March 24, 2008

I thought we’d hashed it out long enough to realize that the secular vs. sacred dichotomy was not a fruitful one to construct. 

I understand where the criticisms to the “Education is for Salvation” article are coming from.   I’m not implying that people should keep their negative opinions to themselves.  An open forum is all about sharing opinions, negative or otherwise, and everyone is entitled to his or her own.  But it annoys me when I read comments like, “Where are the souls won by those with the secular education?” and “We are not presenting the world a thesis!  We are presenting them the gospel!”

Come on.  I wish with all of my heart that some would get past the rhetoric that implies that furthering your education = being prideful, pandering to the untouchable, godless World, not doing a real work for God, not effectively reaching people because, bless God, all they need is Jesus.  I’m tired of having to defend the idea, no, the fact, that the will of God can be pursued outside of church-centric contexts.  Why is it confounding to some that God can use the secular to fulfill the sacred?  Is it unreasonable to consider that God has different roads for different people’s lives in fulfilling His will?  Is it unfathomable that a secular educational road would allow believers to be in contact with and reach those they would not be able to reach otherwise? 

Biblical Education for Salvation
I’ll offer up Peter and Paul.  As far as Peter was concerned, he was an uneducated fisherman.  The Bible specifically refers to him as “unlearned.”  But Peter had a revelation about the identity of Jesus that none of the other disciples had at the time.  Peter was used dynamically on the Day of Pentecost.  Peter was instrumental in the inclusion of Gentiles in the establishment of the church. There are indeed things that “flesh and blood” cannot reveal.  Peter is proof that being a highfalutin’ smarty-pants is overrated.  Look at all he did for God! 

But let’s take a look at Paul.  Many Bible scholars agree that Paul had the educational equivalent of a Ph.D.  He was a learned man.  He sat under some of the best scholars of his day.  He wrote an overwhelming majority of the New Testament.  He “almost” persuaded a king to become a Christian (Acts 26:28).  I wonder if Paul would have had the ability to appeal to Agrippa had he not gone down a different road as Peter.  I wonder if he would have been used to write some of the very scripture we hold dear today.

The Road Most Traveled...?
My argument is not that there is any superior road.  My point is that God uses different people in different ways, and that He takes us down distinct pathways to fulfill His overarching goal—to seek and save that which is lost.  We are called to be the salt of the earth, and we are exhorted to let our light shine.  Does it matter whether that light shines from a church platform or a graduate-level economics class?  Does it matter whether that salt is sprinkled over your hometown or a place of higher learning states away? 

I’m asking my brothers and sisters in the Lord to resist the urge to pit the secular against the sacred.  A trailblazing missionary and a college professor are not mutually exclusive callings. Peter reached people that Paul didn’t. Paul reached people that Peter didn’t. Yet God used them both.

ninetyandnine.com

© 2008, Chantell Smith

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Chantell Smith received her secular education from the University of Alabama and is going back for round two at Auburn University.  Believe it or not, she can account for souls she’s helped win in the process.