Higher Education Has Lost Its Why

Neil Postman in The End of Education (1996) predicted that colleges and universities would become places of "chaotic, irresponsible, relativism." Thirty years ago, he foresaw colleges losing their core beliefs and drifting from their founding mission statement; today, we see the manifestation of his prediction. Even further back, William Butler Yeats, in his poem, "The Second Coming" (1919), expressed his feeling that the world is falling apart due to a "lack of conviction": "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world." More recently, Simon Sinek, in his book Know Your Why (2022), challenged individuals to know their core beliefs, purpose, and reason for existence. 

Postman, Yeats, and Sinek are discussing the same thing; in order for individuals and institutions to flourish, they must know their "why" and operate authentically to their core purpose, their deep convictions, and their mission statement. 

In short, higher education has lost its "why." Many college campuses can be described as having an ethos of "chaotic, irresponsible, relativism" (Postman) where "the best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity" (Yeats).  

Recently, critics of higher education have become more bold to proclaim what Postman predicted. These vocal critics have caused our country collectively to ask, what is the purpose of higher education? While each college and university has its own mission statement, below are four general categories of why higher education exists.

Knowledge and Truth

Most people would agree that students go to college to get smarter. Knowledge has always been equated with power (knowledge is power) and freedom (e.g. the liberal or liberating arts). Truth (Veritas) is found in the motto of our earliest colleges ... Harvard's motto is simply Veritas (1636) and Yale's motto is Lux et Veritas (1701), translated "light and truth." Education from ancient history was about seeking knowledge and truth, as students would sit under wise teachers (rabbis) to learn as much as they could. This just makes sense ... As a student, I need to seek knowledge and truth from a teacher who has more of it than I do. That is the purpose of higher education.

That has been true for ages (and still is true to an extent), but technology has essentially made this "why" obsolete. I have all knowledge on my phone; in fact, my phone has more knowledge than the most intelligent professor. I don't have to pay tuition or sit through boring lectures to gain knowledge and truth; I have my phone.

Why do I have to go to college if this is the main purpose of higher education?

Career Preparation and Make (more) Money

If you ask students and parents "why college?" the answer is most often to get a good job, with the definition of "good" as being one that makes a lot of money. In fact, we've monetized the reasons for college by stating ROI stats, e.g., a college graduate makes $32,000 per year more than a high school graduate. But, is this the primary reason that colleges exist? Most colleges and universities do not have job preparation in their founding mission statement, but most strategic plans / vision statements do. Most colleges and universities tout job placement statistics and have departments of post-graduate success. Especially since the Industrial Revolution, American higher education has focused on preparing students for a job. 

This reason is also becoming obsolete; here are a few factors.

1. Skills learned in college are obsolete a few years later. The speed of change (especially in technology fields) is so great that what students are learning in college will be different when they enter the workplace. Regardless of the position, employers need to conduct extensive skills training on the job.
2. Most individuals change jobs throughout their career. The average person will have 12 different jobs during their lifetime, so going to college to train for a job will only help you get your first job.  After that, you'll be learning on the job.
3. AI is eliminating entry level jobs.  Ironically, students in STEM and computer science jobs are seeing AI and other technologies eliminate entry level positions. It has not been too long since President Obama promoted his "Computer Science for All" initiative, encouraging every student to code. This educational movement was successful with many students going into computer science, but now these students are graduating with outdated coding skills and a lack of entry level positions. AI is doing the same thing to other industries, like accounting, data and financial analysis, and law.

Going to college to get a good job should not be the primary reason, especially in our ever-changing technological world.

The College Experience

I hesitate to even put this down as a reason because no college would say that this is their "why," but it is definitely a factor for students and even parents ... and colleges devote a ton of resources to the "college experience." The 4-6 years in college has become a "rite of passage" for American students. At its worst, American higher education is seen as a time to party and dabble in hedonism. As the first time away from parents, college students indulge in some previously "forbidden fruit." Colleges are even rated on the "party scene"; Niche.com includes a "Party Scene" rating by using student surveys, access to local bars, Greek life, and student activities to grade a school on their party scene, publishing a Top Party Schools in America list each year. Some students consider this when deciding on what college to attend. In this regard, many college campuses have become the embodiment of Psalm 1:1 ... as students are walking with the wicked, standing with sinners, and sitting with mockers. And for the most part, our culture is accepting of this as an American "rite of passage."

While most parents would not want to send their child to a "party school," they do want them to have the college experience. Typically, this is connected to athletics ... with the experience being attending a top ranked football or basketball school to "experience" that atmosphere of college athletics. Catering to this, colleges pay student-athletes millions of NIL dollars to have excellent teams to attract more students.  

However, it is more than just the party scene and athletics, colleges spend significant resources on the more luxurious side of the "college experience," including deluxe accommodations, food service, campus activities, and international travel.   

In this aspect, our culture is exposed ... we value experiences over deep learning, but I don't know of any serious higher education leader who would say that their college exists to provide a "college experience."  It is not the why.

Higher education has lost its why; knowledge, job preparation, and the college experience are not strong enough reasons, and if they want the center to hold, they need to find their purpose.

Looking for a purpose, colleges have turned to promoting an ideology.

Ideology and Activism 

Most recently, especially as knowledge acquisition and job preparation have declined as reasons for higher education, colleges have embraced a new "why": ideology and activism. As we have seen over the past 5 years, college campuses are places where students are taught from a predominate ideology and encouraged to become activists for that ideology. Colleges and universities have become places for protests, riots, and unfortunately, violence.

While I may not agree with the ideology being promoted on most secular campuses, they are returning to a unified core. Neil Postman's criticism of higher education, as I began this article, was that it did not have a unifying core. So in that regard, higher education has found an ideology that a strong majority is promoting; while it does not align with many of their original mission statements, it does unify the institution. 

Have they found their why?  

Yes, I do believe that, at least for this season, their main purpose is to indoctrinate students with a specific ideology ... and they are really good at it.

If that is the case, students (and parents) must carefully evaluate the ideology being presented by the college. I would be bold enough to ask the question ... what ideology is being taught at this institution? ... before enrolling.

While not typically calling it an "ideology," most Christian colleges and universities promote a biblical worldview that unifies the campus and what students are learning. The faithful Christian colleges and universities anchor this worldview in God's word, striving to align all programs to the Bible. Proverbs 9:10 is a foundational verse for Christian higher education and a filter to use in evaluating college choices.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight."

If a college or university does not begin with the fear of the Lord, the ideology being promoted on campus will not be glorifying God ... and will not lead to true wisdom, knowledge, and insight.

Of course, knowledge acquisition, job preparation, and the college experience are all part of the why of higher education, but ideology leads the way.  It is the umbrella that covers all other reasons, so students and parents should evaluate that first before selecting a college.

____

Bonus: A few years ago, I wrote an article titled, "Alma Mater: Looking for a College? Choose your Mom." This was a playful but cautionary tale about selecting a college that aligns with the values taught by your parents and church ... because you'll look like your "alma mater" after graduating.

Authentic Living in a Divisive Age

Nobody would argue, we live in a divisive age. When I watch Fox News and MSNBC, I feel the ideological divisiveness, but when I look at my neighbors, I don't see us living that differently. Isn't that interesting?

If a worldview doesn't change how we live, how practically impactful is the ideological divide? Just like "faith without works is dead" (James 2:17), ideology without living authentic to that belief system is moot.

Authentic living can be defined as living a life that is aligned with our core beliefs. Do we do this as Christians?

If we are all living authentically ... A Vegan should live differently than a Carnivore. A Muslim should live differently than a Mormon. A Marxist should live differently than a Capitalist. A Christian should live differently than an Atheist.

When someone does not live authentically, we often call this hypocrisy. This word originates from a Greek term, hypokrite, used to describe an actor in the theater, many who wore masks to play a role that was different than who they were. Actors then, as they do now, masterfully become a role that is not authentic to who they truly are, e.g. Anthony Hopkins is a nice person but plays Hannibal Lecter convincingly. He is a hypokrite, but hypocrisy has a negative connotation off-stage. 

Jesus used that Greek term multiple times to describe the Pharisees who would pray to get praise (Matthew 6:5), worship God with their lips but hate him with their hearts (Matthew 7:6) and look perfect on the outside but are evil on the inside (Matthew 23:27-28). Even though Christ warned so strongly against hypocrisy, Christians have always struggled with hypocrisy. Jesus even said to his early disciples, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46). This has continued to modern times as Gandhi famously challenged, "I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Many people do not follow a lifestyle that aligns with their ideology due to ignorance (e.g., a Marxist may not know how a Marxist is supposed to live), but Christians are given, in God's word, a guide for living. Additionally, Christians are held to a higher standard, called to live set apart (I Peter 2:9), not conformed to the patterns of this world and transformed by the gospel (Romans 12:2). Unfortunately, there are many examples in both my life and in the life of modern Christians who are conformed to the thinking of the world and who do not look/act differently than the world.

We look similar to our neighbors because we follow common "patterns of this world" that worship the  idols of our time. You can evaluate these idols by asking two questions -- 

1. What do you love more than anything? 
2. What do we put our faith in?

If you look at my "neighborhood" we love money above all things, and we put our faith in our bank accounts and future financial security. We love entertainment, primarily sports and put our faith in teams that we follow with religious dedication. We love personal happiness that drives us to pursue recreation, leisure, pleasure, and "me time." We love our families and re-arrange all schedules to allow us to spend time in the pursuit of happiness with them. We put our faith in humanity and technology to solve all the local and global problems. Money, entertainment, happiness, families, and human innovation are not necessarily formal ideologies, but most people live authentically in line with these loves. 

Hedonists who pursue happiness at all costs are living authentically to their ideology. Secular Humanists who look only to humans and our intellect to solve the world's problems are living authentically, Nationalist who put their faith in political leaders and a country's laws/constitution are living authentically to that ideology. Greedy, materialists who are only concerned about making more money and getting more things are living authentically. Non-Christians are actually living authentically. 

I'm not sure about your neighborhood, but in my neighborhood, we all look quite similar because I am a hypocrite. 

Augustine classically framed this conversation by discussing "ordered loves": essentially, if we say that God is the most important love of our life, our life should align with that priority. After that, all other loves are ordered after God.

Do we place God first and strive to live in obedience to His word? If we do, we would look different from our neighbors.

Let us pray that our difference will bring glory to God.

The Slow, Hard Work of Learning

Educators ... what have we done wrong?

Why are our graduates so dumb and lazy?

I've been working in education for 35 years, and, as Facebook, brutally reminds me, my first students are now in their 50s, so I've helped educate the Millennials and Gen Z. Reflecting on these two generations, they are stereotyped as the Dumbest Generation (Millennials) and the Laziest Generation (Gen Z). That is not a great legacy for my years in education. Of course, stereotypes are not accurate, and I can point to so many former students who are brilliant and industrious, but stereotypes are given for a reason, and I bet most of us can provide examples that affirm these stereotypes. 

While educators are not solely to blame, we should reflect on what we have done to produce these generations.

Let's look at two factors: the Industrial Revolution and the "Easy Button" mentality.

The Industrial Revolution

In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, the impact of the Industrial Revolution swept through America. Our culture unquestioningly embraced the "good" of speed/efficiency in mass production, and consequently, that bigger is better. American capitalism has flourished during this time, and we are living in, arguably, the most materially wealthy time in history. 

Over the past 100 years, education has also adopted these pillars of the industrial revolution, but what is good for many industries, is bad for education.

Schools have embraced standardization, moving as many students through the assembly line as possible. Students are explicitly and implicitly praised for getting the answer quickly, finishing their test first, and "mastering" content as quickly as possible. In addition, bigger is definitely seen as better in class sizes and school enrollment. However, mass production is counter-productive to learning. 

Research has continuously affirmed that students need personalized instruction, specific feedback, and high levels of student engagement with the teacher and peers. Also, it takes time to learn well. Deep learning involves creating and strengthening neural pathways (schema theory), and that takes preparation, challenge, practice, repetition, and time ... and over the past 100 years, nobody in education seems to have had the patience for meaningful learning.

Was the industrial revolution good for education? We can debate this, but it has produced the dumbest generation. 

The Easy Button Mentality

Compounding this perspective on education is the explosion of technology at the end of the 20th Century. This has morphed the "industrial" perspective to what I call the "easy button" mentality.

Essentially, the easy button mentality believes that it is the role of society to take whatever is difficult and make it easy ... and making things easier is always good. Technology, of course, is the primary tool to make things easier.

One of the first products of this perspective is the television remote control (1950). Clearly, it is too difficult to get off the couch to change a channel, so a remote control is needed. Yes, a remote control is easier, but was that truly good for us? 

Another example is the power leaf blower. It is too difficult to rake leaves and sweep up debris after yard work, so we create a blower to move the debris into the street (or into our neighbor's yard). Operating a leaf blower is definitely easier, but was that truly good for us?

The easy button mentality can be seen in almost every facet of life, including education.

However, it goes against a universal truth, most concisely summarized in fitness jargon: "No pain, no gain."  If I go to the gym and use only the lightest dumbbells or the lowest level on the elliptical machine, I will not grow in strength or cardio-vascular health. In fact, when something becomes too easy for me, I should step up to the next level of weight or resistance in order to continue to grow.

That translates to other areas. If I never push myself outside of my comfort zone socially, I will not grow interpersonally. In fact, another saying re-iterates this: "There is no growth in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the growth zone."

Our brains grow much like our physical muscles do. We need to "work out" our brains and make them hurt. Ben Franklin said, "What hurts, instructs," and he is right. When was the last time your brain hurt because you were thinking so hard? Due the the most pervasive "easy button," our phones, I rarely use my brain for anything. I don't need to recall phone numbers, directions, or random facts; everything is a swipe away.

Yes, everything is easier for our brains, but is that truly good for us?

Ever since John Dewey, our educational system has been student-centered. This means that we have spent 100 years making learning easy for our students. In fact, learning styles (which became popular in education in the 70s-80s) have the premise that students learn easiest by using their dominant learning style: auditory, visual, kinesthetic. Consequently, teachers have spent the past 50 years designing lessons to match the learning style of their students. However, the opposite is true; students learn best when something is presented in one of a student's non-dominant learning styles because it makes the brain work harder. While the myth of learning styles is finally becoming recognized, education continues to make things easier ...

• Mental math is hard, so we develop more advanced calculators to make it easier.
• Reading primary sources is hard, so we have created textbook anthologies with secondary excerpts. 
• Cursive writing or even writing with pencil and paper is hard, so we use the computer to type ... but typing is hard, so we have voice transcribing. 
• Reading an entire novel is hard, so we have audio books.
• Completing any academic work is hard, so we use AI to complete assignments for us.
• ChatGPT Plus was given free to all college students in April and May (2025) because the last few months of the academic year are hard, so let's make it easy for them. 

Instead of student-centered (or learner-centered), we need to be learning-centered. Instead of asking how can we make learning easier for the student, we should be asking how can we best encourage deep learning and brain growth. We know that we learn best when our brains work hard, so making it easier is not learning-centric.

When Apple first showed up and offered free computers to schools in the 1980s, educators across the world accepted them with open arms and much fanfare but without asking if computers were actually good for learning. Today, we are finally asking that question.

Johnathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, has set his research sights on the benefits of any screens in school, and he is finding little evidence that digital devices (of any kind) help learning. In fact, it appears to be making us dumber (The False Promise of Device-Based Education). This aligns with the generational stereotypes of those raised in the digital age of education.

Today, learning is easier for students, but is that truly good for us? 

Looking at these two aspects of our culture ... the Industrial Revolution's impact on education and our current "easy button" mentality, I am not shocked that we've produced the dumbest and laziest generations.

So what should education look like to reverse this trend?  Here are a few quick suggestions ...

1) Differentiation of Learning Styles -- use a wide variety in pedagogy and assessment to hit multiple learning styles (multiple intelligences is a better paradigm). This is done not to cater to the student's dominant learning style, but to ensure we are stretching the student's brain to work in their non-dominant learning styles.

2) Be Learning-Centric -- Identify what classroom activity or homework assignment is best for learning, and require the students to complete that ... even if (especially if) it is hard. Don't allow students to choose their own experience; they will most likely select what is easiest for them, stunting their brain development.

3) Take your time -- Speed does not correlate with deep learning. Resist the industrial revolution concepts of mass production. Carefully design curriculum to utilize what we know about meaningful learning and schema theory. It takes time to build a cognitive foundation, scaffold around the foundation in order to make our brains "sticky" so that students retain new materials. Then, take the time to circle back to previously learned materials in order to solidify meaningful learning.

4) Use Hard Assignments to Develop a Love of God and Others -- Simone Weil in her essay "Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God" claims that doing a complex math problem helps her build attention so that she can pray more intimately and love her neighbor more fully. As she says, "school studies" should help us fulfill the two great commandments to love God and others. (stay tuned for future blogs about this article as I read more from Simone Weil)

As we step into the learning groove of another academic year, slow down and make your students work hard. The slow, hard work of school is best for learning. 

Remember, "what hurts, instructs."

Rungs in the Ladder: Spiritual Disciplines

In my last blog post Where is your Ladder Leaning?, I challenged us all to embrace a teleological perspective on life ... looking at the end of the journey or the rooftop that your ladder is leaning against.

I find the ladder analogy helpful in keeping my eye on the "chief end" for my life, but it is also valuable to pay attention to the daily rungs in that ladder. Just as a long-term goal needs short-term steps along the way, a teleological life perspective needs daily actions that move us towards that future goal. 

Each teleological end, has steps along the way. Professional athletes pursuing a world championship have a strict, daily regimen of practice, strength training, and diet ... each discipline is a rung on the ladder to athletic success. If your main goal in life is to be wealthy, there are seminars, workshops, blogs, books, and podcasts telling you the steps you must take to achieve that goal. The same can be found (all for a price) if your rooftop goal is focused on health, beauty, or fitness. Religions, likewise incorporate disciplines (called spiritual disciplines) to achieve eternal bliss, states of enlightenment, or a celestial kingdom.

For Christianity, spiritual disciplines are different than other religions. Christian spiritual disciplines are for spiritual growth and to grow closer to God NOT to earn God's favor or to achieve salvation. To be honest, Christians have become lazy in our spiritual disciplines, and, to continue the analogy, it has weakened the rungs in our ladder and caused spiritual instability. 

Christian spiritual disciplines are relatively simple actions that ought to become habits of righteousness. If our chief end is to "glorify God and enjoy Him forever," we should follow God's plan and use it to "train up our children in the way they should go" (Prov. 22.6). 

Here are a few of those rungs that should be in our ladder (and trained up in our children) ...

Delight in the Bible and Meditate on it Day and Night.  

God clearly outlines a path for the "blessed life" in Psalm 1. After stating what we should not do, the psalmist provides a simple spiritual discipline: blessed is the one who delights in God's word and meditates on it day and night.

Two elements to this spiritual discipline. 

1) Meditate (read, consider, reflect) on God's word day and night. Simply, set aside time for Bible reading each morning and evening. 

What a great way to begin and end the day! Do we practice this spiritual discipline? Have we trained our children in this so that when they are old they will not depart from it?

2) Delight in God's word. Simply, find joy, wonder, awe in what you are reading day and night.

This seems contradictory to the word "discipline."  Isn't a discipline hard and difficult, not delightful? Deep hermeneutical Bible study is hard work ... that is a spiritual discipline, for sure, but is just delighting in God's word? 

What a great gift! God wants this to be a joy not a chore. How often do we delight in God's word? Do we share that delight with our children?  Yes, you can do a "hard" Bible study, but make sure you don't lose the delight in the work.  

Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks 

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 adds three rungs to the ladder. We often focus on "pray without ceasing" as a spiritual discipline, but it is sandwiched between rejoicing and thanksgiving in this passage. Simply, our prayers (and our lives) should be filled with joy and thankfulness because of what God has done. 

Spiritual disciplines are habits that are so embedded in your life that you couldn't live without them. Do you habitually pray, rejoice, and give thanks without ceasing? Are you spending time in prayer as an integral part of your day? Would your family, co-workers, and neighbors describe you as joyful and thankful? Are your children "counting their blessings" and praising God for them? 

Train Together

Spiritual disciplines, like athletic training, are best done together. God calls us to practice the spiritual disciplines both individually and with others. Paul challenges us to continue to meet regularly together for encouragement (Heb. 10:25) and "to spur up one another to love and good works" (Heb. 10:24).

Most of the spiritual disciplines are also trained up in church. Faithful churches meditate upon and delight in God's word. They rejoice, pray, and give thanks. What an encouragement church is each week! It is also a spiritual discipline that needs to be trained ... has it become a practice that is such an important part of your life that it hurts to miss it? 

Additionally, God calls us to meet together with other believers in small groups (even two or three gathered - Matthew 18:20) to train together on these spiritual disciplines ... read God's word, delight, rejoice, pray, give thanks (and many more). Meeting with Christian friends is also a spiritual discipline that is simple and delightful, but one that shouldn't be neglected. To return to Psalm 1:1 ... the unblessed life is the opposite of meeting with Christian friends, i.e., walking with the wicked, standing with sinners, and sitting with scoffers.

Spiritual disciplines are rungs on the ladder to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Let's ensure that those are strong steps in our spiritual growth ladder.

To be honest, spiritual disciplines have been a challenge for me, and this blog was difficult to write. I struggle with most of these, and they have not become habits of righteousness. If I look at my ladder, I definitely have some rungs that need to be stronger. However, I am thanking God for being gracious with me. God helps me every step of the way, and I hope that you found some encouragement in this blog.

Where is your Ladder Leaning?

If life is like a ladder, you have to be careful what wall you lean it against. This simile comes from a Stephen Covey quote: "If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just get us to the wrong place faster." Imagine getting to the top of the ladder of life only to realize that it was leaning against the wrong wall.

This is an interesting analogy used to emphasize a teleological perspective on life and to even consider with parenting. While not a perfect analogy for parenting, we often set our children on the first few rungs of a ladder without considering where that ultimately leads them. Unfortunately, many ladders are leaning against a wall that leads to a rooftop idol.

What wall is your ladder leaning against?

The Westminster Catechism begins with a "ladder" question ... "What is the chief end of man?" or to fit this analogy, what is the wall that our ladder should be leaning against? The Westminster divines answered this with ... "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." What a blessing to know that your ladder is against a wall leading to that roof ... soli deo gloria. 

Our culture has many well-trafficked ladders with people scrambling over each other to get to the rooftop idol. The rungs of those ladders can be identified by the amount of time, energy, and resources spent on things.

Affluence

Of all the idols of our time, affluence is at the highest rooftop. We have a ton of different ladders leading to the idols of financial success and comfort in life; and many people will do anything on this ladder to get to the top. In fact, if we are honest, parents want their children to attend a "good" K-12 school, so that they can get into a "good" college, so that they can get a "good" job, so that they can earn enough money to live a comfortable life (and send their own kids to a "good" school) ... and parents spend a lot of time, energy, and resources to ensure that this happens. However, is affluence and a comfortable life a proper rooftop goal ... or is it an idol of our time?

Athletics

As a parent, we want our children to develop their athletic talents, so time, energy, and resources are spent on youth sports. In fact, youth sports is a $40 billion industry in America (with parents paying more than $1,000 per sport), with an ever-increasing demand on time.  Interestingly, most sports are described as "terminal," meaning there will be an end to playing a sport, with only .023% playing professionally ... and most of those athletes retire before the age of 40. I know there is always pickleball 😊, but is athletics a ladder that leads to a rooftop idol or to a chief end?

Health, Fitness, Beauty

Surely, this is an honorable ladder to climb; looking at economics, Americans sure think so. The health and fitness industry is a huge economic force, valued at $22 billion annually with over 72 million Americans holding gym/fitness club membership. Additionally, the vitamin and supplement industry is valued at close to $60 billion, and the beauty market topping $100 billion. This ladder is fueled by social media's negative impact on self-esteem, mental health, and body image. While it may be a good thing to stay healthy and look beautiful, is it a chief end?

Of course, each "idol of our time" has multiple ladders leading to it.

Where is the ladder leaning for your children?

 

As a parent of five adult children, it has been convicting considering this question. I've definitely helped my kids take the first few steps on ladders that lead away from the rooftop that glorifies God, and I've even climbed some of those ladders ahead of them. 

When our covenant children get to the top of the ladder, what do we want them to find on the rooftop? Personally, I want my children to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love their neighbors as themselves. I want them to live with biblical wisdom; to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.

What are the rungs on this ladder?

• Make church attendance a priority for everyone in the family. (Hebrews 10:25)
• Set aside Sunday as a day of rest and worship. (Westminster Catechism 60)
• Spend time as a family reading and delighting in God's word. (Psalm 1:1-2)
• Teach your children how to study God's word and learn about theology through hermeneutics, catechisms, and Bible study resources.
• Pray as a family in all situations, asking for wisdom. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
• Sing God's word, hymns, and spiritual songs together. (Colossians 3:16)
• Encourage working diligently as to the Lord. (Colossians 3:23)
• Serve together as a family. (I Peter 4:10)
• Consider and discuss every aspect of life from a biblical perspective, asking what does God's word say about that?

These are some of the rungs that will help place your ladder on the right wall, leading your children to a chief end.

Resolution: Delight in God's Word

One of the more common New Year's resolutions for Christians is to read through the Bible in one year. Even though it is often on my resolution list, I have never accomplished this resolution. Rather than try harder this year, let me explain why I think this should be removed from the list of honorable resolutions. In short, this resolution makes reading God's word a chore instead of a delight (at least for me). Even if you've "conquered" this resolution, I hope you keep reading and learn from my journey.

Delight to Be Blessed

Resolutions are intended to help us be more "blessed" in the new year. You are blessed if you are physically or financially more healthy this year. You are blessed if you overcome a self-destructive habit. You are blessed if you check something off your bucket list. However, more significantly, God says you are blessed if you delight in the Bible.

Psalm 1 identifies the way to be blessed, a life-long resolution ... listing three areas to avoid (v. 1) and two action items (v. 2).

1 Blessed is the man

    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and on his law he meditates day and night. 

Focusing on the action items for this resolution ... how can we 1) delight in the law of the Lord (God's word) and 2) meditate on it day and night?

Delight and Meditate

While a popular "Christian" resolution, God does not command us to read through the Bible in a year; however, He does command us to delight in His word and meditate on it. 

I don't know about you, but I'm a learner ... and I delight in learning new things. It may seem odd, but I enjoy researching as it provides an opportunity to learn something new. When I delight in a new learning, I also meditate on it, as it sticks in my mind, percolates there, and resurfaces at random times ... that is what it looks like for me to mentally delight in something. However, I do not delight in overwhelming chores, and that has been my problem with reading through the Bible in a year. 

So how do I delight in God's word?

1. Read the Bible: Logically, if we want to learn about something, we need to spend time with it. If we spend time with a loved one, learn deeply about that person, we delight in both the person and the process. For a book, we need to do the same ... spend time in it. Read the Bible ... that is the start (and really the end) of my resolution.
2. Learn from others: I have always taken notes while listening to a sermon. It helps me focus, but it fits with my  "learner" strength. I often hear a sermon that causes me to delight on a Bible passage, and that leads me to meditate on it for the rest of the day or even week.
3. Study the Bible: I delight when I uncover something new (to me) through Bible study. I enjoy reading a concordance, commentary, or Bible handbook for individual study or in preparation for an official Bible study, devotion, or chapel homily that I am leading. Like sermons, often these studies stick in my mind, causing me to meditate on it day and night.
4. Take Small Bites: I love expository preaching (and study), where someone explains a word, phrase, or verse in depth rather than more superficial understandings of a larger passages. I imagine it frustrates some to go slowly through a passage (taking an entire year to preach through a book of the Bible), but I delight in that form of preaching and study.  
5. Create a Habit: I struggle with spiritual disciplines or habits ... like reading the Bible every day, but that is exactly what God commands us to do with His word ... "meditate on it day and night" (Joshua 1:8). While the phrase "day and night" represents "at all times," it can also literally provide a rhythm for us. A good practice for us to follow is to begin and end the day with God's word. In practice, we delight in things that we think about when we rise in the morning and when we lay down in the evening. How convicting that is for me: I "meditate" about work, sports teams, family, social media posts, politics, and entertainment much more than on God's word.

My resolution for this year is to use the above ideas to delight and meditate on God's word. No, I will not read through the entire Bible this year, but I hope to create a habit each morning and evening of reading and reflecting on a few verses. With God's help, this practice will lead to delighting in God's word more and more this year.

Join me in delighting in God's word this year and be blessed!

Buechner Inspired Calling

In the spring, seniors in high school and college are thinking about calling, with the former selecting a college and a major and the latter applying for jobs. We often talk about students finding their calling or vocation, as individuals ... but finding the calling for an institution is equally important. Each organization likely has a mission statement, core values, and a strategic plan, but have they truly sought their calling?

What should be the calling of a school?

American philosopher and theologian Frederick Buechner is known for his quote on calling:

"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

We interpret this quote (as likely intended) to be about an individual person identifying his/her gifts, interests, and passions (what he/she is created to do) and then trying to find how to use that "deep gladness" to make a positive difference addressing an identified need ("deep hunger") in this world. This is an important wondering as we individually strive to be reformational and restorative in this broken world. However, shouldn't we also consider this quote for an institution?

What if each institution (for-profit, non-profit, religious, or secular) considered this quote?  What a powerful exercise to consider calling, as Buechner defined it!

• As an institution, what is our deep gladness? What is our passion, what are we created to do, and what do we do really well?
• As an institution, how can that deep gladness meet the world's deep hunger? Is there a way to use our institution to help to restore brokenness in this world?

Sometimes those two naturally align. 

To be too literal, a farmer, passionate about growing and harvesting crops to the best of his/her ability is directly meeting the world's deep hunger of food. As the bumper sticker says, "No Farms, No Food." A farmer is living a Buechner inspired calling.

The founder of TOMS shoes, Blake Mycoskie's deep gladness was in making shoes, but he also recognized the "hunger" in the lack of shoes in impoverished communities, so he developed the One for One model to meet that "deep hunger." For each shoe purchased, the company donated a shoe. TOMS' mission statement is simply "use business to improve lives." That is a Buechner inspired calling.  

• Read the TOMS story HERE!

Can schools have a similar Buechner inspired calling? Absolutely.

It does take three steps ... 

1. Identifying the educational institution's deep gladness.
2. Remembering the educational institution's mission statement. 
3. Evaluating the deep hunger in our society.

Often schools have this process backwards. Educators see the needs (deep hunger) in our society, but forget their school's mission statement and deep gladness (i.e. what schools are created to do). Schools turn into churches (because the 'hunger" of evangelism), soup kitchens (because the "hunger" of homelessness), families (because the "hunger" of broken homes) and social clubs (because the "hunger" of community). Although each of those areas are important hungers that need to be met, they are likely not found in a school's mission statement and arguably are not what schools are created to do.

So what do schools do better than any other institution? Educate students!

General Knowledge

General knowledge is one of the deep hungers in our society today ... and we are getting hungrier! The good news is that knowledge acquisition aligns well with both a school's "deep gladness" and mission statement. Unfortunately, schools are under-performing. I am appalled by the level of ignorance in our culture today. I have stopped laughing at the "man on the street" interviews; there is nothing funny about ignorance. Mark Bauerlein calls this the "dumbest generation" due to the digital age, and I agree. Schools must address this hunger with a passion ... tackle ignorance head on, build overall literacy and competency, and reclaim the purpose of education. That is one example of a Buechner inspired calling.

Wisdom

Once our culture becomes smart again, we can "get wisdom." While not able to be fully realized without a knowledge base, wisdom is also a deep hunger in our culture today. One way to address this deep hunger is to start teaching philosophy again ("philosophy" is literally translated "the love of wisdom"); students must learn to philosophize ... to love wisdom! Unfortunately, we have too many examples of smart people who are not wise; again, schools are positioned well to address this hunger, and teaching wisdom should be our deep gladness!

Christian schools have a head start on teaching wisdom, as the Bible states in Proverbs 9:10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Educators must start by teaching students to fear the Lord if we want to improve wisdom. Modern usage of the word "fear" connotes being afraid (as "I fear walking down the street alone at night"); however, the biblical definition of fear is to have reverence and respect. Fearing God and His word, which includes obeying His commands, has waned in today's culture. It is no wonder that wisdom has also been on a decline. Christian schools must begin where God commands us to begin ... the fear of the Lord. Unfortunately, we have too many examples of Christian schools (and Christian colleges) that do not fear God or His word. In fact, in Christian colleges today, some professors think that they are smarter than God, questioning His word, or even mocking it, rather than fearing it. They clearly are not wise.

If Christian schools want to embrace a Buechner inspired calling, they must fear the Lord, build general knowledge, and get wisdom. 

• What is your deep gladness as an educator?
• Does it fit your educational mission statement?
• Is there a deep hunger that you/your students can help restore?

How exciting it would be if every school (as well as every educator) had a Buechner inspired calling!