What Education Can’t Do

I spent a lot of time getting educated.  Perhaps I needed more of it than most?  I am so thankful for my educational opportunities and commend education to you.  But let me note some inherent limitations.

1.  Education doesn’t make you wise.  My favorite definition of wisdom is “seeing things as God sees them.”  Education can make you smart, but that isn’t the same as making you wise.  Want some tuition-free advice?  Seek wisdom.  (See the book of Proverbs for additional tuition-free advice on the importance of wisdom.)

2.  Education doesn’t make you godly.  Godliness–seeking to be Christ-like in character and attitude and action–is a great trait.  Pastors, don’t mistake a seminary degree for holiness or spiritual intimacy.  During seminary, I discovered that studying about the God of the Bible was not the same as following and serving and connecting with the God of the Bible.  Discipleship is more than memorizing the order of the kings of Israel and understanding Greek grammar.

3.  Education doesn’t give you common sense.  Isn’t common sense a misnomer?  It doesn’t seem so common sometimes.  The world is not lived in theory.  Theories often sound better in a class room than they work in practical application.  Be practical as well as educated.

4.  Education doesn’t give you people sense.  I love books, but God reminds me on occasion of how much He wants me to love people.  I know people can be messy and needy, but God wants us to love them just as He loves us.  Learn some people skills.  Learn to listen, empathize and care.  Learn to read people.  Be neither naïve or jaded.

5.  Education doesn’t make you valuable.  Your worth is not determined by your degrees, salary, success or beauty.  God created you inherently valuable because He created you in His image.  In salvation, you are adopted into God’s family and you become His child.  Education doesn’t–can’t–make you any more valuable to God than you already are.  It can make you more effective, but it can’t make you more important.

 

4 responses to “What Education Can’t Do

  1. Pingback: The Death of Voltaire | The Road

  2. Well said. As a teacher, the thing that frustrates me most is watching my students (and their parents) pour their hearts, minds, and souls into education. I love education and I love the things that education can do. But you’re right. It never made anyone more valuable than they already are.

  3. I love messages like this posting. It’s very down to earth and touches the lives of people from all walks of life. It helps me to want to make each day better than the day before with the difficult issues I sometimes face. Thank you!

  4. “Education doesn’t make you smarter.”

    –Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

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