The Arrogance of Education

We were blessed with a story of overwhelming evangelistic success today in a special chapel service. Pastor Sibanda is from Zimbabwe where he began serving in a district of 270 members without any formal theological education or training. Armed with the Bible and the book Christian Service written by Ellen White he began praying for and training his members to visit, care for and study with people in their area. Over the last 6 years the district has grown from 270 members to over 21,000. Yes, you read that right.

The story of care for people was compelling and powerful in spite of the awkwardness of the two pastors trying to help tell it. Growth like this in a church is unheard of in nearly EVERY denomination and especially mind-blowing in the Seventh-day Adventist church. Certainly church leaders and planters are eager to know the formula for success in soul-winning and so Pastor Sibanda is brought to enlighten us.

His words were humble and simple. The formula was embarrassing to an institution whose goal is to sell toolboxes full of soul-winning implements. The answer was simply this: 2-3 hours of prayer for the district, it's people and their struggles; and, read/study the Bible to the point that its words are planted in the mind for further meditation and study when the Bible isn't even physically available; and finally, implementing the methods of service from the book Christian Service.

One of the interviewers really showed the true arrogance of this institution when in response to this he said: "Isn't it amazing what God can do with a young person with no formal training? I'm not saying this to tell you to leave the seminary. But imagine what God could do with someone with the right training?"

Say what??? Does anyone else see the arrogance in this statement?

Here is a man who God has used to grow a district at an astronomical rate and the best we can highlight is that his success would have been greater if he had had more training? Wouldn't it make more sense to highlight that his success probably would have been hindered if he had more formal training?

I can envision this same professor standing up next to Jesus and praising Christ's miracles and ministry and salvation on the cross, but OH, what if Jesus had been formally trained...how much more He could have accomplished!!

Hogwash.

Let's stop patting ourselves on the back for building big institutions and thinking that only the "formally educated" can be successful. Let's praise the work of God in those who are not hindered by their intelligence and degrees. Let's exalt a God who works in spite of our intelligence, education and arrogance. Let's follow the power-filled example of Pastor Sibanda and actually pray the 2-3 hours for our church and fill our minds with the Bible so deeply that we have the Scriptures with us even when the physical Bible isn't present. I find that far more useful than many of the useless facts I'm forced to memorize right now.