"Our Schoolmaster To Bring Us . . ."

School . . .

"School" is a means to force someone into the behaviors that are associated with education.  At school, you are required to devote certain time periods to certain subjects – you are required to listen to someone trying to deciminate information – you are required to read certain books, process certain information by answering questions – you are given deadlines to finish the work by – etc. etc. 

However, school is not education.  Education is something else.

Consider what would happen if one were freed from school.  If one were allowed to pursue education without the rigid requirements of a school setting.  What would you do?  Well, that depends a lot on your nature.  If you are of a “non-educational nature”, you would probably sit around, watch TV, eat a lot, hang out with friends . . . but you’re not likely to do anything that would lead to much education.  Your nature would prevent that.

But if you are of an “educational nature”, you would still end up getting an education – and perhaps a better one than the school could give you, because you would have the freedom to acquire knowledge and information in your own way.  You could focus on material that has meaning for you, which means the information would stick. You can adapt your method to your own learning style – visual, auditory, kinesthetic, left-brain, right-brain, convergent, divergent, morning, afternoon, evening, etc.  You would easily see the application of what you’re learning and, therefore, apply it.  This is REAL education. 

So, is school a bad thing? No, of course not.  There is some learning that happens better in a school environment.  But most importantly, most people would never be interested in being educated if school hasn’t gotten them started.  It reveals to us how much there is out there to learn.

 

Now, bear with me a minute as I articulate for myself a recent insight because in reality, this post is not about education.  This is about the Law, with a capital L, as referred to in the Bible in Romans and Galatians and all.  These verses were unclear to me for years, but there it is.  Law = school.  It forces us into the behaviors that are associated with righteousness, but it doesn’t produce righteousness itself.  It merely reveals how unrighteous we are.  Righteousness comes apart from the law, when we get a new nature – a righteous nature – from God.  Then we have the desire and ability to do the things that genuinely lead to righteousness. 

Not a new or perfect analogy, but you know – I’m a teacher – it spoke to me.  J