The most important things in life we need to learn are precisely those things that cannot be taught.
~Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986)
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.
~ Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, Acts 17:11
Hwa is thet mei thet hors wettrien the him self nule drinken
[who can give water to the horse that will not drink of its own accord?]
~ Old English Homily (ca. 1175)
Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.
~ Jesus, King of The Universe, in Matthew 15
Oh beloved, it is true. The pride of life is the great enemy of the teacher. This fool of a writer has 113 English students under his care at a Christian-flavored international curriculum school in West Jakarta, on the island of Java, in Indonesia. And while it is fun to be able to be enjoying a cup of java, on the island of Java – and have one’s PC ask them if they want to do a Java update – the fun of this place ends at the blunt edge of a mind yet-unopened in a disinterested student.
And there is this great temptation to believe that if we teachers simply inform the students of their desperate need to both know Him and the information before them – they will want to know both. And like most great temptations, they are but an empty lie. What is true is that almost all people, when presented with the truth, will simply sniff it for a moment and generally walk away with their nose turned up.
And there is another, even more insidious belief, that we need to somehow protect the self-esteem of these students so that they might “discover themselves” and begin to grow of their own accord. And as seemingly attractive as this idea is, it is antithetical to reality. Self-esteem is most surely the enemy of successful learning and growing and leading and service in the ever-accelerating hypersonic economies and businesses and organizations of the world today.
This teacher has spent copious time in strategic and powerful positions in the marketplace, in missions, in ministry and in education. And it is only in the educational theatre – where we are training students to enter all the other theatres – that this misguided concept of “self-esteem” is propagated so profusely (and may this fool say: so foolishly). Students do not need self-esteem propped up. They need is drained from them like a boil needs to be lanced. Students are drowning in selfishness and self-esteem. They are already the dead center of their own little universes, and it is the Light of truth Who needs to be introduced to guide them out of their dark little worlds.
Every leader (read each and every one) who has ever made a lasting impact in the marketplace, in missions, in ministry and in education has been one who has found the secret that leadership is self-sacrificing service. Said simply, it is the leader who has gotten over his or her self and become a servant to his or her people – and gained a deep appreciation for his or her followers – that succeeds greatly. One of the greatest leaders of the 20th century, Mother Teresa, got it right. She said succinctly,
