It's You I Like

When Truth is a Distinctive (Part 2 of 3)

In my last entry, I shared some of the discussion we had as a Grammar School faculty about truth. This year we are delving deeper into some of the less direct distinctives of our school and dissecting not just their meaning and importance, but how they explicitly play out in the life of our classrooms and greater school community. “Who we are and how it is like for us to act,” is the phrase I encountered in my sabbatical reading that is responsible for inspiring this topic of discussion. While the phrase has a clunky grammatical composition, I believe it is somewhat profound and worthy of consideration for faculty, parents, and students.

After the more prominent taglines that Covenant is a Classical Christian school, inspired by the philosophy and pedagogy of Charlotte Mason, it doesn’t take long to encounter the phrase, the good, the true, and the beautiful. Our curriculum and educational philosophy is intentionally steeped in those attributes from the first day of Explorers through the last day of 12th grade. It is a hallmark of our education that we believe goes beyond lessons in the classroom and is foundational to the spiritual formation of our students.

The working definition of philosophical truth we employed in our discussion was that truth is the objective, accurate perception of reality. As stated in my last entry, coming up with a definition for truth without pulling in Christian precepts was surprisingly difficult. As we unpacked the meaning of truth, we then contrasted the absolute truth that is foundational to Orthodox Christianity with the competing theories of the day. It is acceptable in today’s society to consider things that are useful, or gleaned through consensus as truth. Perhaps the most prevailing and accepted theory of the day is that relative/subjective truth is equal, if not above, absolute truth. We talk about ‘his truth’ or ‘their truth’, ‘she thinks’ or ‘we know’ with little regard to objectivity, accuracy, or reality. Absolute truth is not fashionable in our current world culture. 

Thankfully, we can rest in the knowledge that such flawed thinking has not seeped into Christian culture and we are safe from its influence. Only if we live in Lalaland.

Christian doctrine and the notion of absolute truth has been countercultural to society since society was born. Being set apart as God’s children has not exempted us from wondering if we are missing the delicacies of food sacrificed to idols or if the carnal desires of our flesh are being unmet by a call to righteousness. In our contemporary society, ascribing to absolute truth, and more pointedly absolute Biblical truth, often translates as an ignorant, judgemental, narrow minded, and even hateful person. Since the fall of man, the world has experienced disorder. However,  chaos is currently ruling the day and Christians are too comfortable with it. 

So, how does a foundational commitment to the absolute truth of God and His Word translate to life as a teacher or parent at The Covenant School? I am so glad you asked, because the short answer is it is everything. 

Every single day in every single subject, we enthusiastically impart Biblical truth and a Christian worldview. We aren’t shy or ashamed of things that are unpopular. We also are not arrogant and judgemental about what we believe. Our illumination to God’s truth was bestowed to us by a merciful and gracious Lord, not by our intellect or merit. 

We know that all truth is God’s truth which simply means that in His general revelation, and through His grace, laws of science and nature were conveyed to the world from the minds of believers and non-believers alike. The litmus for many of the laws of nature are not found in scripture but understood and reinforced through study, observation, and time. We don’t believe that gravity is true because we know Sir Isaac Newton was a committed Christ follower. I have no idea if he was or was not, but it is irrelevant to the principle. God exists in reality and he is the author and inventor of truth.

Again, it must be said that an ordered view of truth is not something that should produce haughtiness or arrogance. Quite the opposite. It is humbling to recognize how much truth we cannot even understand in our finite state. While we believe the Bible is the very breath of God, it is silent on many things. We know that God is steadfast and patient in His revelations over time. The world is in a mad frenzy to comprehend all that there is to comprehend, but we will not experience the fullness of knowledge, wisdom, and truth until we are living in eternity.

In summary, we know how truth began and we know how truth will end. We’ve read the first and last chapters of the book, but that does not mean that the middle is smooth sailing. It is tense and it is uncomfortable. Being grounded and hopeful in a chaotic world is reassuring, but it can also be unpleasant and awkward. We want our Grammar School students to know there is absolute truth, we want them to enjoy and delight in that knowledge. As they matriculate to the Logic and Rhetoric Schools, we want them to share with us the places that truth amidst a world of chaos is awkward and hard. We are not afraid of the questions because whether or not they come while our students are under our roof, they will come. We want them to wrestle openly and in safety. We pray that they will trust in God’s goodness and find peace in His truth. 

Furthermore, we can assert that our understanding of truth would require that a Covenant teacher approach her students and the subjects she is teaching with both humility and boldness. He or she would also need to possess a certain peace and confidence in the midst of an aggressive and hostile world. These contrasting traits would give way to clarity of thought and explicitness in speech. 

Believe it or not, I have a little more to share about our discussion of truth. I will give you a little teaser that it has to do with chaos, and it has to do with the fact that we as believers have gotten comfortable in this chaotic world a little more than we should have. We aren’t always enjoying the peace that truth provides. I liken our world to a pendulum vacillating between having all of the answers and being completely terrified. Sadly, believers aren’t watching this all from the side, but we have jumped right onto the pendulum and are right in the middle of the madness. The good news is that someone who loves us and always tells the truth promised that the truth would set us free. Free.

What other ways is it like for people to act who not only believe in God’s absolute truth, but believe it will set them free? Stay tuned.