School, in our modern world, is compulsory. It is not something that one can opt out of. As a society we have decided that education is a right, and as a result have created an economy that leaves the unschooled nearly helpless. This focus on education is a very good thing. Of course I have my qualms about the current education system, but I do believe we are doing a fairly good job educating our children. The levels to which we are able to guide our students are really remarkable. Anyone that has attempted to learn a new language should appreciate how effortlessly the majority of us read, write, and speak in English. It is amazing that we can progress from counting to 100 (a pretty daunting task) to solving physics problems. Our miraculous minds are one thing that sets us apart as humans; we should certainly steward and develop them.
This--stewardship and development--are where I believe we must focus. Too often the education discussion revolves around us getting smart so that we can get rich so that we can beat the Chinese, the Europeans, the Indians or anyone else that may outdo us. Anytime the goal is to get rich I believe we are getting out of focus. Rather than focus on the riches that are the possible fruit of well educated minds, I believe we should focus on how education is about stewardship of the total person.
The idea of stewardship rests on the fact that we are managing something that is not our own. Our minds, bodies, and souls are not something to be used however we please, but are, rather, gifts that we are to fully develop and manage. Everything we have, after all, is a gift from God. Only a doofus could really call themselves self-made. Ask such a person to go try and build a person out of raw chemicals. We are truly not our own.
God has given us the free will to use our gifts in many different ways--some bad and some good. A chief purpose of education should be guiding a student into using his gifts in ways that are good.
Stewarding our gifts is an infinitely complex endeavor. Figuring out how to use one’s gifts is a lifelong endeavor, but school is where it starts. In developing these gifts, I believe school should focus on 2 primary objectives.
The first priority, in stewarding the mind, must be the learning of truth. What one believes to be true completely determines the decisions that person makes. If I believe the floor in front of me will hold me, I will step on it. If I believe I can walk on air, then I may just step off the edge of the Grand Canyon; in this case believing a lie would be fatal. Likewise, if I believe 2+2=5, I will perpetually be awful at finances. If I believe myself to be superior to most everyone, I will treat those people with contempt.
In contrast, if I thoroughly understand the laws of physics, I can build great structures and machines. If I understand mathematics, then I can manage budgets and traffic flow with ease and grace. If I know that God created everyone in His image, then I am 1) secure in myself and 2) more prone to treat everyone with respect and kindness. A student must learn truth, not to get rich, but to live a fruitful life of stewardship.
All truth is truly God’s truth. In his letter to the church at Colossae in appoximately 60 AD, Paul wrote, “For by him (Christ) all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17 ESV; parentheses and italics added) Jesus Christ created all and continues to sustain all. There is absolutely nothing that is outside of His domain. He is the God of Chinese, African, and American history. He is the God of astronomy, biology, and physics. He is the God of mathematics, computer science, and engineering. He is the God of absolutely everything created, both “visible and invisible.” He is not a petty God and as we understand the world in a more complete form, we are seeing it more and more as God sees it.
Abraham Kuyper, a theologian and former Dutch prime minister who served and lived in the 1800s and early 1900s is credited with saying, “There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, ‘This is mine! This belongs to me!’” Wow. There is gravity in this truth. The place at which you are sitting, standing, or lying is Christ’s real estate. The computer with which I am writing is ingeniously designed by man, but the raw materials with which it was crafted are a gift from God. Not only are the space we occupy and the tools we use ultimately God’s but so are we. All truth is truly God’s truth. And our minds are not a toy to be played around with but a gift to be stewarded.
The second among many objectives that education should seek to accomplish is preparing the student to serve the world. This is a very Christian concept. Jesus did not come “to be served, but to serve.” (Matthew 20:28). However, we--people and particularly Christians-- tend to have a small view of what service is. Ask a Christian if they are involved in service and you may hear about her service in the church nursery or the recent mission trip she went on. You will probably not hear about her job or all the things she does for her family. However, these are the places that she spends most of her time serving.
In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus is approaching the end of His life and tells of the judgment that will happen in the future--at this time He will separate the sheep from the goats. He describes how the sheep will be the ones that served Him by serving others. They fed, clothed, and sheltered people. The goats are the ones that refused to serve Him because they refused to serve those that had needs.
This passage is sobering as we are called to see Christ in people that are the most desperate. Staring in the face of this passage can cause a faithful Christian to live a life of incredible service, but I am not sure we always realize the complexity of serving the needs of others. How could we serve those who are hungry if no one knew how to grow any food? How could we give water to the thirsty if we did not understand how to locate, transport, and purify water? How could we shelter anyone if we did not know how to build shelters? I hope you get the point.
If we do not invest in learning trades and skills, we will not be maximizing our service potential. One may observe that multinational corporations have done as much to serve the needs of the poor as probably anyone, because they are so good at what they do. Hopefully they are doing business out of a desire to serve, but regardless, they are delivering food, shelter, and clothing to people through their immense knowledge and tremendous efficiency. A God-pleasing education system prepares the students to serve the world with great skills.
An education system that is bent on competition and preparing people to pursue lucrative professions is, I believe, missing the mark. Granted, the more lucrative professions are often more lucrative because they are providing great service, but the riches must be a fruit of the labor not the objective itself. If we are to please God with our education, students will seek truth and pursue skills that will prepare them to serve the greater good, teachers and administrators will guide the students along this path, and policy makers will shape policy that supports the learning of truth and the acquisition and application of skills that create a society of service and good will. As Christians occupy the space and time this side of heaven, we are to steward our minds, bodies, and souls, filling them with truth and equipping them to serve others in ways big and small.
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