True Education: Begins with Humility

“We’re number one!”

That can either be a celebration or a boast. It can also be a lie. If it is hard to be a good loser, then it is (at least) as hard to be a good winner. The classless taunting and flaunting now common in sports is a bad cultural sign. The humble spirit of some American Olympians in 2016, quick to praise coaches, parents, and God, is encouraging.

I have seen schools do all three: pretending to be “up and coming” when they are failing, boasting about inheriting a world class school from the last generation, or (best of all!) celebrating achievement. Of course, the good winner also congratulates other people and gives the glory to God. Why?

We recognize that nobody wins alone, everyone was helped to achieve. We can and should celebrate achievement, any excuse for a party, but celebrating falsehoods destroys a team. The Detroit Lions have not won a Super Bowl: this is failure and nobody should attempt to dress up failure. To read the modern press release, every college is on the verge of producing an intellectual renaissance while providing students more than the comforts of home.

Nobody is failing until closure . . . and it is hard to close an established college, school, or church.

Why does this matter?

As human beings, we cannot teach what we do not have or model in our lives. If we are not good winners, humble, then we cannot teach humility. Anybody can play a humble man on stage, but only the truly humble teacher can bring wisdom to students.

Why?

For a Christian, wisdom begins in the “fear of the Lord.” This is not “terror” so much as “awe.” We know we are not gods, but people. Our understanding is limited and the joy of humanity is finding out and the finding out is often the discovery we were wrong.  God hides so we can learn. Thank God. Nobody will be punished for being wrong, but refusing to find out in humility carries its own damnation. The man who is sure, cocksure, is insufferable in this life and must be isolated for the sake of the party in the life to come!

Any teacher, Christian or not, knows how many mistakes we make. We hope that our students catch the good we do and not the errors. Education must begin in humility because nobody is good enough to teach. As a result, no teacher is really a teacher: we are all fellow learners.

We also learn with our students. I have never taught a class, read a book with a group, and not seen something new. How is this possible? It is not if the class is about “my knowledge of the text.” There is no doubt that my knowledge of the Iliad will be greater than The Saint Constantine School college students . . . factually. But they are each souls created in the image of God looking at a great book . . . and seeing how each individual relates to that text is always new.

It must be. No two students are alike.

One benefit of being at a place that runs from kindergarten through college is one can see that all souls can teach and no human soul is perfect. Of course, some guide, because they are further on in life and know more, but that guidance is with humility! We must constantly cry: Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!

I love our school. We are not number one in many ways, however, we are number one in that we are loved by God! Naturally, that is true of every school that opens this fall from the Ivy League to the worst funded, worst performing school in the United States. Doesn’t this fail the wise words of The Incredibles:  if everyone is super then nobody is super. This is true and we must not forget it. The Saint Constantine School soccer team will not be the best soccer team in Houston or (perhaps) not in a five block radius!

The good news is that being loved by God is not like being super. Unlike being special (or being best which is singular) being loved can be inclusive. If we are loved by God, then many things that were impossible are possible. Only one person can have the highest GPA, or win other kinds of prizes, but all of us have God’s love. We don’t earn it, we have it, but it is more valuable than air, water, or food. Most do not have to be taught to breath, drink, or eat. Fewer still have to be taught to want love, but all of us must grow in love. The goal of a higher education is to teach each of us to live in the love of God. If that task does not make everyone humble, then they cannot find love.

Love always begins in wonder . . .the glory that the Beloved could love me! No lover ever feels “worthy” . . . though every lover does what he or she can.

There is hope for all, if we will recognize we are loved by God. If a group dedicates themselves to learn, to give up on easy answers or mere ideology, when people transcend “the program,” then anybody can celebrate victory.

We win, because He wins.