The other day my A/C went out. “Great, right in the middle of summer!” I spent a sleepless night knowing rescue was soon coming. In the morning I got the bad news. I would have to replace the system. They told me I had a good run on this system, but that didn’t cushion the reality. It was a big gulp! But while talking to the gentleman advising me on my new system, I received a blessing. He shared a quote from Arthur C. Clarke about intelligence. I don’t even remember how it came up, but when I heard these word, I wrote them down immediately.
“My favourite definition of an intellectual: ‘Someone who has been educated beyond his/her intelligence.’”
― Arthur C. Clarke
Beyond Intelligence
Oh Jesus, have I not met a slew of these intellectuals educated beyond their own intelligence. People so book smart that they are utterly useless to live actual life. I can’t tell you how many extremely educated people I have met that are rather stupid. Sure, they are filled with facts and figures but without any wisdom. Why is this? How could this be? Because learning facts doesn’t necessarily make you able to apply the knowledge, all the while deceiving you to think you can.
“The man was such an intellectual he was of almost no use.”
― Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
The deception of education is thinking you know. It is the original tree of knowledge but now we pay for it rather than just picking it off a tree. Education tricks us to think we don’t need the Creator. But just because we can spout volumes of facts doesn’t mean we can live life. Actually, what it means is we can play a good game of Trivial Pursuit. Or the game show Jeopardy might be our claim to fame but functioning in life….not so much.
“Intellect is not wisdom.”
― Thomas Sowell
Educated into Stupidity
I am not anti-education but when your only knowledge is sourced in education, you can actually be stupid. I have a relative who is one of the most educated people I know. They were so smart that in their spare time they would read through the dictionary to gain more knowledge. The sheer volume of knowledge they had was incredible. But when it comes to living actual life, they are an epic fail. In every arena of life they flail rather than flourish. It is sad.
“Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them.”
― George Orwell
Here is the truth. Wisdom trumps intellect and His knowledge eclipses educated facts. God’s mind far exceeds all the mental ingesting that could be had reading through several libraries. This doesn’t mean you remain unlearned, but when the Spirit hand feeds you your information it has Life. Whether the knowledge is common or spiritual, He has the power to ignite it into true Life. Why wouldn’t you want to join the school of the Spirit, allowing the Father to personally teach you. At that point it isn’t just teaching it is relationship.
Following the Spirit through the library is like a search for buried treasure. He reveals and unites the knowledge with Himself who is Wisdom. Wisdom is God’s application of information in His Life.
I agree. A season of my life I was obsessed with learning about Jesus. The history, the customs, the why’s behind the what’s. This search for knowledge eventually brought me to be legalistic in my walk of faith. There was no room for Spirit. It was all letter. After a strong, but loving chastening, I actually “learned” I knew nothing. This came to me in my freshman year of college. While studying (funny thing actually) the history of education, I came to realize “I” knew nothing. God brought me to that realization. I’ll never forget how I lived the remainder… Read more »
Thank you for sharing this Marco. Sounds like you were rescued from death into Life. If something is taking us away from Christ, we need a rescue! Bless you buddy!
It would seem, then, that education and intellect is mostly useless, yes?
If they lead us away from Jesus rather than to Him, yes absolutely. While God’s chosen education, in whatever form that takes, is perfect and eternally beneficial. That could happen anywhere from a university to a manual labor job. The trick is that Christ is our Teacher. Bless you man!
Amen and stay cool! ?
Only way to be…? Love ya Alex!