Smart Christians?

Conventional wisdom seldom consults the facts while stereotypes thrive on ignorance. When unchecked both create a reality distortion field that skew our good intentions and derail earnest ministry... And screw up the life of our youth.

Conventional wisdom says that the dim and the ignorant are more likely to have faith, so beware of book learning and distract people from deep thoughts and rational inquiry. Yet the facts say something very different. A recent University of Nebraska-Lincoln study shows that likelihood of someone attending a religious service increases by 15% for each year of higher education he or she completed. In addition, the likelihood of reading the Bible also increases 9% for each additional year of education. That's significant when you take into account that Biblical illiteracy is now so high even among evangelicals.

Also contrary to conventional wisdom, the group leaving the church in the greatest number are those without a higher education. I need to note here that a college education does not define a person's intelligence. Some are bright enough that a college education is redundant. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, philosopher Mortimer Adler, and a number of people I've meet in my life and travels attest to this, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

Learning is important. The majority of the U. S. population over 24 and under 40 is now college educated and that number is continuing to rise. We are commanded to love the Lord with our mind as well as our heart, soul, and strength (Luke 10:27). A tension develops, though, when pastors, youth leaders, and parents try to teach information that is not accurate, especially concerning history and science, and when they belittle learning.

Some pastors and teachers go so far as to edit Scripture to undermine the idea that study is important. They teach that Paul's outreach in Athens was a failure because he reasoned with his audience (according to Acts 17, he started a church there), downplay Peter's command for good apologetics (1 Peter 3:15), and present the Apostles as a group of simpletons. God has shaped learning, art, literature, laws, values, and more through the brilliance of his Word to us. It's okay to see the entry point of the gospel as simple, but God's message to us is not simplistic. Scripture never says, "Stop thinking and everything will be okay."

We should be ministering to the poor, the needy, and the uneducated (the three are not necessarily the same), but not because we are unwilling to do the hard work of ministering to the majority around us. Throughout most of the last two thousand years, Christian leadership was known for the hard work of learning and then communicating that knowledge to others. Pastors were expected to know Scripture and to personally devote themselves to God through prayer, worship, and service. In addition, they were expected to be knowledgable in science, philosophy, history, and literature at the very least. It was a high calling to be sure.

Intellectual laziness kills. It creates false tensions between what some say Scripture demands and what is readily observable. It is a false tension since the conflict doesn't result from Scripture or the correct observations we make but from passing on bad interpretations and misinformation that result from pop theology, short-lived Christian bestsellers, or the current Christian superstar. There are real answers to the tough questions of life. There is wisdom and understanding to be found in sincere and honest searching. Learning is not more important than the other parts of the Christian life, but neither is it less important.

The numbers show us that education and faith go together, but they also tell us that if we are too lazy to meet the challenge of this generation, they will go somewhere else.