As the Waters Cover the Sea, 2

Continued from "As the Waters Cover the Sea"

One the Church's needs today includes present day Joshuas and Calebs -- farseeing individuals who will educate themselves in the Biblical theory and methodology of knowledge and who will digest the seminal works that set out Biblical paradigms for various fields (law, government, economics, art, music, literature and the sciences) and then pass the legacy on to others. As pastors, church officers, Sunday school teachers or leaders of other church ministries, they must whet the flock's appetite for a godly understanding of every facet of life.

Those with a stake in the status quo -- including professional ministers and teachers -- will oppose them. For this reason self discipline and self motivation will mark this vanguard, and the going will not be easy.

Consider, for example, a former student of mine who caught the vision of grounding all his knowledge in Scripture. He used to visit me every time he came home from the prominent evangelical college where he studied. He would share with me his frustration at profs who opened class with a verse of Scripture and a word of prayer and then opened a humanist text and taught the class from the same perspective one could find in any secular humanist school.

This student voluntarily undertook a dualist education. He listened carefully in class, but when he returned to his dorm, he would study with his Bible in hand to unlearn everything he learned in class. Then he would relearn it from the perspective of Scripture. He earnestly pursued this strenuous practice, although the stress of it exacted its toll on him in terms of his health.

He went on to graduate school and became a respected professional in his field. Nevertheless, his commitment to remain faithful to his God in the realms of knowledge cost him the strength of his youth. If the Lord calls you into the battle to appropriate all knowledge to His glory, then you must also face the personal costs and sacrifices for such a life calling.

You will engage the enemy in this war of conquest, so you will need to face the reality of that war. With wars come casualties; people suffer. And because the enemy recognizes the far-reaching consequences of ideas, he will not permit us the luxury of ivory-tower somnambulance. Although he will most certainly engage us in our flesh and spirit, he will not prevail.