Education

Because my ministry setting is particularly in the field of education, education is something about which I spend a lot of time thinking, hypothesizing, and wondering. It seems so clear that education is the answer to so many of the world's problems. AIDS in Africa, crime, violence, poverty, and the cycle that develops from those. To quote, "Education is the silver bullet. Education is everything. We don't need little changes. We need gigantic revolutionary changes. Schools should be palaces. Competition for the best teachers should be fierce. They should be getting six-figure salaries. Schools should be incredibly expensive for government and absolutely free of charge for its citizens, just like national defense." Then I think, "It's not just education, dummy. It's compassion." Getting people to know and getting them to care are not the same thing. How do we get people to understand the root cause of poverty and give a damn about it. How do we liberate folks (including me) from a wicked case of incurvatus in se and turn, instead, toward each other. If the church continues merely as assent to a creed rather than a collective action for good, a constant pushing for change that is deep in our bones, it's doomed. Assent and socializing are not the future of the church. The Xers and millenials won't stand for it. If the church is to become the living out of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of God's unconditional, irrevocable love for us, then the church will have to bring the Jesus-way into all aspects of life: political, social, economic, and, indeed, educational. Pray for us at PLTS. Pray that our students will continue to go forth from this place ready and energized to make a difference in the world. Pray that your own education would lead you to deeper reflection on the way things work and that, coupled with the Spirit's movement of your heart, it would help bring about the Kingdom of God. Peace. Pastor Greg.