For Human Flourishing

"The process of secularization arises not from the loss of faith, but from the loss of solid interest in the world of faith. It begins the moment men feel that religion is irrelevant to the common way of life and that society as such has nothing to do with the truths of faith." (Christopher Dawson, 1948, The Outlook for Christian Culture, emphasis mine)

Christopher Dawson wrote prolifically in the mid 20th century while watching Western civilization teeter on the brink of and tip towards decline. Trained as a sociologist and historian, his interest in the vitalization of western civilization was only secondary. He was a firm believer in the addage that "Culture is religion externalized" so his primary interest was in Christian vitality. It was only too clear to him that western civlization was the result of a dynamic Christ oriented view of life, and if it was to be brought back to its former glory and vigor, it would be through an enlivened church that carried into every arena of life a vigorous transforming faith. Without that, the church herself would be the reason for the surrounding secularization.

The quote above describes the condition we find ourselves in at the beginning of the 21st century. We live in a society that feels religion is irrelevant to the common way of life; that society has nothing to do with the truths of the Christian faith. Tragically, this happens to be the very condition of the church. How many professing Christians do you know that live as though the only thing that matters is pleasing God? Most of us can't bring ourselves to linger over the Word of God and reflect on the life of Christ to see what it tells us about how we should live in our jobs or in our homes; but we can't wait for the next generation of iPhone or iPad. And so banking suffers, and medicine suffers, and our communities suffer, and our libraries suffer as secularization trickles in and stifles what little spiritual influence faith may have. And so we wonder and are appalled at commercials that utilize illicit allurement to sell hamburgers and near prime time ads promote male medications.

"I passed by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man." (Proverbs 24:30-34)

In our neglect, our poverty has overtaken us. We have met the enemy, and he is us. We have allowed a secular culture to define for us the purpose of life, and dare I say it, the purpose of education. Once again, Dawson saw it coming 60 years ago.

"The whole tendency of modern life is toward scientific planning and organization, central control, standardization and specialization. If this tendency was left to work itself out to its extreme conclusion, one might expect to see the state transformed into an immense social machine, all the individual components of which are strictly limited to the performance of a definite and specialized function, where there could be no freedom because the machine could only work smoothly so long as every wheel and cog performed its task with unvarying regularity. Now the nearest modern society comes to this state of total organization, the more difficult it is to find any place for spiritual freedom and personal responsibility. Education itself becomes an essential part of the machine, for the mind has to be as completely measured and controlled by the techniques of the scientific expert as the task which it is being trained to perform." (Christopher Dawson, 1948, The Outlook for Christian Culture, emphasis mine)

Our educational structures, in their secular precommitments, have turned us into button pushing monkeys, all for the sake of order and economic productivity, of scientific measure and control. They have measured our worth based upon a single test with a single number, all for the competitive advantage of a $. Are you not more than that?

There is a way out of the morass. There is a way to hack down the nettles and thorns, to rebuild the stone wall, and to bring the vines back to fruitfulness. An education that does not allow a secular culture to define what is worth learning and why, that strives to take every thought captive to Christ, is a means of reintroducing vitality into the church, and consequently a whole society. It has been happening in Malawi for 22 years, and Pakistan for 15. An education that takes Lordship, and wonder, and beauty, and wisdom, and discipleship seriously is one which will revitalize people, especially a people which has been introduced to Life.

Steven Loomis of Wheaton College speaks regularly about education for Human flourishing. By this he means an education that stretches the human mind into perceptions and perspectives that assess each idea, embrace that which is good, and disdain that which is degrading or reductionist. He means an education that forms and shapes a sense of aesthetic, an understanding of human nature, especially that in right relationship to its Creator. He means an education that will continue to bear wholesomeness long after the student has commenced from the classroom. This is the kind of education which is suitable for those bearing the Image of the divine.

Such an education is not easy. It is HARD. It is hard work. When one cuts across the grain of culture, is counter cultural, there is resistance. Nobody likes their boat rocked! But an education for Human flourishing in a day of mediocrity and unthinking control requires such rocking. It doesn't look like what is expected, but brings with it a stirring vigor and a disturbing vitality, and over time, transformation.