Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
This is a verse I have heard used as the banner for academic pursuits.
When it’s not being used to get young people to pass exams at school, it’s used as the reason the ‘minister’ should go to theological college or seminary.
I’ll leave it to others to explore the merits of those positions based on the context in which Paul writes. What it does trigger off in me is something that works well in the context of how relationships grow, how churches develop and how communities are built on harmonious interactions.
Education is a big deal in society. Governments pour over exam results, industry holds certification as standard of entry, society acknowledges folks with degrees and letters.
Unfortunately what it doesn’t always consider and celebrate is how growing and learning actually takes place in diverse ways and isn’t about accrediting with letters and pieces of paper.
As I keep on discovering, real.success and achievement is not found in pieces of paper. It’s the joy of truly understanding relationships, really knowing what you’re good at and excelling in that even if academic institutions don’t have a course in it.
The commitment to lifelong learning is actively growing in knowing. That knowing is holistic. Even as knowing Jesus is not.just a mental/intellectual pursuit. So all of life is about growing in knowing in ways that informs all of life and enables us to enable others in that journey.
That growing in knowing widens education to celebrate how much our character is refined. It widens education to honour incremental advance in overcoming challenging issues within and without. Education is no longer the preserve of academics. Progress is not solely measured in classroom environments, but in the real life appraisal of not losing our temper where once we had short fuse.
Particularly in church, we can see studying God’s Word as not a challenge of literacy but spiritual sensitivity that works on the whole person.
I hope we do study to show ourselves approved. I hope that pursuit will see fruitful living in the individual and collective level.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 