Seeing Curriculum Through a Kingdom Lens
The golden question among Christian educators is how should Christian curriculum differ from public or secular curriculum? Part of the issue beneath this question is the way modern K–12 curriculum is presented. For the most part, modern curriculum is far more concerned with the what and how than it is with the why. For example, what is the water cycle? How do amoebas reproduce? What is supply and demand? How is the U.S. government structured? What is the Pythagorean theorem. These are questions being asked and answered by modern curriculum.
Even when why questions are asked, most educators are still more concerned with understanding the mechanics of phenomena rather than exploring their purpose.
Why does Earth orbit the sun? Why do we dream? Why is there so much diversity within the animal kingdom? They use these types of why questions essentially as gateways to what and how answers.
Since modern curriculum is almost entirely focused on these types of questions, Christian teachers and educators often struggle to know when and how to incorporate the wisdom of Scripture into their teaching. After all, the Pythagorean theorem is true whether or not a student or teacher professes Jesus as Lord. And the water cycle does not change depending on one’s worldview. Christian Scripture, while right and true, simply does not address all the minutia of modern curriculum. So what does it mean to teach these types of topics from a biblically grounded perspective? Is it even possible? How should our “Kingdom lens” shape the way we create, present, and teach curriculum, especially in relation to topics that seem to have no significant connection to biblical truth?
What To Avoid
Perhaps a helpful place to start in tackling this quandary is to avoid a common pitfall. Much can be gained simply from identifying what not to do. Since modern curriculum (especially science and math) often does not overlap significantly with biblical teaching, it can be tempting to take an illustrative approach. In this approach, the concepts of a lesson are used to create an analogy for a biblical teaching. For instance, a well-meaning Christian teacher might use a math lesson about parallel lines to talk about how believers lives should be parallel to God’s will. Another example might be connecting a history lesson about a modern war to biblical wars in the book of Joshua. Perhaps the mathematical concept of infinity might be used to illustrate God’s infinite nature. In all these examples, the lesson content is used as an extended metaphor to try and teach a truth from Scripture.
Maybe you’ve seen or even written curriculum that falls into this category, but it can be a trap. I admit, I’ve been just as guilty of this in the past. In fact, I’m preaching as much to myself as anyone else. In the absence of any clear connection between the curriculum and Scripture, it can be easy and comfortable to simply find some shallow analogy between the current lesson and Bible truth. However, this approach comes with multiple drawbacks. First, it doesn’t help students understand the academic concepts being taught. At times such analogies might actually muddy the waters and weaken a student’s understanding of the lesson, of the wisdom of Scripture, or both. Going back to the parallel lines example, a student might think, “If my life should be parallel to God’s will, does that mean they should never touch?” Perhaps on a quiz or test a student might remember, “Parallel lines are like my life and God’s will, so they should intersect!” Now a harmless illustrative connection between math and Scripture has actually become a barrier to understanding.
Another drawback, perhaps even more serious, is the lasting effect an illustrative approach can have on how students relate to Scripture and their faith. What the illustrative approach attempts to do is teach a biblical perspective alongside an academic subject. However, more often than not, a student is graded only (or mostly) on the academic content. This can subtly communicate to the student that compared to academic facts, the biblical faith is an optional add on. It doesn’t have any meaningful connection to everyday matters such as science, math, history, and grammar. This can unintentionally produce students who see their faith as separate from their “real life.”
Starting from a Biblical Perspective
So how can we avoid using the surface-level illustrative approach? If we don’t include such connections to Scripture in our Christian curriculum, what will set it apart from secular curriculum?
The answer is, instead of attempting to teach a biblical perspective alongside academic content, we should seek to teach academic content by drawing it from a biblical perspective.
When we teach a course through a Kingdom lens, we are not merely including scriptural allusions in our courses or tacking on somewhat relevant Bible verses. Rather, we are identifying how the course material fits within a larger Christian perspective. Why should we learn about fractions? How can chemistry be used to benefit those around us? How has this historical event shaped and affected the world today, and how should Christians respond? Why is artistic mastery and beauty worth pursuing? These are all questions that Scripture addresses directly.
Kingdom lens types of questions do not abruptly redirect the discussion away from what is being taught. When the illustrative approach is used, we might find ourselves teaching about God’s will in a lesson about parallel and perpendicular lines. When we instead see a subject through a Kingdom lens, we keep the focus on the subject being taught. We simply put the academic content in its proper setting. We provide context and purpose for what students are learning: Why is this important? How can Christians use this concept to help our communities? How have Christians interacted with this concept in the past, and how might we do so in the future? These types of questions do not deviate from the topic of the lesson but instead encourage students to contemplate how the facts fit into a biblical framework.
Human Purpose and Identity
This may all sound well and good. The catch is that teachers and educators themselves must first know how their subjects fit within a biblical perspective and worldview. This means that as educators, we must constantly be asking and re-asking the big questions of human purpose, identity, and function. How Scripture portrays humanity and its role in creation is one of the most important aspects of Scripture to consider when learning to teach academic subjects from a biblical perspective. Human identity and purpose provide the context (the why) for the academic content we teach (the what and how). As God’s image bearers (or as the physical manifestations of God’s presence in creation), humanity is called to represent God’s loving, compassionate, and just character to one another and to all creation. As God’s priests, we are commissioned to take care of creation and build upon the boundless creativity of our Creator. Although humanity has fallen and is steeped in selfishness and violence, Jesus has shown us the way to be truly human again, to be in step with God’s perfect purpose for humanity. How do our school subjects fit within this grand narrative of Scripture? This is something all Christian educators must answer for themselves before they ever interact with students. How has math been used for good or ill? What role does grammar play in God’s good creation? How can physics help humanity fulfill its divine call? The same approach can be used with art or biology or literature or algebra.
Kingdom lens types of deep questions of purpose, meaning, and relevance should be what sets Christian curriculum apart from secular curriculum.
As Christian educators, we owe it to our students to be asking these questions ourselves so that we can bring them to bear on all of our courses.
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