I’ve spent the last couple
of days thinking about learning and the Christian worldview. Past blog posts
have considered the difference between learning “under the sun” and learning
“under heaven” as explored by wise King Solomon. We now he did not turn out so
well in the end because of compromised worldview. Is it possible to learn, to
pursue education, to grow in wisdom in the context of the world in which we
live?
Long after Solomon’s golden
age ended and the kingdom was divided, we read in the historical literature
that Israel was carried away in Babylonian captivity. Caught up in the capture
were some notable young men that receive this assessment of their captors:
“And in every manner of
wisdom and understanding about which the king [Nebuchadnezzar] inquired of
them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that
were in all his kingdom.” (Daniel 1:20).
Consider the situation:
these young men were uprooted from their homeland and transplanted. Their
integrity remained intact because God upheld their integrity. It is not
difficult to imagine how they may have encouraged one another with scripture
like Psalm 26. Their new teachers could only
provide them a platform for deeper learning as they pursued education on their
own.
While the culture tried to
redefine them (as seen in giving them new names--interesting that we refer to
them not in their native names, but their Babylonian names, except for Daniel)
they used the culture for the glory of God. The young men learned the language,
read the literature, familiarized themselves with the culture, learned
court-protocol and with that learning, they served the true and living God, who
upheld their integrity. The studied and worked from God’s perspective. Daniel
and his friends graduated top of the class because they were open-minded in
truth. The model excellent discipleship in their diligent application of what
they learned “under heaven.”
There
seems to be an unspoken rule that once one finishes high school, one is no
longer required to learn. Some do press on to college, but often the same
attitude surfaces again--learning may now cease. Perhaps there is the notion
that learning = tuition. This is not the case at all. We are made to be
life-long learners. It is impossible to stop learning; however, it is possible
to be selective in learning, which in turn proves where excellence lies--”under
the sun”-- in the realm of vanity, useless wisdom.
