It’s spring. The novelty of the school year has worn off, and my kids are already counting down the days to summer vacation. Their enthusiasm has devolved into complaining, and the question has become “Why do we need to learn this stuff anyway?”
I’m tempted to address their complaints with the same advice well-meaning adults gave me when I was a kid: we go to school so we can get a nice job, earn a nice living, and enjoy a nice life. But that rationale will ultimately leave them as empty as the sugary cereal they ate for breakfast. Because while pragmatism motivates, it doesn’t satisfy.
If we want our kids to develop a true appreciation for learning, we can’t only tell them what education can do; we must give them a vision of what education is for. Here are three perspectives.
1. Education is for worship.
Question one of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer, which many of us can recite from memory, is “to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Or, if you prefer John Piper’s nuance, “to glorify God by enjoying him forever.”
While pragmatism motivates, it doesn’t satisfy.
Humans are designed to know and enjoy God. His praise is our prize, and his supremacy is our satisfaction. There’s simply no higher calling for man. We were made for worship.
If worship is the chief end of man, then it follows that worship is also the chief end of education. Every book read, every paper written, every exam taken, every subject mastered, every degree earned . . . what’s it all for? Is the purpose not that we’d discover more of the beauty and majesty of our great God so we might enjoy him more?
2. Education is for formation.
If worship—the call to glorify God by enjoying him—is the chief end of man, then spiritual formation is a close second. This is made clear in Romans 8:28, which tells us God causes all things to work together for the good of his people so his people will be conformed to the image and likeness of his Son. That means, as I’ve argued elsewhere, your spiritual formation is one of God’s top priorities for you.
Education is certainly one of the many tools God uses to accomplish this purpose. Sure, education often leads to a better quality of life and higher earning potential; but that’s not nearly as important as education’s potential to shape the kind of person your child becomes. From our character to our worldview, the lessons we learn and the studies we undertake have a profound influence on the way we inhabit the world around us. We’d do well to consider and harness this power to not only train our children’s minds but form their souls.
3. Education is for the common good.
At the end of Genesis 1, God commissions Adam and Eve to “fill the earth and subdue it.” In his book Every Good Endeavor, Tim Keller argues that God is here instructing them to create a society where human beings can flourish by stewarding and cultivating the earth so it will become more useful. A concern for the common good—the welfare of the world—was built into their vocation as God’s co-regents.
The same is true for education. God has granted us the ability to learn not simply so we can get a nice job, earn a nice living, and enjoy a nice life but so we can use what we learn to promote human flourishing.
A concern for the common good—the welfare of the world—was built into their vocation as God’s co-regents.
What do doctors, therapists, engineers, and accountants all have in common? They provide goods and services that improve and strengthen human society. Medical professionals diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries so communities can thrive physically. Counselors promote social and psychological well-being so communities can thrive emotionally. Engineers and architects design the structures we live, work, and play in, along with the transportation that moves us from place to place. Accountants provide services that promote economic well-being by helping individuals, businesses, and organizations steward their resources and assets well. All these vocations, which educational training makes possible, serve the common good.
Education prepares us for life and work, making us more useful to society as a whole. When we teach our kids to put what they learn to use for others, our neighborhoods, workplaces, and communities thrive, and everyone wins.
Case for Lifelong Learning
Prevailing attitudes about education heavily emphasize utilitarian outcomes related to getting jobs and earning money. But if this is true, then as a 36-year-old, my only motivation to continue learning is to get a better job so I can earn a better living.
If, however, I have a solid theological vision for education, I always have a reason for lifelong learning because the things I’m learning (whether formal or informal) can help me enjoy God, become like Christ, and bless my neighbor, even when I’m out of work and my quality of life isn’t what I was promised. When education is primarily self-serving, it fails to satisfy. But if it’s a means by which I can love God and love my neighbor, it becomes an act of worship.
My prayer is that parents and Christian educators everywhere would inspire children to lifelong learning by instilling in them a robust theological vision for education. When the inevitable “What’s the point of this?” questions come from our kids as they go through challenging seasons at school, let’s have a better answer than the world does. Let’s cultivate in our kids a love of learning because they see how it stems from and intersects with their love of God.
The Gospel Coalition