Higher Education is Dangerous
The pastor told me, "Some of the people I trust most have discouraged me from taking graduate classes. They say, 'What's the point of education? Aren't you supposed to depend on the Holy Spirit for help with preaching the Word?'" They're not wrong--education can be dangerous.
Pride is one of the primary dangers in the pursuit of knowledge. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that knowledge puffs up, while love builds up (1 Cor. 8:1). "Puffing up" yields a deceptive appearance of growth, while "building up" is authentic growth. The Corinthians were taking pride in their knowledge that idols are just powerless material, and while Paul agrees (1 Cor. 8:4-6), he also puts their strutting knowledge in perspective (1 Cor. 8:2): they don't know anything yet like they ought to, because they are using their knowledge to sin against others
(1 Cor. 8:7, 12).
If education did always leads to pride, then we would have to avoid education. But I don't think education necessarily does, though the temptation is there. In fact, education can help you love better. Paul prayed for fellow Christians that their love would increase in knowledge of God (Phil. 1:9-11; Col. 1:9-10), and the result is that they would know how to live in a way that brought glory and praise to God. To follow Jesus, we have to be learners (Matt. 11:29).
Of course, formal education (like a graduate class) isn't the way God wants all of us to learn. But all learning, formal or not, is a tool we can use to improve our ability to love others. The same tool can be used to sin against others and against Christ (1 Cor. 8:12 again). What determines whether learning is prideful or loving, puffing or building?
What you do with it.
The tool has a lot of potential, whether it's used to sin against someone or build them up.
Do you respond to that potential by not picking up the tool, neither harming nor helping? Or do you take the risk and pick up the tool? Do you open yourself up for the Spirit to help you become a more effective planter, waterer or harvester?
It's not the right tool for everyone. But is it the right tool for you?
Pride is one of the primary dangers in the pursuit of knowledge. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that knowledge puffs up, while love builds up (1 Cor. 8:1). "Puffing up" yields a deceptive appearance of growth, while "building up" is authentic growth. The Corinthians were taking pride in their knowledge that idols are just powerless material, and while Paul agrees (1 Cor. 8:4-6), he also puts their strutting knowledge in perspective (1 Cor. 8:2): they don't know anything yet like they ought to, because they are using their knowledge to sin against others(1 Cor. 8:7, 12).
If education did always leads to pride, then we would have to avoid education. But I don't think education necessarily does, though the temptation is there. In fact, education can help you love better. Paul prayed for fellow Christians that their love would increase in knowledge of God (Phil. 1:9-11; Col. 1:9-10), and the result is that they would know how to live in a way that brought glory and praise to God. To follow Jesus, we have to be learners (Matt. 11:29).
Of course, formal education (like a graduate class) isn't the way God wants all of us to learn. But all learning, formal or not, is a tool we can use to improve our ability to love others. The same tool can be used to sin against others and against Christ (1 Cor. 8:12 again). What determines whether learning is prideful or loving, puffing or building?
What you do with it.
The tool has a lot of potential, whether it's used to sin against someone or build them up.
Do you respond to that potential by not picking up the tool, neither harming nor helping? Or do you take the risk and pick up the tool? Do you open yourself up for the Spirit to help you become a more effective planter, waterer or harvester?
It's not the right tool for everyone. But is it the right tool for you?
--
Dallas Willard's Allure of Gentleness has been jogging my mind along these lines recently. Read it for free on Hoopla if you have a public library card.
Comments
Post a Comment