Education Isn’t For Salvation

March 10, 2008

By Marjorie Kinnee

The generation preceding me delivered the gospel to their world without benefit of higher education. We would have no standing whatsoever if it were not for the shoulders of these wonderful men and women who soldiered and pioneered in the early years of the prior century. We rejoice and take great credit in the events surrounding Azusa Street and rightly so. But the brethren who led during that wonderful Holy Spirit outpouring were uneducated, and, according to this article’s inference, incapable of presenting the Gospel in a clear, understandable manner.

I say to all such thinking—you reckon without the anointing and unction of the Holy Spirit. One does not need a college degree to be an effective witness. If that were the case, most of those who try to insist that a college degree is essential would not be here today. Their forbearers would have discounted the Truth when it was presented by farmers, milkmen, railroad workers, door to door salesmen, laundresses, and cooks.

The followers of Jesus numbered a few highly placed persons such as Chuza, Herod’s steward, Cornelius, the Roman centurion, Luke the doctor, and Paul the Pharisee. But most of His closest followers were common folk—fishermen, a tax collector, and former prostitute. Jesus Himself was a lowly tradesman—a carpenter. What’s more, the world took note of the Apostles for two reasons; 1.) They were ignorant and unlearned men, and 2.) They had been with Jesus!

A Little Context

I’m part of an older generation and perhaps another mindset. I’m a graduate of an Apostolic Bible College (three years) with an additional 12 months of secular college work. My degree is in Religious Education with a minor in English.

I’ve been working in the secular world (state government) for over 22 years. My closest work associates are Economic and Tax Analysts and auditors. In addition to my daily tasks, I sit on committees and deal with private sector employers on a number of economic issues.

To the best of my ability, I have maintained an Apostolic witness in school, in the workplace throughout my career, as well as in my neighborhood, in my home, and family life. Of course, the best testimony of that would have to come from others and not myself.

I guess because I’ve lived in both worlds, I feel that my perspective is worthy of consideration.

For Instance ...

Many years ago, while teaching a junior Sunday School class, the pastor’s wife and I went to visit in the home of two children who had suddenly stopped coming. Though the children were thrilled to see us—“Mommy it’s my teacher and Sis. Hill!”—the mother was quite short with us and was bristling with defensive hackles. Knowing we had done nothing to offend her, I smiled and told her how much I enjoyed having her children in my class and how much I was missing them. I complimented her on raising such fine, well-behaved children and watched as she visibly calmed down.

Abruptly, she said, “I suppose you’re wondering why they aren’t coming.”

“Yes, I was wondering if I’ve offended you in some way.”

“No, no!” she hastened to reply, “Nothing like that! I just recently learned that (pastor) Bro. (Carl) Hill has only an eighth grade education.”

Sis. Hill spoke for the first time. (I’m sure her heart was grieved for her husband’s sake, but you never would have known it.) “I’m so sorry you feel that way. Neither myself nor my husband would offend you for anything in the world.”

The mother had the grace to be somewhat ashamed, because Sis. Hill’s soft answer had certainly turned away the woman’s umbrage.

God’s Answer

With a prayer that I would say what the Lord wanted said, I began, “Perhaps you should know about this. There is something wonderful about the Holy Spirit of God that transcends all these issues; education or the lack thereof, social position or the lack thereof, fame or obscurity, riches or poverty, political powerhouse or complete underdog—none of these things are barriers to the working of the Spirit.”

“You can’t get farther with God with an education than you can without, because He doesn’t look at the mental status. His call is to whosoever will. High, low, rich, poor, degreed, ignorant and everything in-between. The cross brings us all to common ground. We’re all sinners who need His salvation.”

“I have graduated from a Bible College. My pastor has an eighth grade education. There is a difference, yes. But lots of things are made level by the workings of the Holy Spirit.”

“Recently, I had a question. For me it was a thorny issue, one that all my Bible College had not answered. It reared its ugly head early in the week. I prayed about it, and studied without finding the answer I needed. But I had no opportunity to discuss it with anyone, not even the pastor. That Wednesday evening, when we came for Bible study, the question was hovering in the background, still unanswered, even though I’d been praying about it since Monday.”

“When the preliminaries were finished I returned to my seat and got out my notebook pen and Bible. Bro. Hill took his text and began teaching. His lesson topic was nowhere near my question, so I shoved the question back and continued taking notes.”

“Suddenly, in the midst of his lesson, almost parenthetically, he said. ‘You’ve been asking...’ and proceeded to state my question, word-for-word! I sat there stunned, but that’s not all! He went on and answered it.”

“Then, as if nothing had happened, he went on with his Bible study, picking up right where he’d left off.”

“I finished taking notes with tears running down my face.” I turned to the mother and said, “You are concerned about his lack of education. What level of education do you have?”

She tucked her head and said softly, “I graduated high school.”

“Let me say that the answers don’t come just because of a high degree. A full Bible College education did not give me the answer I needed. It took a man of God who was in touch with God and responsive to the leading of God to reach into the Spirit and pull out the specific word I needed at that moment in time.”

“This is not an isolated incident. I’ve seen these things happen time and time again. Bro. Hill is a man of God. He’s in touch with God and is obedient to God’s leading. I wouldn’t trade that for a leader with a full alphabet of letters behind his name. Most of the degreed leaders I know get all caught up in the fact that they have a degree. They spend much of their time trying to convince the world that their degree somehow makes them more valuable, more able to appeal to the intellect, more acceptable to highly educated people. But all the while, I don’t see them out bringing busloads of children to Jesus and doing the grunt work of reaching out to the hungry of heart.”

The mother apologized to Sis. Hill. She not only allowed her children to come back to the church but they were with us until the family moved some years later.

The True Test of Godliness

Let me assure you, the true test of a man of God is not how many letters he has behind his name. Rather, it is whether God knows him face to face.

Moses was highly educated in his time, but he turned his back on all that to follow the call of God out of a burning bush. A burning bush? Yes, God chose the out of the norm to catch Moses’ attention.

Saul was highly educated in his time, but he counted all that as dung that he might win Christ. He said that God chose the foolishness of preaching to bring about salvation and that not many wise, not many noble, not many rich and mighty were going to be involved.

Jesus Himself spent way more time with the hungry of heart than He did with the doctors and lawyers of His day. And those with higher education were often His most vocal critics and strongest enemies.

A Kind Rebuttal

In the aforementioned article, the young lady says, “Having an education is essential in order to reach the lost; our education is essential for their salvation. It isn’t just about believing, knowing and living the truth; it is about presenting, sharing and teaching the truth to others in a palatable way.”

I submit that a single “Rhema Word” or sentence “sent forth to quicken” will do more to affect the salvation of others than all the degrees humanly possible to achieve.

I do not lessen or demean anyone’s thirst for knowledge and education. I just know that no amount of education can be substituted for the anointing. For it’s the anointing that breaks the yoke!

Perhaps the crux of the matter can be summed up with a simple statistic. Bro. Hill with his 8th grade education went out with his wife and brought neighborhood children to church every Sunday. As they grew up and married and had families of their own, they continued steadfastly in what they had been taught. As of this writing, he is responsible for hundreds of souls, who, long after his death, are still in the Truth and serving the Lord faithfully. Like ripples in a pond, the influence of this one “ignorant and unlearned” man continues to spread. Most of this region has heard the story of how Bro. Carl T. Hill built a church on Sunday school.

How many souls have you won with your college education?

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© 2008, Marjorie Kinnee

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Marjorie Kinnee writes from Michigan. Check out her blogsite.  She'd love for you to post a comment.