I was struck today by something I read in a letter from a friend. He/she implied that being in graduate school and being able to study systematics, history of Christian thought, and the Scriptures is in some way more admirable than say being a laborer, like a custodian. This is a perspective that I should avoid at all costs. Having education is never something I should be prideful about; rather it is an opportunity with an end goal in mind. It is not something that should ever cause me to feel some superior satisfaction about myself or my accomplishments or believe that in some way I have achieved a status of value above others. I heard someone allude that academic exercises like what I am talking about are something of higher value. But in actuality, there is no difference before God in what we are held responsible for when one compares being an academic and
a janitor. Both are ways in which we are to serve God and rely upon him as we serve others, knowing that he has provided the grace to, as Paul says, "work at them with all your heart, as to the Lord..." (Col. 3:23 TNIV). Somehow people tend to think that higher knowledge/education entitles them to some higher status, but in actually it should humble them to the point that they desire to serve others in greater capacity than ever before. This was a problem with Gnosticism in the early church and it seems that at the core, it is still a problem today. The study of the Scriptures, theology, and the like should have an impact upon one's life to the point that they desire to be more like the God they study and thereby take up a stance of sacrifice and service of humanity. Being able to teach others things that they have never had the privilege to study is an aspect of grace from God that I never should take for granted. Whether I am a custodian (which I have performed while in college) or I am teaching God's truths in an ecclesial setting, in the academy, or simply teaching them to my family and friends, I am to be passing along the grace that God has given me so often in my life. But the custodian is also given grace to perform the say tasks of service to others. I have to keep that in mind each day. Pride is an awful thing that turns oneself inward and focuses upon the individual in a way that poisons the peace that God desires for us in community. But grace is the key to providing that echad ("oneness" and peace with humanity and God) that our Father desires for us all. The Spirit enables us through the sacrifice of Christ to be servants for others and to be humble. A teacher of mine once told me that "humility is not thinking lowly of oneself, rather it is not thinking of oneself at all." May we all have this mentality that we do not have time to think of ourselves because are too busy focusing upon the Spirit and how we may serve our Lord by serving others.
