Biblical Worldview Integration, Part 2

By Heather Nerem, DMC Head of Academics

At Des Moines Christian, we are committed to providing a Christian Community Education to our children and families. By this, we mean we strive to continually grow in cultivating the environment, relationships, instruction, experiences, policies, and procedures in which the Holy Spirit has the greatest freedom to nurture the soul of each student so that their minds and thoughts, as well as their passions and identity, are anchored in the truth and love of God and His word, equipping them to have a lifelong  impact on the world for Christ as whole, fully-developed disciples. (
Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-33; Luke 10:27-28)

With this commitment at the forefront, we have invested in a long-range professional development plan that equips and nurtures our teachers in Biblical Worldview Integration. Biblical worldview integration in its simplest form is bringing God’s story into all content areas, not solely Bible class or chapel. In other words, we are helping children view the world God’s way. The framework to help students begin to filter the world through God’s lens is called CBRR: Creation, Brokenness, Redemption and Restoration. 

We have partnered with Brandon Smeltzer from Undefeated Growth for the past two years to help us provide this rich and meaningful professional learning. While he has worked with Christian schools across the country, Mr. Smeltzer’s desire is to have a deep partnership with a few Christian schools over time versus several schools for a short time-frame. We are blessed that we will be able to continue this partnership into the 24-25 school year and beyond. Brandon recently shared with me, “The momentum for Biblical Worldview with your teachers is strong right now, and we see the first good fruits from our sowing. My target is always lasting fruit.” It has been exciting to see the learning from professional development be quickly and directly implemented into teacher’s classrooms to impact student learning.

Kaitlyn DeWild, 9th Grade English Teacher, shared with the staff during our January professional development days how learning of CBRR has impacted both her personal life and the teaching and learning in her classroom.

Kaitlyn said, “CBRR is the most impactful worldview tool I have encountered.  It applies to all content areas, discussion topics, ages, and life situations.  It provides me with language to talk about difficult subjects in the classroom from weighty literature passages to discipline conversations.  It allows us a way to see the and-ness of the world.  Students learn that all of life can be seen in God's story, including their personal stories.  We seek what was created good -- even if it may be only an intention, desire, or motivation.  Then, we are able to look at how brokenness impacts an issue, which leads us to realize that sometimes even if a person acts in brokenness, they might have been acting on a good desire.  We look for moments of redemption amidst a world filled with tension.  We also are able to name what restoration could look like with a given topic after Jesus comes again.  Being able to use common language over a period of time results in a strong understanding of God's story, and before long, students are using that same language as they analyze texts, explain why they're angry with a friend, and process their hardest life moments.  I have noticed deeper interactions, learning, and heart conversations because of CBRR.  The CBRR framework allows me to give what I consider the greatest gift to our students:  the understanding of God's story and how to see everything in life through that lens.”

Hear not only what our teachers are saying but our students!

“When we talk about CBRR it helps me start to put CBRR as my view on everything and start seeing things through that perspective.”

“I like that many of the assignments (especially CBRR ones) are very helpful in making my brain think more outside the box.”

“It can be hard to find elements of God’s story in things, but if people just really take a moment to think, everything connects back to God.”

“Though conflict is a sign of brokenness in our world it can bring people closer to God because they need a light in a broken world. In the fight, the chaos, and the evil God's light has never dimmed; it’s only gotten brighter. Also, conflict could help us learn from our mistakes and do hard things. In the end, all conflict and sin will be resolved through restoration, and all sin is forgiven through Jesus."

As we continue our laser-like focus on Biblical Worldview Integration, I would ask that our community in Christ would pray for our teachers to have clarity, conviction, courage, and creativity in their curriculum and instruction as they intentionally and faithfully put CBRR into practice. Please also pray for what only God can do. Pray the Holy Spirit nurtures the soul of each student so that their minds and thoughts, as well as their passions and identity, are anchored in the truth and love of God and His word, equipping them to have a lifelong impact on the world for Christ as whole, fully-developed disciples.