I just finished listening to a great Youtube video from a series entitled "Socrates in the City", hosted by Eric Metaxas. It's an hour and a half long interview of Malcolm Gladwell upon the publication of his book, David and Goliath. An intriguing and interesting discussion in which Gladwell talks about many things, from the David and Goliath story, to the usefulness (or not) of college, to what recent college grads should do with their lives. Very interesting. Toward the end of the video, one of the guests of the interview asked Gladwell to define success, to give one thing that is a predictor of success in people. Gladwell said, "The ability to care on some kind of a deep level about what you are doing while you are doing it. Everything follows from that. ...You have to be committed to the task because the minute any kind of indifference, or cynicism creeps in, I think you've lost ground." To sum it up, he said, "People are successful in my book when they care about what they do; that they do something that they care about. If you can pull that off, I think you've won."
Did you catch that? Let me repeat a couple of those things. First, you have to be committed to the task because when indifference or cynicism creeps in, you've lost. On the other hand, winning, or being successful, is doing something that you care about. I think it would be safe to say there are levels of care that would move from casualness to passion. The deeper, more passionate you become, the more successful you will be, at least in Gladwell's book. I'm not sure about that altogether, but one thing I know is that a passionless employment is a job that becomes an albatross. The introduction of passion into any job makes any job a mission.
Assuming that all of the above is true, what does that say about being a student? Many times I've told students who were anxious to graduate to enjoy the trip. The trip is important, the trip through the learning experience, that is. You may say that you don't have a passion for your education. That reminds me of a response John Wesley gave to his preachers who said they didn't have a "taste for reading". In his Letters, he writes, "Contract a taste for it by use, or return to your trade." (Letters, IV, 175) The same thing goes here. Develop a taste for it by sinking your energy into your education. Believe me, the ministry will be there when you get out. The world of lost sinners will still be there when you walk across that stage and receive your degree. Don't do this half-heartedly because then you will get a half-hearted body of knowledge. Commit yourself to this time of learning. Do all you can to gain all you can while you can. If you happen to be in ministry now as you are taking classes, then apply what you are learning now, immediately, to your situation. God has given you a tremendous opportunity. Use it. I believe that by pressing for excellence, God's Kingdom will be glorified and He will receive the honor that is due Him by your very application of the lessons learned while at school.
May God continue to stretch and bless you as you continue to follow Him.
