Barrett Mosbacker

Editor’s Note: Matthews’ Covenant Day School has a reputation for academic excellence as well as for being rigorous in terms of helping students develop a biblical worldview. The school’s headmaster, Barrett Mosbacker, now regularly consults with other schools and churches to help them develop the same kind of school that has been so successful here. We recently sat down with Mosbacker to discuss Covenant Day School, the purpose of Christian education, why developing a biblical worldview is of such importance in recovering the culture for the kingdom of God.

Warren Smith: Covenant Day School has earned a reputation for being both academically excellent as well as rigorous in terms of helping students develop a biblical worldview. How did Covenant Day School earn this reputation? What do you think is unique about the school?

Barrett Mosbacker: Well, the Lord has bless beyond what we would have thought even a couple of years ago. We are K-9 now with a little over 620 students. We’ve just approved the establishment of a high school. We anticipate the high school being in place very soon.

As for what makes the school unique, I think it is a genuine, authentic, and passionate commitment to excellence both at the intellectual level and at the spiritual level. We are passionate that we will not ask parents to make a choice between the academic preparation of children or the spiritual nurturing of the children.

In too many instances Christian parents feel as though they have to make a compromise. They can find educational institutions that are going to do a great job academically, but are mediocre or are even undermining Christian theology and Christian character. Or they’ll find schools where they will talk about Christian character development, but they feel as though they are compromising on the academic front. We’re committed not to compromise on either one of those. We will be at the cutting edge, the high end, on both, Lord willing.

WS: Well, it sounds as though everyone would be passionately committed to what you’re saying. Who wouldn’t want excellence in spiritual matters and excellence in academic matters? Is it your classical curriculum that makes the difference?

BM: No, it’s not really a classical curriculum. It has elements of a classical curriculum but also elements of very contemporary teaching techniques as well. We are not a classical school. The model we like to use is this: learn and borrow from the past, and prepare for the future. So to classify us as classical would not be quite accurate. But neither are we merely avant garde. We are classical in the sense that we have a heavy emphasis on classical literature. We are classical in the sense that we use the paidea program, which incorporates Socratic dialogue in the classroom. We’re classical in our emphasis on languages, such as five years of French instruction and three years of required Latin instruction. I’m reviewing a logic curriculum. We plan on teaching formal and traditional logic in the classrooms.

So in that sense it mirrors some classical traditions. But, on the other hand, we have cooperative group learning, a laptop program in the classrooms, very contemporary teaching techniques which combine phonics as well as whole language or literature based learning.

It is both of those elements we hope brought together in an informed Christian manner.

WS: In your consulting with other schools are you finding that the leadership of other schools is interested in this approach or is Covenant Day School unique?

BM: I don’t want to speak too highly of ourselves. But I think many are genuinely committed to the idea of what I’m articulating, but they don’t know how to get there. There are not many models in place, examples to imitate. So they tend to move toward more traditional models of education. More of a 50s structural approach to education, assuming that that must have been the model, rather than being self-conscious and intentional about it.

However, when we explain our process for curriculum selection, when we explain the rationale behind what we are doing, many of them will adopt these methods.

WS: You talk about a Biblical worldview a great deal. Do you view the development of a biblical worldview as central, or one of the central ideas, in your process?

BM: Developing a biblical worldview is central. The question is: What really is a biblical worldview? Both as it touches on the institution itself – what type of school are you creating – as well as what you’re teaching students. Those are two separate but interrelated components.

For example, I think it is consistent with a biblical worldview that Christians establish schools that become models of education and lead in areas of education in the secular as well as in the Christian community. It’s not just that Covenant Day School should be a leader in Christian education. Covenant Day School, for the glory of Christ and the advancement of His kingdom, would be a leader in education, period.

The Christian community has a history of having led in the development of hospitals and educational institutions, but in the last forty or fifty years we have surrendered that leadership to others. So part of it is regaining that leadership.

More specifically, it is teaching students that all truth is God’s truth. That means mathematics truth, engineering truth, legal truth, medical truth, literary truth, biblical truth. All truth comes ultimately from God, and he gives it to us in two ways. Natural revelation, which includes human experience, history, consciousness, and human rationality. And special revelation, specifically through the Scriptures. This is controversial, but one is not superior to the other. If it is true, and it comes from the mind of God, it is equally true and has equal value.

So if I learn something through scientific inquiry about the nature of weather or the cell – the genome project, for example – to the extent that it reflects truly the nature of reality, that is just as true and just as sacred a truth as if I turned to the Gospel of Matthew and read a parable of Jesus. They both come from the same God, the same mind of God. It’s true.

Therefore, what we are trying to teach students is that as Christians their minds, their lives, their character, everything they do is to encompass all of creation and all of learning in such a way that they bring all of those activities and all of those thoughts under the lordship and sovereignty of Jesus Christ in order to serve Christ, whether they serve him in the business office, building a home, at the university, in the halls of congress, wherever it might be. Serving Christ in all of those arenas, and their acquisition of wisdom and knowledge comes from all these arenas.

What they have to do is learn to filter all that information through the scriptures, through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and attempt to discern truth.

I will say this, too. Christians sometimes, as a reaction against the pervasive relativism in our culture, almost feel compelled to assume that everything is black and white. It is easy to say that "this is true" and "this is false." But that’s not accurate. For one thing, God has not revealed everything to us. For another, He is infinite and all-knowing. Our minds are finite.

So there are some things that are very clearly revealed to us through nature as well as through the scriptures. Things that we can say, "This is right and this is wrong." There are other areas in which we need to say, "We don’t know the right answers." The third category that Paul discusses is the matter of Christian liberty. Some things may be right for one Christian but may not be right for another Christian. Our students need to be told about all three of these possibilities.

And, they need to be told that Christians get it wrong sometimes. That’s where humility comes in. I can learn from the unbeliever; I can learn from the believer. Hopefully they can learn from me. The key is to use the scriptures as your ultimate standard for judging the validity of truth statements that you are claiming to make.

WS: That’s a pretty powerful statement of the rationale and philosophy of Christian education. Now, though, I’m going to ask you something that you are going to hate. Reduce that to 25 words or less. What is the essential purpose of Christian education?

BM: The purpose of Christian education is to glorify our Lord by doing two things: teaching our children to think biblically about all of reality, and nurturing their Christian character so that they become, increasingly, partakers of the divine nature. The become increasingly Christ-like. Again, for God’s glory and the advancement of His kingdom here on the earth.

WS: From time to time I have heard you say that you are not opposed to the public schools. That public schools and private Christian schools can co-exist.

BM: Yes. There is a place for public schools.

WS: If that is the purpose of education…

BM: That is the purpose of a Christian education.

WS: Well, shouldn’t all children have a Christian education?

BM: Yes, but parents are responsible for the education of their children. Here’s where I come down on this issue….

WS: Well, let me tell me where I’m going with these questions. There is a group within the evangelical community that says we should exit the public schools. Exodus 2000 is an example of that movement. What should the Christian mom or dad do? Does it fall into this area of "Christian liberty" that they should let their children go to public schools? Or has the culture gone so far down the slippery slope that it is impossible for Christian parents to send their children to public schools?

BM: First, let me segment that question into two. There is a place for public schools, because you have atheists, secularists, Muslims, Jews. The state needs to provide educational institutions in a pluralistic society that are appropriate for those various folks. That’s a matter of civil liberty in a democratic republic.

Now, moving to the Christian community. I cannot find any scriptural support for the children of believers under the direct, purposeful instruction and tutelage of unbelievers. The only reason parents would do that, unless there’s no other option available, is that they somehow believe that curriculum is neutral. They say, "Math is math. You do the algebraic equation just the same way in the local secular school as in the local Christian school." While that is true insofar as the mechanics of the mathematic formula is concerned, it is not true in terms of the context and the philosophical undergirding of that mathematic formula.

Let me give you an example. My oldest daughter, when she was in the third grade, was given a mastery exam that tests for mastery of subject content, but it is also designed to test for biblical integration mastery. So on the math exam, in the third grade, there were essay questions relating mathematics to God Himself. What is the relationship between the infinity of numbers and God’s infinity? The fact that numbers are infinite must mean that infinity exists. If infinity exists, why? The existence of the infinity of numbers becomes evidence for the existence of God.

What is the relationship between mathematics and God’s commandment to Adam and Eve to exercise dominion and stewardship over all creation. Math is the principle tool for exercising any kind of stewardship or dominion. If we could not do math, there is almost nothing we could do in this arena.

She had to answer these kinds of questions…

WS: As a third grader?

BM: As a third grader, at her level of vocabulary, of course. But those were the concepts.

The point that we want Christian kids to understand is that you can’t divorce your theology from your academic learning. If God created the world, he also created the means by which we can understand it, the logic of math. So if I learn math, I’m doing it as a creature of God and I’m reflecting His glory in doing mathematics. That has implications for the way I do math in my career, my calling.

You can multiply that across everything a student studies. Parents make the mistake of assuming that education can be neutral. Most of the time they are concerned that they don’t want their children learning about condoms in school. Well, that’s an issue, but that’s not at the core of what Christian education is about. We are not about having kids escape the public school system because of what is wrong with the public schools. We want them involved in Christian education because of what we are proactively, positively trying to do in the shaping of their minds.

Let me put it this way. There are millions of professing Christians in our culture, and we are losing our culture. To put it bluntly, and perhaps more crudely that I should, I think the culture is going to hell in a handbasket. There are multiple reasons. But one of the main reasons is that we have Christians who are sincere believers, who have Christian hearts. They love the Lord, and they want to serve the Lord. They are striving against their own sinfulness to live holy and righteous lives. But they have a secular mind. Because they have secular minds, they vote, live, and work essentially as a secularist – just more morally, perhaps.

The consequence is that they can’t change the culture because their concept of economics, their concept of government, their concept of law, their concept of medical ethics, is really not a whole lot different than a moderate or conservative secularist. Christians are not automatically conservative Republicans, or moderates, or libertarians, or liberal Democrats. They should be Christians. That means they will find themselves in agreement sometimes with the liberal, sometimes with the liberal, sometimes with the libertarian. Lord forbid, sometimes even with the Green Party, perhaps!

The point is what is biblical, not what is conservative or what is related to a particular party. That is what we’re trying to do, to equip kids to change the world for God’s glory.

WS: Since you brought up some hot political issues, I’d like for you to say a few words about vouchers and tax credits. A lot of Christians have said that we need school choice, and the way to break the back of the government monopoly in education is through vouchers. Those who are apprehensive about government control say that tax credits would be less dangerous.

BM: The highest value of any independent school is their independence. Their ability to fulfill their mission without government entanglement. Historically, any time you take federal assistance of any sort, it inevitably – if not immediately – leads to obligations and regulations.

Once you take governmental money, you will henceforth be beholden in some degree to those funds. Once you take them, you become dependent, financially and operationally, on those funds. So that if regulation does follow, it is very difficult to say, "I am no longer going to take the money." You become enslaved to the money.

Now, I am somewhat heartened the recent Supreme Court decision that it is constitutional for government funds to go to parochial schools for technology purposes. That is probably setting the precedent for a favorable court ruling on vouchers. The hope is that if the vouchers are given directly to parents and not to the institution, then the institution is being shielded from the involvement of the government, just as most institutions have not been encumbered by the G. I. Bill.

If that is the case, I’d be more favorable toward vouchers, but I’d want a lot more legal opinion on our side saying that we’re probably going to be safe and not lose our independence. I’d rather be poorer and independent than richer and enslaved.

WS: To go back to a comment you made earlier: some surveys say there are more professing Christians today in the United States than at any time in our history, and yet things aren’t getting better. Can you reconcile these paradoxical observations?

BM: Cheap grace.

I think we have a lot of people professing to be believers who are really not believers. There has not been genuine life change, repentance, a real change of heart and minds. The difference between the professing Christian and the unprofessing individual is minimal. It’s cheap when you can walk an aisle, claim to be a Christian, become a member immediately of a local church, and nothing ever changes. That person is probably not a believer.

But even those who are true believers, who have not had their minds trained, then every decision they make, whether on the job or in the voting booth, can be an unbiblical decision. Not consciously so. They don’t intend for it to be, but it is because they have not been taught to think otherwise. They don’t know any better. You don’t know that you don’t have a biblical worldview until you have been exposed to a biblical worldview.

WS: Joel Belz said that the way to identify a crooked stick is to lay a straight stick next to it.

BM: Exactly. That’s it.

WS: How can Christians recover our leadership in education?

BM: First, it is going to take an intervention by God and His spirit. Even with the growing Christian school movement, I am personally convinced that the ultimate place for reformation and revival – which is really what we’re talking about – must first occur in the pulpits. Without that, even the best of school movements is not going to produce the kinds of systemic changes that we’re talking about.

I would lovingly say that our pastors are failing us. They have not grasped the implications of true Christian education, universally applied. They’re not preaching it from the pulpits. They’re afraid of it. They’re afraid they’ll offend someone in their congregations.

Now, I’m not suggesting that it is sinful for a Christian parent to have their kids in the public school system. But I would come very close to that. The reason I don’t say it’s sinful is that Lord has not commanded anything of us that circumstances could prevent us from obeying. So, for example, if I am in a community where there is no Christian school, then obviously I don’t have that option unless I start one, or I home school. Or perhaps I’m in the military and I’m stationed in a place where Christian schools are not an option. I don’t believe that believer is sinning.

I do think that that believer is morally and biblically obligated to have their children under Christian education, though perhaps not in a Christian school.

A second way we can recover our leadership is for Christians to make sacrifices. Many Christians say they can’t afford Christian schools. Well, don’t buy the newest cars, the biggest house they can afford. Don’t go so heavily into debt. Don’t depend on a second income to support a lifestyle. That involves sacrifice, which is not popular in our culture, and not popular in the Christian culture. Only about 4% of evangelical Christians even bother to tithe. That’s a travesty, and it’s so clearly stated in scripture.

We do everything we can to make our school accessible to as many families as possible. But what we won’t do is subsidize tuition on the backs of faculty by paying them a pauper’s wage. One, it’s not ethical to do that. It’s not biblical to do that. It also injures the children. You end up with high staff turnover. Less experienced, less degreed, less knowledgeable teachers. You end up choosing your third option rather than your best option.

WS: Where do you see Christian education going over the next five to ten years?

BM: It’s growing very rapidly in terms of numbers, but what I’m most encouraged by is that it is maturing as a movement. We’ve gotten past the stage where we are merely a reaction against the public system. Past the infant stage of wondering if we can do it. We now know that we can produce a superior product academically. Now it’s a matter of getting that capability spread out more pervasively throughout the Christian school movement.

We’re still behind on the technological front, which is one of my passions, but overall there have been big changes.

I would encourage parents to make no assumptions about education. If they are really concerned about their children’s education they should at least pray about and visit Christian schools. Don’t say, "What am I willing to put up with?" Say instead, "If I had the ideal, what would I want in my child’s education?"