A recent conversation with a student attending a conservative Christian college caused me to reflect on the intent of my previous article, "Preparing Your Students to Face Global Warming." At the risk of entering into a duplicate discourse laced with further monotony, please allow me to briefly share this conversation and its cause for my reflection.

In our time together, this student spoke of a class in which the professor broached the subject of the legalization of gay marriage. Unlike many secular settings, this professor approached it from her personal biblical worldview and opened it for discussion, assuming there would be minimal debate. Not so.

Two students openly expressed their support for gay marriage. One simply saw it as an "equal rights" issue. The other expressed her personal belief in the authority of the Bible in this regard but did not feel it was right to impose that on others.

It is my understanding that both students were raised in Bible-centered Christian homes. Neither are "wayward" children who have left their faith, but on the contrary, seem to possess sincere desires to serve the Lord in their lives. Both attend chapel services regularly and appear to be living Christian lifestyles.

I realize you are probably wondering how in the world that conversation caused me to reflect on my article on global warming. Simply put, both share one thing in common; they are "agenda" issues. Both issues are being prominently placed before our children on a consistent basis. From TV shows to movies, websites, magazines, and novels, these and many other issues are ever before them, and in most cases, they are presented from one angle, subtly playing upon emotions rather than on rational thinking.

Marriage is clearly defined in the Bible, yet these students obviously succumbed to secular thinking in arriving at their opinions. If their minds were clouded on an issue clearly defined in Scripture, how much more could this occur on an issue such as global warming, which is not specifically addressed in Scripture, but is consistently seen in the media?

I certainly believe many of the purported scientific "facts" about this issue are highly debatable. The falsely stated belief that the Himalayan glaciers would disappear by the year 2035, presented as fact by the UN Council on Climate Change, is but one example. I also believe there are underlying ideological and political issues--agendas--contained in those promoting global warming. In my opinion, these are the extremist views which are most often the ones produced by media.

Global warming aside, the Creation account in the book of Genesis clearly shows God's mandate to man as the steward of His creation. As New Testament believers anticipating the second coming of Christ, I think it is often easy for us to overlook this directive.

As one writer put it: "Stewardship implies caretaking, not abusing. We are to intelligently manage the resources God has given us, using all diligent care to preserve and protect them. However, we should not allow environmentalism to become a form of idolatry, where the 'rights' of an inanimate planet and its non-human creatures are held in higher esteem than God and man created in His image."

So how should global warming or any such controversial issue be addressed in the Christian school arena? I believe the key lies in teaching students to think "Christianly vs. secularly."

In his book The Christian Mind, Harry Blamires put it this way: "To think secularly is to think within a frame of reference bounded by the limits of our life on Earth. To think Christianly is to accept all things with the mind as related, directly or indirectly, to man's eternal destiny as the redeemed and chosen child of God. There is nothing in our experience, however trivial, worldly or even evil, which cannot be thought about Christianly."

"Learning to discern" is another way of expressing the need to think Christianly. This has become a popular phrase among Christians, but not so easily applied. In the book of Hebrews, we are told that the ability to have our "senses exercised to discern between good and evil" is a sign of spiritual maturity.

In a world where information is so vastly and speedily disseminated, teaching students to discern, beginning at an early age, is a necessary task. Doing so is the path to producing mature Christian thinkers, apt at "speaking to the enemies" in the gate (Psalm 127:5).

Roy Faletti
Vice President of Educational Services