Education on the Brink

Teacher friends report to me that kids either refuse or cannot to read anymore.  There is increasing pressure on high school literature class to use short excerpts of great works rather than have kids read entire novels.  Apparently, in California, college freshman cannot do introductory math.  Some major universities are more thought police than curiosity builders.  The state of education in this nation appears to be awful.

In my own experience with university students, a university education is now more trade school than mind broadening.  The kids I know are ticking boxes to gain credentials to get a job.  They are not looking for that class that is just interesting on its own.  They are not exploring the life of the mind at all.  They are not looking to be well rounded, smart people.  They just want a job.

In a sense what is happening in education reflects much of what is happening in our society.  That which was once meant to promote excellence is instead sinking to the lowest common denominator.  The university is no longer about the best and brightest, now in a seemingly egalitarian effort, it is for everyone.  But in that egalitarian push standards have been lowered.  Our efforts have not produced a better educated people, just more people with degrees that are an increasingly poor measure of educational achievement.

Isn’t that the problem with egalitarianism generally?  Not everyone is excellent at everything.  Even the Bible admits that, though in typical “Biblespeak.”  Paul to the church in Corinth:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.  There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.  But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

In other words – not everyone is cut out to be a preacher, but that does not mean their contribution is less significant.  True egalitarianism is not about making everyone the same, but about the value you assign to everyone.  Further, that value is not measured in money, or educational level, or prominence.  That value is measured in the quality of their humanity – in their character.

What I find interesting is that as the church has receded from societal prominence, these misguided notions of egalitarianism have gained prominence.  We are not the better for it.

Yet way too many in the church have failed to realize these cultural and social effects as mission or evangelism.  Too many in the church have sought to save souls exclusively, not realizing that saving souls is God’s business – ours is to make a better world where He can reach souls.

In many ways Christianity has not been driven from its cultural perch.  In many ways, Christianity has abandoned it.