the hard work of learning
Not only must we honestly announce that pain and work are the irremovable and irreducible accompaniments of genuine learning, not only must we leave entertainment to the entertainers and make education a task and not a game, but we must have no fears about what is “over the public’s head.” Whoever passes by what is over his head condemns his head to its present low altitude; for nothing can elevate a mind except what is over its head; and that elevation is not accomplished by capillary attraction, but only by the hard work of climbing up ropes, with sore hands and aching muscles. The school system which caters to the median child, or worse, to the lower half of the class; the lecturer before adults—and they are legion—who talks down to his audience; the radio or television program which tries to hit the lowest common denominator of popular receptivity—all these defeat the prime purpose of education by taking people as they are and leaving them just there.”
From Adler's “Invitation to the Pain of Learning,” in Reforming Education: The Opening of the American Mind (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1988), 232-233, 235.
Those who teach in the church, particularly with our children and youth, must consider Adler's words. In the world of youth ministry, not only do we lower the bar of expectations but we succumb to the cultural tempation to entertain rather than teach. It is no wonder that "in spite of their generally positive attitude toward religion, almost no teenagers...can articulate the most basic beliefs of their faith."
15 Comments:
I find the simple things to be the most profound. I also find that many Christians know a bunch of theology, but don't know how to love their neighbor. The answer isn't more knowledge, but more submission to Christ. We are to be followers not knowers.
the rev
ahh yes but followers who disparage knowledge are more likely to fall into error or even call themselves Christians without the faintest idea of Grace and what Christ has done for them, they fall into the Christian Culture trap. I actually know people who call themselves Christian but believe in karma!!
You mean you reap what you sow? What a ridiculous idea.
I find people that actually walk the walk of Jesus tend to understand grace much more than intelectuals that sit in libraries, and pontificate.
And your other point doesn't seem to hold true either, where are the biggest heresies coming from? The doctrinally illiterate? No, the biggest heresies have always come from the ivory towers.
It reminds me of working construction, the guys who came on the jobsite fresh from school would spend the first month trying to tell everyone how they should be doing it, because they learned the right way in school. They spend the next few months getting constantly humbled, and made fun of as their university degrees didn't mean anything on the jobsite. They spent the rest of the first year on the job actually learning the real way things are done. In the end their education proved helpful only when they had actually worked on the job for a while.
I think systematic theology has created a bunch of people with opinions, and no experience. We truly need theology, but theology formed while actually following Jesus, living a life of love, and sacrifice, not forged in the sterile world of the academic.
Remember of those that Jesus entrusted his church to, only one was a theologian. And that one said he considered it all rubbish compared to the simplicity of Christ and Him crucified.
the rev
We truly need theology, but theology formed while actually following Jesus, living a life of love, and sacrifice, not forged in the sterile world of the academic. great comment basically a definition 'orthopraxis'
rev i think we are arguing the same point from different ends. I think we need theologians and intellectuals but not at the expense of living fully in the light of Christs grace, loving God first and loving our neighbours as ourselves.
i think the biggest heresies arent coming so much from the ivory tower but from the leaders of the church who would exploit others for their own ends. and if the others don't study and understand themselves they will be led like the blind leading the blind.
and i think you misconstrued my comment about karma... karma and grace are totally incompatible
cheers rev
I think there are some heresies that are far more damning coming out of the ivory tower sets. Particularly the radical liberal movement personified by Spong.
the rev
ahhhhh now your talking heresy... and now i know where your coming from... yes.. funny i have spent so much time in the aog i was (obviously) getting blinkers to my own denomination on.
i ususally don't worry about them (spong etc) cause their not really known in the aog so much .. more the benny hinn style etc.
to refute these heresies however? what do you suggest without education/knowledge getting in the way?
I think orthopraxy leads to orthodoxy, these guys need to be confronted with sound biblical truth, and this is what is important about theology, but in my opinion it is far more dangerous to dwell on spiritual ideas without spiritual practice, and spiritual community, than it is to have spiritual practice and community, without deep theological reflection.
the rev
agreed (bugger - arguements are so much more fun)
often i find confronting them on a theological basis the long way around, depending on the issue i like to confront them with the logical consequences of thier ideas if they are right... they like some of the conclusions they are trying to justify but often don't see that in doing so they are giving ground to some things that are unconscionable.
I believe elements of Karma are just an interpretation of reaping what you sow? Whats so wrong with that ab truth??? And those that believe and practice principles based on karma are only putting something with a positive spin back into life??
the problem from a Christian perspective is we believe God gives us what we don't deserve:
Love
Forgiveness
Eternity
ect.
based on Jesus work, not our own. That said, there is also a belief that you reap what you sow on a day to day life level.
the rev
mmmm sorry im new at this, a little confused...rev are you agreeing, disagreeing or both with me?
i would say that he is disagreing with you (although he will say that in his own words if he wishes)
Karma is fundamentally opposed to Grace, and is different from reaping and sowing. Karma says that somehow the bad things that you do will get you back sometime in the future, ie; a man cheats on his wife and years later he gets cancer... reaping and sowing is the man that ignores health warnings and smokes a pack a day and later gets cancer.
with Grace the sinner (who severity of sin is of no consequence) is forgiven by God because his Son has paid the price... we did nothing to deserve it, it was the free gift of a loving God
But dont you think there are "principles" of karma that are good??? Not all of it, just some of it?? I understand what you mean about it conflicting with grace, but what about the element of karma that suggests if you do good to another it will come back to you? isnt that similar to reaping what you sow?
in a word .. no..
your description of karma implies fairness in the world and the world is anything but fair... the examples are plentiful beyond description in the negative .. this doesnt mean that good things don't happen to people who **'deserve'** it, but that the opposite happens so much that there cannot logically be any principle behind the randomness of much of the ups and downs of life.
The apostle Paul devotes his life to Christ and ends up being beheaded by Nero along with the apostle Peter who is crucified upside down.. Deitrich Bonnhoeffer, a pastor during the second world war is put to death by Hitler...
**'deserve'**
Further... in the Christian worldview, what does the best of us deserve? the answer is as we are ALL sinners we DESERVE eternal separation from God... damnation if you like, none of us deserve anything at all, but in accepting the offer of Gods grace we are given forgiveness and restoration to righteous relationship with Him
Yes I was disagreeing with you in part.
I think there is a similiarity in the ideas of karma and reaping and sowing. But they are not the same thing.
the rev
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