We can explore the tough topics of God’s sovereignty, the confusion, frustration, and even anger at God for the loss of a loved one to disease.
This is the responsibility of Christian teaching, to see that everything we do, every topic, every person, is intertwined into the divine and eternal story. And while oftentimes this is an ideal we strive for and can get left behind, it is in this that the teacher serves as both guide and witness to the larger redemption story of a God who has loved so deeply and has promised to wipe away every tear and to make everything sad come untrue.
Finally, Christian teaching is a practice relying on the whole community. In Wendell Berry’s book "Hannah Coulter," the protagonist reflects on her small rural community of Port William and what she affectionately called "the membership." These were the farmers, the community, that came out when there was need, that stayed until dark during the harvest, knowing that the following week the rest of the membership would be helping with their own harvest. There were no time cards filled out, no money exchanged – so much so that if these topics were brought up, a confused look was given. I am convinced that this should be the ethos of our Christian schools. What we are doing, both in home life and school life, is of the utmost importance for our students. We are cultivating hearts. HD is not a place of trading commodities, of tuition dollars for an exchange of goods. Although this is my profession and I am on payroll at HDCH, the role of Christian teaching is not the role of the teacher at HD alone, but rather, it is a partnership between families and school. It requires the home to be deeply involved in the Christian formation, with the school supporting the good work that is already being done in the other spheres of the student’s life.
The apostle Paul boldly proclaims that “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). There is a greater reality, starting in this life, and fulfilled completely at Christ’s second coming, that is available to us. So much so that all the things of this life are rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ (Phil 3:8-9). My hope is that in our literature classes, our calculus assignments, our chemistry labs, we can look along the greater story of Christ the King, to hear our good shepherd calling us to follow Him in everything we do. It is my deepest privilege that I get to do that for my own children, but also in some smaller way for your children as well.