Nathan E. Lewis

At St. Stephen’s Academy we aim to educate our children, offering the best academic programs possible and cultivating Christian character in our students. While most Christian communities value the instilling of Christian character, some of these communities are confused as to what constitutes a Christian character. The confusion stems from legalism and some forms of modern pietism. The confusion stems from a skewed view of culture and the Christian engaging culture. A Christian character is informed by biblical commands and doctrines. When a community adds man made laws to divine law, then the result is not only legalism but also a cultural statement – a sub-cultural statement.
A Christian character is by biblical definition virtuous. By virtue we mean the fruit of the Spirit manifest in our lives: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” The Apostle Paul’s usual formula is to command us to “put off” the deeds of the flesh and to “put on” the deeds of righteousness. Just prior to his listing of these fruit of the Spirit he writes, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” These are God’s holy words instructing us on Christ-like behavior. But some communities prefer to emphasize man made rules, most of which are cultural statements: fashion statements; dietary statements; social statements; and aesthetic statements.
At St. Stephen’s Academy we will not endorse the mistake of many Christian communities who tolerate “dissensions, divisions, and envy” all “works of the flesh” prohibited by the Word of God but at the same time insist upon man made prohibitions. Our worldview embracing God’s law over manmade rule influences our school’s dress code, our playground rules, and our treatment of literature and Natural Science in the classroom.
We must be as wary of Christian sub-culture as we are wary of non-Christian culture around us. Both are destructive to the development of Christian character. It is easy for us to fear the influence of pagan wickedness dragging our children down into drug addiction, immorality, and materialism. As we protect them from such influence we must also ardently protect them from the separatism of the Christian sub-culture. There are few lifestyles as destructive to Christian character as the legalism of “Christian” separatism. A Christian separatist refuses to heed the words of Jesus, “You are the salt of the earth….you are the light of the world… a city set on a hill whose light cannot be hidden.” Such clear and direct words of Jesus commanding us to engage in culture contribute to our Christian character.
St. Stephen’s Academy has a dress code. We have uniforms. We have decided to do so to promote order and to maintain an aesthetic that we consider to be beautiful and productive. We make the case that uniforms improve classroom behavior and performance. We also communicate to the larger community observing us that we are serious about education and that we value quality in fashion and economy. By wearing uniforms we are engaging the culture. What we do not say by wearing our uniforms is, “This is what Christians wear; to wear something other than our uniform is non-Christian.” We are not saying, “The wearing of pedestrian clothing is immodest and thus unbecoming for Christians.” What we must say often is “God does not look at the outward appearance but at our hearts, and so, it is possible for you to wear your uniform and to appear in a number of ways as if you are a follower of Jesus, but in reality your heart is far from God.” God does care about our outward appearance, but he does not judge our spiritual alliance, our faith and our obedience merely by it.
St. Stephen’s Academy teaches and encourages the arts. We do not believe that the arts are frivolous or idolatrous. Form and function go together and we desire beauty along with utility. We are part of a movement reversing the practice of much of the Church in our day building edifices that are functional but ugly. We do believe that the Church is not a building but a community of faith. However, this gospel truth does not move us to build ugly buildings. Christian architecture should be beautiful and useful.
In our musical education we do not exclusively recommend the trade genre of “Christian music.” Our present generations have produced an ocean of horrible music and much of it is “Christian.” We are teaching our children the difference between beautiful music and trashy music. In doing so, we do not make a sharp distinction between “secular” and “Christian.” Several grids of criteria must be overlaid in our assessment. Modern pietism only uses a “moral” grid – if the song includes vulgar language, then it is wicked. We do not advocate modern pietism. We not only use a “moral” grid, but we also use an “aesthetic” grid – Are the lyrics of a literary quality produced by poetic creativity, natural symmetry, and intriguing intellectual depth? Does the music match the lyrics? Is the music beautiful, stirring the heart and emotions? Does the music display the brilliant and subtle skills of its composer and make the most of the instruments? We also use the “classic” grid – will this piece of music stand the test of time? Does it contribute to the generational development of music and to the human story? This “classic” grid not only identifies ties to the past but it also charts future directions - Does this music add something new and worthwhile to our shared knowledge and experience?
At St. Stephen’s Academy, we expose our students to a wide selection of literature. Our children memorize biblical texts, but they also memorize poems that have been written by non-Christian authors, some of them putting forth non-Christian worldviews. We are careful to rid our reading lists of poorly written literature, especially when written by Christians for Christians. Worse than a poorly written poem is a poorly written Christian poem. As Christians engage the culture, they use what is of value in the culture and they make valuable contributions to it. We do so maintaining our biblically informed Christian character.
Engaging the culture is not merely a function of the Humanities. As we study the natural sciences and seek to contribute to them, we engage the culture. Our present culture is steeped in the theory of Evolution. It impacts more areas of life than we sometimes realize. This sad reality should not hinder us from preparing our students to enter vocations in the natural sciences. Perhaps the most effective way to oppose fallacious theories is to contribute positively, producing sound and useful science. All too often, Christian students are equipped as apologists, able to argue the truth and to dismantle the untruth, and there is a place for apologetics and debate – indeed both are ways of engaging the culture. But such engagements would be vain if Christians did not contribute positively to the natural sciences, trained to be among the best of physicists, astronomers, chemists, engineers, and medical nurses.
Our language betrays our inconsistencies and our foibles. Our language also significantly contributes to the overall climate of our school. We should refrain from an overuse of “Us/Them” language. The Bible uses a good amount of “Us/Them” language to describe those who are righteous distinguished from the unrighteous. Much of this language distinguishes the “City of God,” from the “City of Man,” and so it addresses culture. We must be careful that we do not confuse biblically moral descriptions and categories with cultural ones. A cultural difference often will not be the difference between morality and immorality, but instead it will be a difference of style and preference. In other words, culture is not immoral but rather it is human expression and contribution. Our language must not communicate that we believe culture to be “evil” or “dangerous,” leaving students to think that they could develop in Christian character short of interaction with non-Christians, short of engaging culture. Our language should be employed to encourage students to engage the culture and to transform the culture through valuable contributions to it. To do so our language must be charitable, and at times tolerant. Even more so, our language should be positively hopeful and confident. Our language should be free and colorful, yet careful and rooted in biblical truth and imagery. Our language should be creative, fanciful, symbolically rich and fresh. We should work against “Christianeze” and clichés no longer communicating. Our language should flow from our thoughts in conformity to the instruction of the apostle Paul: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”