World-Class: Desirable or Dangerous?

By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker

February 21, 2015

Far too many Christian schools are average — generally no better than their public school counterparts as measured by student achievement. The research supports this uncomfortable conclusion. There are many reasons why this is so, but I believe one of them — perhaps the primary one — is that we are afraid of excellence of the kind that could be classified as world-class.

Every school administrator I know is genuinely committed to excellence in his or her school. And yet the gap between that commitment and measurable outcomes remains wide. This series of short articles explores the questions: Should our schools strive to be world-class — or, as I will explain, Kingdom-class — and if so, how do we get closer to that goal? How excellent should we strive to be? What is excellence, anyway? Does the pursuit of world-class standards of quality run the risk of compromising our integrity as Christian schools? Do we risk becoming worldly institutions?

Those are fair questions — essential questions. History is littered with examples of fine Christian institutions of learning losing their way in the pursuit of an excellence defined by cultural values rather than by Christ and his Word. They compromised bit by bit and in the end ceased to be Christian. I believe that is the proverbial elephant in our administrative offices and boardrooms.

I hope to demonstrate that it is not only possible but necessary that we strive to be world-class institutions — precisely because doing so can bring honor to Christ and advance his kingdom. There is a wrong way and a right way to pursue this goal.

Let us stare down the elephant.

Part One: Excellence Defined

A commitment to excellence begs the question: how does one define it? It is a bit like the comment made by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in his attempt to define obscenity: “I know it when I see it.” We might say the same of excellence — perhaps we cannot define it precisely, but we know it when we see it.

Notwithstanding the difficulty in defining excellence, I will step out on the proverbial limb and offer a working definition, along with reasons why it matters.

I begin by acknowledging that there are many forms of excellence across many categories of human experience. For a helpful, though not explicitly Christian, perspective on academic excellence, I recommend John Gardner’s book Excellence: Can We Be Equal and Excellent Too? For purposes of this article I am focusing on Christian school institutional excellence, which in turn shapes other forms of excellence within the school.

Two objections arise regularly when I advocate for world-class excellence in Christian schools. The first is the fear that excellence will lead to elitism. The second is that the term world-class is often interpreted by Christians as synonymous with worldly.

Excellence and elitism are not synonymous, nor does the passionate pursuit of excellence necessarily lead to elitism. World-class is not synonymous with being worldly. A Christian school can be world-class without compromising its commitment to God’s Word and to Christ.

Part of our struggle arises from imprecision in our definition of terms.

Elitism is snobbishness, arrogance, haughtiness, and condescension — the posture of a person or group that believes one sector of society is superior to another and therefore more entitled to deference and influence. All of this is antithetical to biblical attitudes and behavior.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:3–11).

Excellence, on the other hand, is defined by distinction in quality, brilliance, merit, caliber, eminence, skill, talent, virtuosity, accomplishment, and mastery. Excellence thus defined means to be the best in class. If I need heart surgery, I seek out a world-class cardiologist. No one I know would knowingly choose a well-meaning but average heart surgeon. If I must choose between a world-class atheist cardiologist and an average Christian cardiologist, give me the atheist — and if I survive, I will witness to him.

Seeking a world-class cardiologist is not elitist or worldly — it is responsible and wise. Being a world-class cardiologist is not elitism; it is to be the best heart surgeon possible for the benefit of patients. That is a noble goal, a noble accomplishment, worthy of commendation and encouragement. Behaving in an elitist fashion, on the other hand, is contemptible.

I can think of no more important or nobler calling than educating the hearts and minds of eternal souls. Average is unworthy of such a calling. Average is unworthy of an eternal soul. Average is unworthy of Christ.

While defining institutional excellence in terms of being world-class is not inherently wrong, it is too narrow. In seeking a more biblical and descriptive definition of excellence for our schools, I make a distinction between being world-class and Kingdom-class. These definitions are not fully developed, but perhaps they can provide a working framework as we strive to create genuinely excellent institutions of Christian learning.

World-Class Defined

A world-class school is one that is among the best and most prominent in the world because of the quality and impact of its educational program. It sets a standard of excellence for others to emulate.

Kingdom-Class Defined

A Kingdom-class Christian school is one that is among the best in the world because of the quality and impact of its educational program. It sets a standard of educational quality and innovation worthy of emulation by both Christian and non-Christian educators throughout the world.

Its students are prepared for college and career in a globalized, connected, and competitive world. They are also prepared to use their God-given gifts in fulfilling the Creation Mandate and the Great Commission. Their lives are transformed, others are served, and God is glorified.

A Kingdom-class education includes the quality measures that constitute a world-class program but expands and deepens them to include a biblical worldview. It educates both the mind and the soul, and seeks to glorify God rather than man — consistent with Jesus’s command: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Structure and Direction

When thinking through this distinction, two concepts drawn from a biblical worldview prove helpful: structure and direction. These are ways of understanding and applying the biblical doctrines of Creation, Fall, and Redemption.

Al Wolters develops these concepts in his book Creation Regained. Tim Hoiland summarizes them as follows:

First, all things are created good (their “structure” is good), but all created things have been deformed by the Fall and sin (that is, they have been “misdirected”). As Christians, too often we recognize the directional distortion of something and discard it as sinful, but we fail to affirm its structural goodness, and miss the opportunity to see how, as a structurally good but misdirected part of creation, it can be redirected for purposes that please God and, in turn, serve the common good. With this distinction in mind, we can truly be “reformers” rather than either seeking to obliterate what is tainted by sin on the one hand, or fatalistically accepting the sin-tainted status quo on the other.¹

Applied to the pursuit of a Kingdom-class education, structure and direction together mean creating Christian institutions of learning that are structurally among the best in the world — reflected in the quality of faculty, curriculum, and teaching — and that are directionally biblical, reflecting a love for God, seeking his glory rather than our own, loving our neighbors as ourselves, and treating students, parents, and colleagues as God’s image bearers, with all that implies for programs, policies, and practices.

When both the structure and the direction of a Christian school are biblically sound and reflect the very best that can be delivered, that school is able to “let its light shine before others, so that they may see its good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven.” Anything less is unworthy of our Savior.

Excellence is as much a journey as a destination. It seems presumptuous to claim that any of our schools have become genuinely world-class or Kingdom-class. But the length of the journey is no excuse for refusing to travel. No matter where we are, we can begin where we are and relentlessly pursue the destination.