I sometimes hear people say things like: "Don't let education ruin your passion for God." Or "I read the Bible not textbooks that can ruin me." Or "I had a [nephew] on fire for God until he went to seminary. He was ruined there."
So I am officially going on record acknowledging that, yes, education has ruined me too. Here are the 7 ways:
1. It taught me how to rightly divide God's Word and develop biblical interpretational skills ensuring accurate content whenever I teach or preach. It ruined me from being able to teach and preach whatever idea pops into my mind.
2. It taught me to think theologically. It ruined me from being able to chase after whatever theological fad is in vogue.
3. It taught me to be a good listener to a variety of voices learning how to extract the "take-aways" and ignore the nuggets that are questionable. It ruined from being able to listen to whatever podcast my itching ears want to hear and accept the entire teaching as gospel truth.
4. It taught me to know the difference between the essentials and the non-essentials affording me the opportunity to fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ from many different traditions. It ruined me from being isolated within my fellowship having no outside collegiality or interaction.
5. It taught me to be deeply honored and grateful for being Pentecostal enjoying the global impact and size of our movement. It ruined me from small thinking and false inferiority associated with being a part of an on-the-other-side-of-the-tracks church.
6. It taught me to write and develop my thoughts through words expanding my ministry to both the spoken and written word. It ruined me from always using the excuse that I'm not a good writer.
7. It taught me to be a lifelong learner. It ruined me from living a life of mediocre thinking rarely expanding my brain.
Ex nihilo,
R.J. Rhoden, President
Ascent.edu
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