School Philosophy

Giftedness

How do I develop and use the gifts God has given me?

Beneath a sign reading "School for the Gifted," a young boy frantically pushes against a door clearly marked "Pull." Thus did cartoonist Gary Larson gently mock our culture's preoccupation with the idea of the gifted child.

From a Christian point of view, our culture's idea of giftedness is both too narrow and too focused on ourselves. We tend to value those abilities that can gain us some advantage over others. So we place a premium on athletic skills, because they help to make winners. We encourage academic skills because they can lead to better grades, admission to a higher-ranking college, and greater earning power.

The biblical concept of giftedness is both broader and more inclusive. One of the great discoveries of the Protestant Reformation was the dignity and value of the work of ordinary people. Rembrandt van Rijn, the famous Dutch portrait painter who was motivated by the spirit of Reformation, brought that idea into his art. Prior to his time, portraits were painted only of members of the nobility and of the saints and martyrs. In perhaps his most famous painting, "The Night Watchman," Rembrandt portrayed an ordinary man doing an ordinary job, and thought the subject worthy of his brush. It was in this same era that John Calvin reminded the dairy farmers in his congregation that tending the cows was a sacred calling. "Remember," he told them, "every morning, God milks his cows through you."

The biblical idea of giftedness is also more inclusive because it is focused less on us as separate individuals and more on us as members of a community of believers. The Apostle Paul's famous analogy about the various parts of the body emphasizes that none of us has everything he or she needs, and that the most humble of us contributes to the life of the body. "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you!' On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor." (1 Cor. 12:21-23)

The forthcoming book Second Sight, about the philosophy and mission of BCS, has this to say: "Traditionally, schools have emphasized logical, analytical gifts, and honored those who have those gifts abundantly above all others. At Bellevue Christian School, we believe that in order to honor the richness of the meaning of the image of God, we must value and recognize also gifts of physical skill, artistic creativity, social interaction, and the many other aspects that express the richness and diversity of creation."

The concept of giftedness is fundamental to the task of the Christian school. Every child is called into God's service, whether or not the child responds to that call. Furthermore, each person is uniquely gifted to be able to fulfill that calling. One of our principal tasks as a school is to help children unwrap those gifts. And one of our principal challenges is to find ways of recognizing and encouraging gifts that may not be rewarded by the culture in which we live.

We especially want to encourage gifts that enhance the life of the body of Christ. As this is being written, final plans are being made for the high school service project day on May 3. It is a small but important step toward the discovery of the gift of giving, toward the understanding that God has not gifted us to serve ourselves but to serve others.