Observations On Education

People who know me well know that the decision to go begin seminary was done more out of necessity than out of my deep, longing desire to be enriched by the seminary experience. Don't get me wrong, I don't think seminary or furthering your learning is bad. I'm all for continuous learning, but I agree with what Albert Einstein said, "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." Deep huh? What else would you expect from the theory of relativity guy?

Now I've only been in seminary 1 semester, but I have to say that some of my suspicions have been totally confirmed. One of my concerns with seminary was that I would be instructed in arenas that have little to no bearing on my ministry. So far the two classes that should have tremendous impact on my ministry, Old Testament & New Testament, have spent more than half of the course time focusing on issues like textual criticism, form criticism, etc. While those are valuable pursuits, they are not exactly relevant issues in my ministry experience. I've been serving in church ministry for years & have never once had to fall back on my vast knowledge of scholars like Bultmann, Wrede, & Dodd. I'm not saying these topics should be abandoned; I'm simply saying that they shouldn't consume half of the course. Perhaps actually exploring the scriptures & working on our ability to understand & teach them should be of a little more concern.

Another one of my concerns with seminary & with education in general is that there isn't that much education actually occurring. Our education systems are very good at teaching people what to think, but they are not teaching people how to think. I know; it's easier to simply transfer facts & information, but that doesn't do much to actually develop students. When teachers & professors are more concerned with regurgitated facts than they are with a student who dares to display critical thinking skills, we have a serious problem. Fortunately in my experience with Liberty University this has yet to be the case. I experienced it in college on more than one occasion. If we our schools & universities simply teach students facts rather than teaching students how to learn, then they aren't doing their jobs.

I know there are no simple solutions to the problem with institutional education, but for me the best solution is for people to seek out new learning opportunities on their own. You don't have to pay tuition to learn. You don't have to have diplomas & degrees on your wall to be brilliant. My dad has a saying from his years working around engineers who can't even do basic geometry: "Some people are educated beyond their intelligence." I've learned that this is all too true.

I have lots of friends & family who are in the education world, so I'm sure they'll love this, but I stand by my own observations & experiences. As I've said there are no simple solutions. The best solution is for us to take back our own responsibility to learn & stop relying on a school or a teacher to do it for us. If you want to learn, take it upon yourself. Kids, put down your video games, turn off the laptop & read a book! Parents, invest in the education of your kids. Don't rely on the school, public or private. Real learning & understanding doesn't come simply from acquiring information. It comes from learning how to use it & apply it to a broader context.

Going Home

Well, I'm about to hit the road for awhile. We'll be living out of a suitcase while we head up to Knoxville for Ellen's wedding this weekend & for the Thanksgiving holidays. Along the way we'll be stopping in Chattanooga to hang out for a little bit with Valerie's best friend from high school, Jennifer, who is expecting her first child pretty soon. That will be some good catch up time for both of them.

Then we'll head across the state for the Thanksgiving festivities, & anyone who knows me, knows that the holidays aren't always my favorite time of year because there are too many people who want to see us. However, we'll be in town for awhile, so it won't be our fault if someone doesn't get a piece of our time!

For me a cool time will be getting to speak at my high school Alma Mater, Jackson Christian School. This is the second year in a row that I've had the privilege to speak in chapel there. It's cool to go back there & invest in the place that did so much for me, & since I'm not in the position to invest financially, I'll make this contribution. Hopefully, it will go further than any check I could write to the school. I still haven't zeroed in on what I'll be speaking about. I just wrote a fresh lesson for it, but I have another one ready to go too. One is about wisdom, kind of an expansion of my previous two posts. The other is about relationships. Both are topics teenagers need to get. So if you have an opinion on which talk you think I should give, let it be known.

Now that I've mentioned that we'll be out of town, Valerie will surely be afraid that we'll be robbed while we're gone, so could somebody drive by every once in awhile to make sure the house is still locked down! Just kidding.

...Bad Things Happen

Yesterday I pointed to the example of Bill Belichick's decision on Sunday night to go for it on 4th & 2 to illustrate this very simple principle: When Arrogance Trumps Wisdom, Bad Things Happen. This isn't just a football or coaching principle. This is a principle that cuts across every arena of life.

Arrogance is often to narrowly defined. Normally, we only use it in reference to someone who is pompous & proud. However, the real definition of the word reveals that arrogance is practically universal. Here's the definition: making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming. That's a much more broad definition. You & I are often arrogant in how we go about life. We assume that the rules & principles of life don't apply to us. That's what happened Sunday night. The odds for a Patriot win were much higher if Belichick had punted. Instead, he decided to go against the wisdom he's obviously gained over his years of coaching & assumed they would get the 1st down. "After all, I'm Bill Belichick; my quarterback is Tom Brady, & we're the Patriots! Surely we can get 2 little yards." Don't misunderstand me; I'm not blasting Belichick & calling him an idiot. He's simply human. No other coach would have done what he did, but because he is Belichick, he thought he could pull it off. He had to learn the hard way that the rules still apply to him.

You and I do this pretty much everyday. We think we can do what we want with no fallout. Some of us think we can spend our money however we want & the basic rules of economics will somehow overlook us. Others think they can treat the people in their lives like products to be consumed without the basic rules of relationships leaving them alone & unknown. At some point all of us are guilty of allowing our arrogance to overcome our wisdom. We wouldn't advise anyone to do some of the stuff we do, yet we can't recognize the same flawed behavior & thinking when we see it in the mirror!

How has your arrogance trumped your wisdom? Where did it lead you? How can you still take risks in life without being arrogant?

When Arrogance Trumps Wisdom...

Last night I did what I normally don't do; I watched Sunday night football. I only watched because the best two franchises with the best two quarterbacks were playing. Brady vs. Manning is as compelling as the NFL gets. When you throw in 1st year head coach Jim Caldwell vs. legendary coach Bill Belichick, the drama & storyline thickens. I even heard analysts Sunday morning say that the game would likely come down to a coaching decision, & of course, they gave the edge to Belichick. Who wouldn't? The guy is a legend; some say he's the best ever.

And guess what? They were right. The game came down to a coaching decision, & the great Bill Belichick very likely coached himself out of a win. On a 4th and 2 play from his own 28 yard line, Coach Belichick decided to go for it rather than punt & force Manning & the Colts to drive 65 to 70 yards to win the game. If you watched or if you've even remotely paid attention to a sports report today you know they didn't get it. Then Peyton Manning took the field & marched right down & threw a great TD pass to win the game.

Why did this happen? I'm sure analysts have all kinds of theories. In fact, I heard one guy who is really sharp talking about how Manning's greatness & the respect he demands influenced Belichick's decision making even though Manning wasn't on the field. That's a valid insight, but I think there's something more at play, & I'll talk about it more this week. I think this is a classic case of arrogance trumping wisdom, & when arrogance trumps wisdom, bad things happen. It can be a football game or it can be life, but it's a principle that never changes: When Arrogance Trumps Wisdom, Bad Things Happen.

Starvation Leads To Death

Recently I started reading the A.W. Tozer classic "The Pursuit of God". In chapter 3 Tozer writes something that is so profound that it just blew me away. He writes, "The world is perishing for the lack of the knowledge of God, & the Church is famishing for want of His Presence." Those words are just as piercing & convicting today as they were over 60 years ago when they were written.

I think there is a connection here. Tozer points out that the world is dying around us because it does not know God. However, even the Church is starving because it is not in the presence of God. I think the starvation of the church not only kills individual congregations, but it also contributes to the death of the world around us. If God uses the church to reach the world & the church is starving, how effective can it be? A church that isn't experiencing the presence of God cannot share that experience with a lost & dying world. The world goes on dying from it's lack of knowledge, but the church is now no longer capable of penetrating the world through the power that comes with experiencing the presence of God.

These are just some random thoughts I had as I was reading. What can we as believers, especially those of us in leadership, do to pursue that kind of experience? How can we lead others to experience the presence of God in their lives so that the world around us can see the reality of God by the transformation that's taking place in us?

A Request For Prayer

If you follow my blog or know me personally, you know that right now my family & I are in a season of transition. God definitely was leading us to follow Him into the uncertainty that faith requires, but it's still uncertain & at times a scary place to walk.

In recent days, I've been contacted by multiple ministries who are interested in partnering with me. So I'm asking that all my friends & family that read this take some time to pray for us & for guidance for us & for the ministries that I've been talking with. Ask that God bless us with wisdom & discernment as to what the best move is to make. Obviously, none of the ministries are a sure thing, but I'm feeling better about these opportunities than any of the others that I've run across.

Some of these opportunities are exciting in the sense that they're growing, vibrant ministries in areas that are growing & have some appeal to our family. Then there are the other ministries that are exciting because they're beginning a new chapter after facing difficulty, & there's the possibility of being a part of God doing a great work out of the shadows of difficulty. We simply want to be in the place where God wants us, so we're asking you to join us in praying for His direction. Thanks.

Which Church Do You Want To Grow?

This thought came to me yesterday in the only room in my house where a person can really think: the bathroom. So many church leaders & church members talk about church growth, but I wonder which church they are really talking about. Are they talking about THE church (Big C, the Kingdom, etc.), or are they talking about their church (you know, Fill in the Blank Baptist Church, Methodist Church, or Community Church). Experience has shown me that most people are talking about #2. They want their church to grow. In fact I've watched people get mad when other churches are growing which leads them to criticize the other church saying that the church is shallow or only trying to entertain people. The problem is that I think we're all missing the boat if all we are talking about is our church growing & even if we're being very spiritual & talking about the Kingdom of God growing. I've decided I don't want the church (institutional or global) to grow. I want the church (remember? the people, the real church) to grow.

I know what you're saying, "Why can't we have both?" Yes, we can, but most of the time we as leaders plan & program to grow our church (institution) without really evaluating whether or not we're growing the church (people). If leaders focus on growing the real church (the people), then the institution will grow, & it will grow properly. It will grow because God's people are being transformed, & they are living that transformation out in front of a world that is searching for change. Jesus didn't die for an institution. He died for people. We must seek to redefine church growth as growing people. Out of that kind of church growth flows all of the other stuff that many of us have become preoccupied with.

What do you think? Which church have been trying to grow? Have you been guilty of putting the institution ahead of the people?