Education is Putting it Together

All differ and learn differently in various degrees. Education is beyond educational formulas and standards.  It is more than learning. The Bible states in the last days, they shall be “ever learning, and never able to come to knowledge of the truth.”  It is learning to put it all together.

A man once said, “I think of life as a good book.  The further you get into it, the more it begins to makes sense.”  II Timothy 2:15 gives good direction as it says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Realizing God as the Master Teacher throughout each chapter of life, I feel is imperative.

Ken Robinson in his New York Times bestseller, The Element, wrote about what he called “epiphany stories.” The book is not a religious book. He describes this as an experience where people discover their Element—the place where the thing you love to do and the things that you are good at come together. He points to the first category of limitation, which often blocks this realization is the failure to realize the range of our “extraordinary powers of imagination, intelligence, feeling, intuition, spirituality, and of physical and sensory awareness.”

Secondly he points out that we can fail to understand how all of these “capacities relate to each other holistically.” And the third limitation is how we can fail to realize “how much potential we have for growth and change.”

Robinson states thirdly, “Many people have not found their Element because they don’t understand their constant potential for renewal.” And he ads, “This limited few of our capacities can be compounded by our peer groups, by our culture, and by our expectations of ourselves.  A major factor for everyone, though, is EDUCATION.”

Many people never realize the divine touch, although Robinson was not speaking of this primarily. I feel that we who are Christians and have realized the call of God’s revelation can know this spiritual element, which gives us wisdom, strength, and courage to handle all our supposed limitations. This is what the Bible refers to in Colossians 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Here is motivation, empowerment, and the goal to “glorify God and to enjoy him forever.’

The Epiphany is a Christian festival in the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches that commemorates the adoration of the infant Jesus by the three wise men from the East, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In the Eastern Orthodox it looks to the baptism of Jesus. But regardless how is looked upon each of these events point to the affirmation that Jesus came with a special mission. Robinson says the epiphany experiences tend “to involve some level of revelation, a way of dividing the world before and after.”

In respect to relating to our peer groups, our culture, and our own personal expectations the question comes, “Does the Christian faith give something that helps greatly in this challenge?” I feel that the realization of Christ as the Element of your life provides this.

The first limitation was “peer groups.” One of the sad facts of contemporary American youth is the negative influence from peer groups. When people don’t have basic convictions to direct their lives, they particularly cave into various peer influences. When ones peer group smokes cigarettes, drink alcohol, uses drugs, indulges in sexual promiscuity, cheats on schoolwork, shoplifts, is cruel other others, ignores academic discipline, etc., it sets the stage for limited achievement and multiple problems that can keep children from ever realizing the Element in their lives—whether it be in the spiritual context, in the athletic, or in the academic. It can effect how all the remaining chapters from the cradle to the grave are written.

The second limitation was our “culture.” A few years back America was classified as a Christian culture, as Christian values were highly esteemed, and the laws in this land basically sought to support and affirm this. There has taken place a shift or maybe there is a change in process, as many seek to divorce our culture of Christian values. It is very much evident, as the media increasingly under the guise of projecting the values of various sub-cultures seeks to erode what was once accepted as our basic values.

The third limitation Robinson mentioned was “our own experiences.”  Paul in Romans 5:3-4 says, “we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; and patience experience, and experience hope.” Experience in the Christian context is how we learn to put to all together for the glory of God. It is to learn the language of the Holy Spirit in every day life. The Christian life is realized continually in the walk of faith.

Christian commitment can give the wisdom, strength, and courage to understand the working of God in our lives.

In conclusion I want to re-quote Robinson’s statement, “A major factor for everyone, though, is EDUCATION.” Education is learning to pull one’s life together, whether you are young or old. But our society is missing the boat and leaving multitudes dangling, for we are taking out from education one of the basic sources to help putting it all together, which is the regenerative power of our God as proclaimed in the Holy Scriptures.

by Joe Renfro, Ed.D., Radio Evangelist, Retired Teacher and Pastor, Box 751, Lavonia, Georgia 30553, 706-356-4173, joerenfro@windstream.net

.