We all know that Brother Witness Lee often charged the young people to pursue higher education. In the book God, Education, and Character, he even says, “According to my experience of human life, education is next only to God” (ch. 1, section 1).
Based upon this kind of fellowship, many of us young adults in the Lord’s recovery are pursuing advanced education in medical, law, business, or graduate school. Having taken this path, it is helpful to be reminded of why we are continuing our education.
In the book A Blessed Human Life, Brother Lee provides just such a reminder. He exhorts us not to pursue education as an end in itself or for a common purpose.
He writes, “A person studies, labors, and strives in order to receive a high education, obtain a good job, and have a good future; yet in the end when he dies, he has nothing….Suppose we take the way of the world to become a prominent scholar or even a president of a university. What then? Every one of us will die and be buried, and when that day comes, we cannot take anything with us, not even one dollar or one diploma.”
What then is the purpose and value of education?
In brief, education is one of five ways that we prepare ourselves to cooperate with the Lord for the spread of His recovery across the entire earth. For Brother Lee’s full answer, see chapter four of A Blessed Human Life.
We hope that this post and the ministry portions referenced above in God, Education, and Character and A Blessed Human Life will open up fellowship among us regarding how we handle education as young adults in the Lord’s recovery.
If you have any feeling or fellowship, please use the comments section below.
Being in my fourth year of medical school, I have a lot of feeling on this matter – it is crucial that we view our education differently than those in the world. I had a wonderful realization at the training last summer.
During the training (the opening word of message 2), brother Ron shared that we need to be those who:
1)believe that God is
2)say “Amen” to His word
3)earnestly seek Him
4)know Him
5)are open to Him
I was particularly touched by the point on seeking the Lord. I spend many days and nights surrounded by people who are not seeking Him whatsoever. As a matter of fact they are seeking many things other than Him, and they are doing so with their whole being. It began to make me wonder, “What am I doing here? Am I seeking an education, position, or status just like everyone around me?” After all, I am doing the same things and jumping through the same hoops as everyone else – it is hard to avoid having such things creep in when you are in such an intense environment.
The answer to my questioning came from brother Ron’s closing word at the FTTA graduation. His burden was to share that we each have a course, and we should be faithful to finish our particular course set for us by the Lord. Just as Paul could say that he had “finished his course,” we should also have the aspiration and the desire to finish whatever the Lord has arranged for us. I realized that I am in medical school for one reason only – my course happened to pass through this place. I am not here to seek fame or fortune, but simply because I am walking on the course the Lord set before me, and where that course leads is absolutely out of my control. If He leads me to serve, then I serve. If He leads me to get a job, then I get a job. And if He leads me to go to school, then I go to school.
It was a relief to see that while my classmates and I all appear to be doing the same thing outwardly, I am not here for the same reasons they are. While we are studying the same material and taking the same tests, I am not seeking the same things they are. I am seeking after the Lord and His economy, not my economy. Where my course may lead after this I do not know, but may the Lord have mercy on me to keep me on the particular path He has set for me.
Thank Lord for guidance in book. When consecrating to the Lord, everything is in His hand. In Him we have all the blessing, every situation is great. “The top human life is a life that takes the way of the Lord.
“Young brothers and sisters, I hope that from the days of your youth you will have a great resolve and make a great plan to live for the Lord… May the Lord bless you according to these words you have heard.”
Amen. Am shepherded by this too. As i pursue my MBA, i always ask myself “why am i here?” what am i doing? maybe i made a mistake? then immediately i remember all the nights of fellowship I had before I started. And i realise that I am almost like those christians who ask ” is it God’s will for me to be here?” Actually, i need to just care for God’s will according to Revelation 4:11. everything was created because of His will and not because of me! May the Lord turn us from so much self-consideration to His will, His plan, His desire.If we take care of the Lord, He will take care of us! Praise the Lord!
Why we will call on the name of the Lord unceasingly