Wilmington Christian School's mission is to cultivate Godly influencers--individuals who have a Biblical worldview and who engage their spheres of influence by working to address the following questions:
These questions reflect the fact that we are made in the image of a creative, restorative, and good God. They also reflect a Biblical worldview of the human experience, which includes four major elements: CREATION - FALL - REDEMPTION - RESTORATION
CREATION - When God created the universe, He declared that it was very good. The original creation was free from evil; all that God made existed in peaceful harmony.
FALL - It didn't take long though, for that reality to be disrupted by the fall of man, as Adam chose for all humanity a life outside of God's good rulership.
REDEMPTION - From the beginning, God planned for the redemption of His creation through the death and resurrection of Christ, whereby individuals can be made right in their relationship with God.
RESTORATION - God's gracious redemption gives us access to the future restoration of all things in a new heaven and a new earth in which we will reign with Christ forever.
Until the future restoration of all things, we live in a world racked by the effects of evil. Truly, things are not the way they should be.
One of the more destructive evils in our culture is racism.
Racism is the word used to describe one group of people treating another people group as fundamentally inferior or of lesser worth. However, there is no scientific or philosophical basis for the concept of different "races" of humans. We are all of the same race and share the same status as having been specially created in the image of God. Though we have different experiences, backgrounds, and cultural distinctives (which should be recognized and celebrated), we are all one in our humanity. Racism is contrary to Scripture, since all humans are made in the image of God and designed for relationships marked by shalom.
Shalom is the Hebrew word for God-centered holiness and peace in relationships. Though the full realization of shalom will not occur until the future restoration of all things, through Christ we can experience shalom in our relationships now. When we do, we experience a taste of the initial creation when all was "very good," and we get a foretaste of the new heaven and earth when all will be "very good" again.
How can we be part of Christ's plan of redemption to establish shalom in our culture?
The New Testament book of James abounds with perspective and direction for how to respond to the sin of racism and pursue shalom, which can be translated into core personal and institutional commitments.
1. We commit to listen first.
James 1:19 - "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger."
Listening to others begins with listening to God. We can only respond appropriately to other humans when we build our relationships on the foundation of God's word. Listening is the posture of love and must be our default approach with people who have suffered the painful effects of racism. Listening means that we actively seek to understand the hurt that has been experienced by those from different ethnic backgrounds, without judgement. Accompanying our listening must be a recognition that while we may be taking basic steps to apply biblical truth to the issue of racism, many Godly individuals from all ethnic backgrounds have already put much time into applying biblical truth in this area. We must humbly listen and learn from them.
Response: We will continue to have open discussions with brothers and sisters from all ethnic backgrounds to listen and learn. And, we invite anyone from the WCS family to share with us how they have suffered from racism.
2. Since engaging racism requires great wisdom, we ask God to give it to us.
James 1:5 - "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."
Wisdom can be defined as the ability to apply what we know about the truth by responding in good, right, and appropriate ways. God communicates his wisdom through Scripture, through the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit, through the created order, and through the influence of wise human beings. The starting place for wisdom is simple: to ask God for it.
Response: To help our families as they process all that is going on in our culture and teach their children about racism, we are identifying Biblically-based resources far them-rich sources of God's wisdom.
3. We hold our ideas for solutions very lightly; we consider others better than ourselves; and we will repent of pride and other sin as God reveals it to us—both personally and institutionally.
James 4:6 - "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
We need much grace, which is God's empowerment to do His will. The pathway to this empowerment is humility and a readiness to acknowledge our own failures. Prideful self-sufficiency sets us in opposition to God.
Response: We will audit our school policies and practices to identify areas where we can more faithfully pursue shalom in our school community and we will make changes as necessary.
4. We commit to action, not just words.
James 1:22 - "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
It is far too easy to make strong statements and then fail to follow-through on commitments. Many times, we feel conviction in our hearts, we make statements about what should be done, and then we get distracted. However, only hearing and agreeing about what to do without actually doing it is self-deception and does not lead to constructive change.
Response: The WCS Board and Administration Team will continue to find ways to pursue shalom in our community, including seeking representation in all levels of influence in our school that better reflect the ethnic makeup of our school family.
Conclusion: Our Foundation is the Gospel of Christ
In all our responses, we will keep as our ultimate foundation the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which alone is the answer to every sin problem in our culture. The Gospel of Christ is clear: in God's measure of the worth of humanity, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ" (Galatians 3:28). Christ is the only one who can heal the wounds between people groups and individuals and He alone can bring shalom to our human experience. As we pursue the ideal of Galatians 3:28 in our school community and the broader culture, we believe that God will meet our efforts with His limitless grace, and real shalom will occur.
- What is good that I can help to cultivate?
- What is broken that I can help to cure?
- What is evil that I can help to curb?
- What is missing that I can help to create?
These questions reflect the fact that we are made in the image of a creative, restorative, and good God. They also reflect a Biblical worldview of the human experience, which includes four major elements: CREATION - FALL - REDEMPTION - RESTORATION
CREATION - When God created the universe, He declared that it was very good. The original creation was free from evil; all that God made existed in peaceful harmony.
FALL - It didn't take long though, for that reality to be disrupted by the fall of man, as Adam chose for all humanity a life outside of God's good rulership.
REDEMPTION - From the beginning, God planned for the redemption of His creation through the death and resurrection of Christ, whereby individuals can be made right in their relationship with God.
RESTORATION - God's gracious redemption gives us access to the future restoration of all things in a new heaven and a new earth in which we will reign with Christ forever.
Until the future restoration of all things, we live in a world racked by the effects of evil. Truly, things are not the way they should be.
One of the more destructive evils in our culture is racism.
Racism is the word used to describe one group of people treating another people group as fundamentally inferior or of lesser worth. However, there is no scientific or philosophical basis for the concept of different "races" of humans. We are all of the same race and share the same status as having been specially created in the image of God. Though we have different experiences, backgrounds, and cultural distinctives (which should be recognized and celebrated), we are all one in our humanity. Racism is contrary to Scripture, since all humans are made in the image of God and designed for relationships marked by shalom.
Shalom is the Hebrew word for God-centered holiness and peace in relationships. Though the full realization of shalom will not occur until the future restoration of all things, through Christ we can experience shalom in our relationships now. When we do, we experience a taste of the initial creation when all was "very good," and we get a foretaste of the new heaven and earth when all will be "very good" again.
How can we be part of Christ's plan of redemption to establish shalom in our culture?
The New Testament book of James abounds with perspective and direction for how to respond to the sin of racism and pursue shalom, which can be translated into core personal and institutional commitments.
1. We commit to listen first.
James 1:19 - "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger."
Listening to others begins with listening to God. We can only respond appropriately to other humans when we build our relationships on the foundation of God's word. Listening is the posture of love and must be our default approach with people who have suffered the painful effects of racism. Listening means that we actively seek to understand the hurt that has been experienced by those from different ethnic backgrounds, without judgement. Accompanying our listening must be a recognition that while we may be taking basic steps to apply biblical truth to the issue of racism, many Godly individuals from all ethnic backgrounds have already put much time into applying biblical truth in this area. We must humbly listen and learn from them.
Response: We will continue to have open discussions with brothers and sisters from all ethnic backgrounds to listen and learn. And, we invite anyone from the WCS family to share with us how they have suffered from racism.
2. Since engaging racism requires great wisdom, we ask God to give it to us.
James 1:5 - "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."
Wisdom can be defined as the ability to apply what we know about the truth by responding in good, right, and appropriate ways. God communicates his wisdom through Scripture, through the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit, through the created order, and through the influence of wise human beings. The starting place for wisdom is simple: to ask God for it.
Response: To help our families as they process all that is going on in our culture and teach their children about racism, we are identifying Biblically-based resources far them-rich sources of God's wisdom.
3. We hold our ideas for solutions very lightly; we consider others better than ourselves; and we will repent of pride and other sin as God reveals it to us—both personally and institutionally.
James 4:6 - "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
We need much grace, which is God's empowerment to do His will. The pathway to this empowerment is humility and a readiness to acknowledge our own failures. Prideful self-sufficiency sets us in opposition to God.
Response: We will audit our school policies and practices to identify areas where we can more faithfully pursue shalom in our school community and we will make changes as necessary.
4. We commit to action, not just words.
James 1:22 - "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
It is far too easy to make strong statements and then fail to follow-through on commitments. Many times, we feel conviction in our hearts, we make statements about what should be done, and then we get distracted. However, only hearing and agreeing about what to do without actually doing it is self-deception and does not lead to constructive change.
Response: The WCS Board and Administration Team will continue to find ways to pursue shalom in our community, including seeking representation in all levels of influence in our school that better reflect the ethnic makeup of our school family.
Conclusion: Our Foundation is the Gospel of Christ
In all our responses, we will keep as our ultimate foundation the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which alone is the answer to every sin problem in our culture. The Gospel of Christ is clear: in God's measure of the worth of humanity, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ" (Galatians 3:28). Christ is the only one who can heal the wounds between people groups and individuals and He alone can bring shalom to our human experience. As we pursue the ideal of Galatians 3:28 in our school community and the broader culture, we believe that God will meet our efforts with His limitless grace, and real shalom will occur.
Family Resources for a Biblical Perspective on Racism:
- A Christian Response to Racism - Podcast with Senator Tim Scott from Focus on the Family
- Biblical and Scientific Refutations of the Concept of Different Races - Answers in Genesis
- Race and the Christian, a Series - John Piper, Tim Keller, and Anthony Bradley
- Dr. Tony Evans' Statement on Racism and the Church's Responsibility to Lead the Way to Wholeness
- A Time to Listen and Lead: Developing a Biblical Response to Racism - Statement from the Association of Christian Schools International, WCS's Accrediting Agency
- Juneteenth (the forgotten day) - a resource from AXIS that includes other links to material that can help you discuss racism with your family
