Today's Daily Lesson comes from Philippians chapter 1 verse 9:
"And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and depth of insight . . ."
What a great prayer here still at the beginning of school.
I used to have a parishioner in church who would come out on Sunday mornings after the service and say, "You know, I appreciate an educated minister."
I think probably everybody does. Nobody wants a minister who doesn't know anything. When you see letters like MDiv. or D.D. or PhD you know they at least know something. You know they've read a book or two. That's important. Study is important.
But education isn't everything. Knowledge for its own sake can lead astray. "Knowledge puffs up", Paul says. It can also destroy. Knowledge unbridled can now literally be our death and the death of civilization. As Dr. King put it, "Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."
Right now we need educated Christian leaders. But that's not enough. We need educated Christian leaders who love. To know all the new theories about who wrote the Bible, how it came together, and what politics drove its writers is one thing. But to know and love God and God's people is quite another. I prefer both. I appreciate an educated with a heart for the things of God.
When I was considering seminaries, I read the letter written by the Dean of Duke Divinity School Greg Jones. He quoted the French monastic Jean Leclercq's phrase, saying Duke was trying to cultivate within its students "a love of learning and a desire for God". I read that, applied, and was accepted.
I try to stay enrolled.
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