Ronald Reagan once said that freedom is “never more than one generation away from extinction.” This is why it is critical to invest in the next generation, so that they understand our government and can engage in civics in a meaningful way. It is even more important, though, that they have a Biblical worldview, and can effectively apply it to the world around them.

This week on Family Policy Matters, host Traci DeVette Griggs welcomes Steve Noble, former radio show host and founder of Noble U, to discuss how God led him to teach high school students across the country and equip them to “think and respond Biblically.”

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Family Policy Matters
Noble U: Equipping the Next Generation (with Steve Noble)

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Thanks for joining us this week for Family Policy Matters. In our show today, we’re talking with a man who I’ve known for many, many years. Many of you may know him as well, as he’s been an outspoken conservative activist and radio show host for many years. Today’s story is not only about Steve Noble’s newest venture, Noble U, but about the metamorphosis of a person determined to influence the culture and the next generation for good. Here’s hoping Steve’s story will influence a few of us to pick up the mantle in some creative way that God has been prompting us to do for way too long. Steve Noble is founder of Noble U, and hosted the Steve Noble Show from 2007 to 2023. Steve believes that grounding students in God’s truth is the best way to prepare them to critically yet graciously interact with a culture that’s increasingly hostile to Christian concepts and values. Steve Noble, welcome to Family Policy Matters. Well, let’s start with your newest venture. What is Noble U and why did you think this was an important direction for you to go?

STEVE NOBLE: Noble U was, actually the name itself we had to brand back in 2022 because I actually started teaching back in 2012. It was my wife and one other homeschool mom that thought, because of all my political activism, that I would be a good person to teach a civics class. And so, teaching, really, in this format was not my idea in the first place. Obviously, God was orchestrating events. And so that goes back to 2012, but as we kind of can max out how many students I can teach here locally in the Raleigh Durham area of North Carolina, the question becomes, how do you grow outside of that? And of course, online education is pretty normal these days, and so we knew that the key to growth was going to be online. But to go online, now you have to have more of a formal presence, as opposed to just hey, a lot of local people in the homeschool community know who Steve Noble is, because the radio show and activism to go outside of that. We needed a brand, and that’s what gave birth to Noble U, so that we could go online, start offering the classes online. And you mentioned North Carolina, and all my in-person students are in North Carolina. My online students now, I have over 100 of those at this point, go all the way out to California. So, it’s been really cool to kind of see those doors open and getting involved in different things. So just excited to bring these important topics to high school age homeschoolers and others across the country. And Noble U allows me to do that.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: All right. Well, tell us about the courses.

STEVE NOBLE: The first one was civics. Again, that was kind of a no brainer with all my political activism. At the same time, I started working on my master’s degree in Christian Ethics at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and once I finished that, then I added that class. That’s definitely the deep end of the pool. Even my slides are straight out of my classes that I took. So, I tell my high school students and their parents, I’m like, Listen, this isn’t a high school class. It’s a master’s level class. It’s the deep end of the pool. It’s stuff that most of these high schoolers and a lot of their parents have never really been exposed to or been taught, not just theology and worldview, but then the application of those things to the hot button issues the day. So that was Christian ethics that started about six years ago, I think. And then four years ago, I added US history, and then two years ago, I added world history. And so now I have those four subjects, civics, Christian ethics, US history and world history that I offer.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Tell us why the way that you’re teaching it is something that should make us excited.

STEVE NOBLE: There’s only 10 states in the nation that require civics training at the high school level, which is pathetic in the state of our nation and largely derived from politics. There’s just so much ignorance out there, Traci, it’s really amazing what my students and a lot of adults. If you ever watch those man on the street interviews, and of course, they pick the worst ones. But my engagement with high schoolers over the last 12 years, over 1200-1300 of them at this point, most of them have next to no civic education, and as you start to unpack that, it’s amazing how much they don’t know, and an ignorant population is easily manipulated and lead astray, oftentimes. How do you know something’s wrong if you don’t even know what the right form is supposed to be? So, civics, as opposed to just a course on constitution, civics is like an application driven course on the Constitution. It’s not only how did we get there, the underpinnings of the worldview and the political philosophy of the founding fathers, but what is this document? What is it supposed to lay out? How does it operate? And then, how’s it doing today? Where are we still on track with the US Constitution? Where are we off? So, civics is super important, because most people hear the news, they watch the news. They don’t necessarily have a very deep background, sadly, at all. And understanding, does this actually equate in any way to the American experiment, the way the Founding Fathers set it up? And so, students come in oftentimes on the first day of class, Traci, I’ll ask them, How many of you are here because your parents made you take this class? There’s some uncomfortable chuckles, and it’s usually about 75% of the class, and I tell them with no small amount of bravado, I said, All right, give me a month, because in a month, I’m pretty comfortable guaranteeing you this is probably going to be your favorite class. Not only do you have a former Christian talk radio show host for a teacher, but somebody that knows what he’s talking about, that’s been swimming in those waters for 20 years now, and so it’s amazing Traci and encouraging to watch them come alive and understand the value of it, which is why I’m always talking about current events and what’s going on in the news, because that brings relevance and currency, both current, like with a T, as well as currency, like money, into the conversation because it starts to make sense to them. They’re like, Oh, I can see this in the real world. Oh, okay, this is actually happening all the way around me. I mean, I told my students in August, this is going to be the wildest presidential election in my lifetime. Sure enough, it was. And I told them, no matter who wins, and this is the best year of all 12 years to take civics, because the news is the gift that keeps on giving. So, it allows me to contextualize everything and bring it alive.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: So, is this a religious or Christian class, or would you characterize it like that?

STEVE NOBLE: 100% I teach from a biblical Christian perspective. Now I have some atheist students, I have some agnostic students, I’ve had some Mormon students. I’d like to think and there was a time when you would assume that outsiders would not be welcome in my classes. Today, I’m at a point in my walk with the Lord where I love having people that aren’t quite sure where they’re at in their faith. And hey, listen, just because these kids are growing up in conservative home schools doesn’t mean that that’s actually who they are. Many of them know the Lord. They’re actual Christians. Some of them are just floundering around and don’t really know what they believe. I tell them I respect where you’re at. You need to respect where I’m at. I’m a well-developed, mature, well educated, conservative Christian. That’s who I am, and I expect you to respect that, and that’s how I teach. And if you don’t want exposure to that, I understand that. But if you come to my classes, Traci, if you’re an unbeliever or another religion, whatever, I’m going to teach as a Christian, but I’m going to treat you with love and respect and dignity. So, I had one student, just in this past semester, after class was walking out to the car with me, said, Well, we’ll see your story’s not over. And he goes, Well, Mr. Noble, I can tell you this, if I do ever become a Christian, it’s probably going to be because of you. Now I corrected him and said, I appreciate the sentiment, and I know what you’re talking about. From a biblical perspective, it’s not because of me, that will be because God has drawn you to his son and you’ve accepted that, but stuff like that just touches my heart deeply and keeps driving me. So yes, I teach as a conservative Christian, but you don’t have to be one to sit in my classroom and you’re not going to feel unwelcome. You’re going to feel welcome and cared about.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: It strikes me what you said, because here you are speaking and teaching about something that oftentimes is so polarizing people can’t talk about it to people that they disagree with. They lose their opportunity to share their faith many times, and the way they communicate on these issues, but somehow, the way you are communicating with your students, the way you’re teaching this is gracious in such a way that your faith is able to shine through. So, talk a little bit about how you do that.

STEVE NOBLE: A sermon that I heard years ago was talking about, if you’re all truth and no grace, you’re a bully, but if you’re all grace and no truth, you’re a coward. In John chapter one, verse 14, Jesus is said to have been full of grace and truth. It’s both. So, before I was all about the truth, I had no time for grace, and God, in His grace over the last 20 years, has taken those rough edges off. The former president of Family Policy Council, Bill Brooks, in 2004 told me I needed to be like a velvet hammer. And I told him at the time, I said, No, I think I just need to be a hammer. That velvet’s for wimpy people that are afraid to engage, and that’s not me. Years later, in a local Panera, I apologized to him. I saw him there, and I said, Hey, Bill, I owe you an apology. All these years ago. He hardly remembered it, Traci, but I did. I said, and you were right and I was wrong and I was disrespectful. Didn’t respect the fact that you’re older and more wise than I am. And so that was something that stuck with me. So please forgive me, and of course, he did, but that’s what’s happened over the years, is to learn that whether the person on the other side of the conversation in my classroom or the phone sitting at a Starbucks, whatever, is somebody made in the image of God who has inestimable worth, and I have to, and want to, at this point in my life, treat them with decency and respect and graciousness.

I don’t compromise the truth for anybody or anything, but I understand, and winsome is a word that I put it on a post-it note and stuck it on the computer screen in the first five or six years when I started doing radio, because that’s what my dad told me all the time. And he was politically opposed to me. My dad listened to this show just about every day, and always had advice. And I talked too fast, and it was kind of funny, but he always reminded me, Steven, you need to be winsome. And I’m like, yeah, yeah. And then I finally understood and put it on a post-it note, and that’s the thing, I can hold my convictions and be a nice person at the same time. And then one of the things my kids say often, is I understand in this class, Mr. Noble is going to challenge you, but he’s going to respect the fact that you might have a different opinion. Your opinions are welcome, even if they’re not the same as his, and I just don’t put anybody down for that. Before, I used to be about winning the argument. Now I’m about winning the person, and I can do that by being loving and kind and gracious and patient, because that’s what we’re supposed to be. Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have with graciousness and patience and with gentleness and respect. And finally, the Lord’s got me to that point. So that’s how it works in class. I hate the phrase safe spaces, because it reminds me of First Amendment battles on college campuses, but my classroom is one, which is why I think non-Christian students feel just fine in there.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: I did not know that story, so I’m glad you told it. Talk a little bit more about how you read God. So, he’s led you in a lot of different directions. Clearly, he’s changed the way you think about things through the years. Apply that to our listeners. What are some words of advice that you could have for them? Clearly, God has gifts and talents for everyone that’s listening quite different from yours, I’m sure, because yours are unique. But how do we respond when God calls us to be active in some way in influencing the culture around us?

STEVE NOBLE: Traci, it’s a great question. By definition, everybody, to a certain extent, the things that they’re passionate about, the things that they’re good at, the things that they’re good at that they may not even think that they’re good at, all of that’s going to be unique, because every single person is made in the image of God, but you were fearfully and wonderfully made. I think that applies specifically. And so, some people say, Well, Steve, I could never do what you do. Well, guess what friend? God never called you to be Steve Noble, and you should thank him for that. He called you to be exactly who you are. And so that’s one thing that I talk about with my students. I’m like, Listen, I’m telling you, you can make a difference in this world. Don’t think that what he’s done in my life is what needs to happen in your life. So, we’re all, this goes back to Nehemiah’s wall in Nehemiah 2:17. Everybody’s got a place on the wall. The question is, what’s your role on the wall? And you have unique gifts and talents and things that you’re passionate about. That’s what started for me in 2004 was just hearing a sermon by Mark Harris from North Carolina, was a visiting pastor at Bay Leaf Baptist Church, and he gave a blistering sermon during a revival weekend about passivity and told the story of Nehemiah, and the next morning, I put a response card on the altar that said to be more outspoken for God’s truth in the public arena. And three weeks later, God orchestrated me leading a group of 325 of us that walked into the Raleigh city council chambers. And that’s when Called to Action was born. I wasn’t really looking for it. I was just responding to what God put in front of me, and I would offer that challenge to everybody listening to us, Traci.

That there’s certain things you’re passionate about. There’s certain things that really grip your heart and your mind, and you get frustrated, and you’re like, somebody’s got to do something. Okay, if you’ve ever uttered those words, then you’re part of the somebody. And so, you just have to put your yes on the table, and then you have to start looking for ways to do that. And it started very small, little things here, there. And the next thing you know, we’re sitting at the North Carolina Family Policy Council offices. That was our very first organizing meeting. I didn’t know all these people, all these movers and shakers were in there. I was just running my house painting company, my wife’s homeschooling our kids, and we’re minding our own business. But God had a different plan, and I just stepped up to the plate and said, Okay, I don’t know what this looks like, Lord, but you have my yes, and I’m passionate about a lot of different things. And he took my yes and multiplied it, and here we are today.

And I didn’t think about teaching 20 years ago, but Gina, my wife, recently asked me, because I got some great cards and stuff for Christmas break from students and parents. And she goes, Is this the most fulfilling thing you’ve ever done? And I said, absolutely nothing even comes close. Being on the radio at one point 12 different states. Nothing has ever been as fulfilling as being in this classroom with these teenagers. There’s so much potential there. We just have to reach them. And God orchestrated it over the years and gave me a burden for them, and here I am. So that’s just like Isaiah. Here I am, Lord. Send me. What do you want me to do? And pay attention to what you’re passionate about, what breaks your heart.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Very good. Well, we are out of time, so before we go, Steve, give people an idea of where they can go to learn more about Noble U and about the things that you’re doing in addition to that.

STEVE NOBLE: Yeah, super easy. Just go to NobleUSchool.com. that’s a U as in university. NobleUSchool.com and we’re starting to register people for classes in the fall. In person here in the Raleigh area, online no matter where you’re at, but NobleUSchool.com and that’s where you can get all the information. You can reach out to me there. Just thankful for you guys, and you Traci, and all the things that you do at the Family Policy Council.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Steve Noble, thank you for being with us on Family Policy Matters.

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