What happens when an entire culture allows the purpose of education to confuse, dissuade, obscure, divide, and spread ignorance? What happens in said culture where ethics are separated from education and those in administrative positions reject all core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion? And how about rewriting history replacing factual evidence with fantasy and fan fiction? Should we be concerned with the threats to quality learning by politically imposed constraints and limitations? And is there a cultural parallel to spiritual formation and Christian education?

If you find yourself in the mood to become disillusioned and depressed, spend a couple hours Googling news about education at the local, state, and federal levels. The picture is not pretty, and it is an almost 180-degree about-face concerning the value and importance of education from the beginning of the 21st century. The average American in 2000 believed that a good education was essential for a successful career – to the tune of 80%. Educators and teachers across the country celebrated that a concise but comprehensive understanding of our country’s history was essential, correcting myths and misconceptions of American exceptionalism (generally perpetuated by white males). College enrollment was strong, post-graduate study was on the increase, and the fruits produced by research and development initiatives were at an all-time high.

So, what happened? IMHO we basically reinforced the misunderstanding that education equals intelligence. We forget that often some of the most oblivious, selfish, needy, controlling, bent, and broken people are extremely well educated (and that a number of certifiable morons have achieved amazing heights). Another significant cause of the deterioration of education at the moment is simply the number of educators who forgot the purpose of education hit critical mass. In the 17th and 18th century, education was seen as the salvation of humanity. Though consigned almost totally to privileged white males, the foundation for the importance of a well-rounded and expansive education was laid. In the late 19th and early 20th century we came to the awareness that education should be a right rather than a privilege, therefore we should make a quality education available to anyone and everyone desiring to learn. However, as we transitioned into the current century education became a commodity rather than the key to healthy and sustainable community. Think about the rise of online universities and degree mills, charter schools, private academies (generally very conservative Christian), poorly moderated home schooling, skyrocketing tuition fees, usurious student loan options, and the desire to end the U.S. Department of Education. Each of these aspects chip away at the desirability and availability of a quality education. Expand the circle a bit wider to include book-banning, textbook editing, aversion to issues of racism, sexism, colonization, ethnic cleansing, military actions and behaviors, and things look really bleak.

This cannot hope to avoid impact on our spiritual and religious learning. Christian publishing has suffered a fundamental flaw in the area of education because it is motivated by profit rather than being prophetic. Almost all Christian curriculum is geared toward the beginner in the faith. Everything is produced at the introductory 101 level. Across many denominations, long-time Christian learners lament that there is really nothing offered for them – no 201, 301, 401, Masters level learning options. Pastors often lament that there is no way they can take what they learn in seminary back to the local church. Why is that I wonder…? We ask adults who have only ever been taught the very basics to then teach others. Most pastors confess that they offer no form of teacher training or preparation. All too often, a willing volunteer is handed a pre-packaged curriculum and then left to their own devices. A century ago, confirmation classes lasted between 9 months to 2 years. Today, young people are often confirmed following a confirmation weekend retreat, by completing an online 5-session training (with no other human contact or interaction), or by attending a 5- to 12-week confirmation class. I’m not implying that the quality of a century ago was superior to our own day, but simply that the focus on the importance of education and process was greater.

Then, what move did The United Methodist Church make in this century that traded education for ignorance and undermined the integrity of biblical study? Answer: it decided no longer to pay licensing rights for the excellent New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) but to create its own Bible – the insipid, erroneous, disjointed, jarring, laughable paraphrase passing as translation Common English Bible (CEB). The CEB pretends to make scripture more accessible but makes true understanding all but impossible. Some of the passages are so far from the original intention that they accomplish nothing more than dumbing down the Word of God.

And speaking of dumbing down, I remember when I was developing the FaithQuest Bible Study late last century, I sent copies to members of our United Methodist Christian Educators Fellowship for review and comment. FaithQuest blended concepts of lifelong learning, quality improvement, and sustainable growth with the teachings of Jesus in Luke, Luke’s story of the early Christian movement in Acts, the Pauline teachings of Ephesians, and the teaching and preaching of John Wesley. Across the board, nine Christian educators offered me a single piece of advice: dumb. it. down. I was appalled. It was explained to me that anything written above a third-grade level wouldn’t sell, and therefore it wouldn’t be used. I held my ground (analysis of FaithQuest places it at a 12th grade reading level) and was disdained by the CEF afterward. But to my delight, I have a thick envelope full of letters and emails thanking me for not condescending to them, giving them something of depth and substance to work with instead of materials that were a mile wide but only an inch deep. Twenty-seven years after its release, I still get notes from pastors and laity today telling me how meaningful FaithQuest was to their learning.

I may be completely wrong, but I believe most people want to learn, are hungry to grow, and that true learning is valued and respected. I believe we often sell people short and find ways to make some of the most exciting ideas and information stunningly uninteresting and boring. I think we have actually cultivated an ADD (attention deficit disorder) society, making focus and concentration all but impossible. And screens. Screens can be one way to learn, but we seem to be learning all the wrong things from our screens. Students need teachers as well as teachings, and human contact is actually an essential component of lifelong learning.

Okay, I will wrap up this rant. I pastored a couple small, rural New Jersey congregations, merging them together to form a new community of faith. Merging churches comes with some delicate challenges. One congregation had the money, the other the program and facility. By the grace of God, we launched an “Each One Teach One,” program where people picked up a scripture assignment with a series of questions. Once they completed their study, they were to find someone from the other congregation that they didn’t know and share with them what they learned. Out of a total of 77 people, 68 participated and almost everyone agreed that it was an amazing way to get them to know one another, and some friendships emerged from the process that have lasted to this day. Bottom line: education is important when we remember that it is learning for the common good and the betterment of the many rather than the few. We are better together when we commit to be better individually as well.