Impacting The Culture For Christ

By WCS Headmaster Dr. Roger Erdvig

Most Christian schools include some version of "impacting the culture for Christ" in their mission statements. But very few define what that means, and even fewer seem to specifically plan for how they will actually equip their students to do so. 

WCS has adopted a set of four key questions that help guide our efforts at helping our students apply a Biblical worldview-- questions that flesh out what it means to impact the culture. These questions are adapted from Restoring All Things: God's Audacious Plan to Change the World Through Everyday People, by John Stonestreet and Warren Cole Smith. (Buy it here on Amazon.)

​1) What is good in our community that we can cultivate? In this question, we're looking for what's already good in our community and considering how we can improve it. Whether it's perfecting a piece of music for a concert or re-writing several drafts of a persuasive paper to make it "pop," students are encouraged to take what's good, and make it better.

2) What is missing that we can create? Throughout history, Christians have seen gaps in the culture and filled those gaps with good things. Think beautiful and functional buildings, works of art, and scientific advancements. Wherever there has been progress and cultural advancement, Christians have been working to create good things for human flourishing, to the Glory of God.

3) What is broken that we can cure? Truth is, even with all the good around us we live in a culture that is pervasively marred by the fall of man, and so things are not the way they ought to be. Christians are on the front lines of fixing what's broken, from broken political systems and families to broken bodies and hearts. 

4) What is evil that we can curb? Alongside profound brokenness in our culture, evil abounds. Our students can curb evil and do what's right now, and not just when they're adults. This past year in our Upper School we had a major focus on the issues surrounding abortion, one of our nation's great evils. Using this question as a guide, our students were equipped to understand the arguments for and against taking the life of a baby and to take action by adding their voices to the growing chorus that is speaking on behalf of those who can't speak for themselves.

We're committed to considering these questions as we help our students understand how to put their faith into action and to change the culture in positive ways. From the culture of the classrooms and hallways at WCS to the culture in their hometowns and beyond, WCS students are exerting a positive, Godly shaping influence.
 
We envision Godly young influencers from WCS having meaningful impact as they live out the answers to these four questions.