Teaching Christianly: Ryan Dykstra, HS English

What does it mean to ‘Teach Christianly’? Instead of telling you we teach Christianly at Eastern Christian School, we wanted to show it through the testimonies of some of our teachers. This is the first blog in a series that will take a specific look at the biblical integration happening in every subject and on every campus.

Ryan Dykstra, High School English

When a student steps into my classroom, I hope that they are hearing biblical truths about how God has called us to live. We are supposed to live and strive for righteousness, and God has been clear about how we should do that. We find these commands to be constantly under attack from our secular culture and these attacks infiltrate everything: history, literature, math, art, and even biblical studies. So in my area, I seek to dispel these half-truths and lies from our culture, and reemphasize and argue for the enduring truths of God’s word. 

In A Christmas Carol, we discuss what the biblical basis for accumulating wealth is. Not, as the world tells us, for flashy cars and social status, but for providing for our families, our community, and as one of many tools for advancing God’s kingdom. We use money to serve God; we do not use our lives to serve money, as Scrooge learns through his supernatural journey.