“Why do I have to study chemistry? I’m never going to use this,” says a frustrated high school student. Parents and teachers tend brush off these kinds of questions with superficial answers about how chemistry is important because it is involved a million other details of life – your body, your food, the technology you use, etc… However, this reply misses what the student is really asking. They actually want to know, why should I be educated? In fact this question underlies much of what Christians are trying to figure out in education.
When conservative Christians discuss education, they almost immediately arrive at the issue of what role public education should play. It is easy for some to try to isolate their families altogether (through homeschooling or small private schools) from what they feel is a failed system. This attitude ignores the conclusion that follows from a few simple premises:
- Education is important
- The majority of people receive their education from the public system
- If we care about people and we care about education, we must care about the public system.
The second premise is not too controversial, and the idea of caring about people will hopefully not be argued widely in Christian circles (see Jeremiah 29:7, Matthew 25:31ff., etc…). Thus, I will focus on the first premise. I was raised to believe that education is important. I believed it unquestioningly until one day when I was listening to a speaker at a homeschooling seminar. The speaker was enthusiastic about giving children the best education possible, but a man stood up and asked a question. “I am a plumber,” he said, “My boys are going to be plumbers. What should my goals be in their education?” The man’s account of his life reminded me of 1 Thessalonians 4:11: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you.” Where does education fit into that command?
We have to balance this command to “lead a quiet life” with another example of how to live – the example of Solomon. Solomon writes, “And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.” (Ecclesiastes 1:13). Note that Solomon says that he will seek out ALL that is done. He wants to be informed about more than just Scripture and godly things (indeed, in a fallen world, how can you know what is godly unless you see instances of opposites?). Also Solomon says God has given this task to men. It is not a job exclusive to him. This passage may not seem very connected to the way a lot of people think about education, because the system in our country today lacks the concept of wisdom. Defining wisdom is difficult. Surely “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). There are bricks that build on this foundation. Wisdom is making the right connections. Wisdom is the selection of information to share. Wisdom is asking good questions and learning to answer hard ones. Education should cultivate these qualities, and it is a worthy goal for Christians to work towards an educational system that will do that. In fact, for some Christians, fighting to teach wisdom will be the way that they “attend their own business and work with their hands.”
This weekend I graduated from college. As I sat with my fellow graduates – wearing this robe that was big enough to nicely fit an ogre and a hat that must have been designed for nerds in the 13th century – I considered the sacrifices that I had made and will continue to make for my education. I have given up time and financial resources. At times I have chosen education over relationships, work, and ministry opportunities. Why? More specifically, as a student at a Christian college, why study English instead of the Bible? Being an English major allowed me to practice discernment in examining the products of a sinful culture. I could do that in a somewhat controlled environment that prepared me for more intense situations. Francis Bacon expressed it better than I could: “Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider” (Francis Bacon, “Of Studies”).
