Matthew
6:24
There is this childish and selfish dream that as
teenagers we quite often told as our life overarching dream: “Born in a rich
family, growing up spoiled, indulging in life to the fullest as youth, having
plenty when old, and go straight to heaven in death.” The silly dream is to get the best of both
worlds, the world’s indulgence and the eternal salvation in heaven. But that dream remains a dream. Enjoying the world’s indulgence leads man
away from God. While walking with God
faithfully often ends up with
renouncing the world’s indulgence. And the current world’s indulgence is captured in material wealth. The famous phrase “Time is Money” becomes the norm for gaining success. Money is hailed as the “God” of the world nowadays. Everything is operated through budget. Without proper budgeting one may not survive. In the consumeristic age, money is indeed the king. Many people bow to money. It doesn’t matter how immoral or amoral a man is, as long as he has money, he rules. But actually it is not him who rules, it is the money in his hands. So, learning the pattern of the world, young people grow up craving for money. For with money lies the imagination of power, of leisure, of fame, of worldly indulgence. The motto “money buys anything” is almost normative. Some people even believe that money can buy love. Some argue that money can buy happiness. All kind of institutions, be it profit or non-profit, in one way or another follows the government of money as its most crucial structure. All “business” proposal is designed with the numbers and dollars being in full display. The dollar number has become the sign whether the “business” is worth doing or not. If the number is negative, then the business is not worth doing. Only when it is positive then one might consider pursuing the “business.” But merely positive is not enough anymore. It must be positive with a large “profit” margin. The margin signifies growth. If the margin is narrow, the growth is doubtable. In short, everything now is measured by money. Even to judge if something is good or bad, money is the measurement. Value becomes identical with money.
renouncing the world’s indulgence. And the current world’s indulgence is captured in material wealth. The famous phrase “Time is Money” becomes the norm for gaining success. Money is hailed as the “God” of the world nowadays. Everything is operated through budget. Without proper budgeting one may not survive. In the consumeristic age, money is indeed the king. Many people bow to money. It doesn’t matter how immoral or amoral a man is, as long as he has money, he rules. But actually it is not him who rules, it is the money in his hands. So, learning the pattern of the world, young people grow up craving for money. For with money lies the imagination of power, of leisure, of fame, of worldly indulgence. The motto “money buys anything” is almost normative. Some people even believe that money can buy love. Some argue that money can buy happiness. All kind of institutions, be it profit or non-profit, in one way or another follows the government of money as its most crucial structure. All “business” proposal is designed with the numbers and dollars being in full display. The dollar number has become the sign whether the “business” is worth doing or not. If the number is negative, then the business is not worth doing. Only when it is positive then one might consider pursuing the “business.” But merely positive is not enough anymore. It must be positive with a large “profit” margin. The margin signifies growth. If the margin is narrow, the growth is doubtable. In short, everything now is measured by money. Even to judge if something is good or bad, money is the measurement. Value becomes identical with money.
Any noble dream can be easily shattered if it doesn’t
promise a return of investment. This
mode of thinking is within our thinking system.
Somehow it has been programmed into our categorical thinking
process. And therefore, even a noble
dream must factor in money. Money is
certainly not the evil that we need to avoid.
Money is useful in many ways.
Money exists in our everyday life.
Its usefulness and importance is undeniable in today’s society
structure. We would be naïve to argue
for the banishment of money altogether.
This currency is adopted worldwide for goods exchange. Goods exchange and all other exchanges
between humans are essential in the fabric of humanity. Without the exchange, our civilization will
not develop. Money makes life more
effective and efficient. In this way we
can’t dismiss money. What seems to be
the problem, however, is where we seat money in our value system. If money remains a tool to enhance human
effectiveness and efficiency, then our life’s purpose must not be directed
toward money. Our devotion and worship,
therefore, cannot be for money. But, the
trouble is when we put money as more than a tool, especially when money becomes
the king or the god of our life. When
that happens, all our life purpose will be geared toward money. In that way, our devotion and worship are for
money. Money becomes our master and we
are its slaves. For sure, money has that
kind of appeal. For in it lies the
imagination of power, of leisure, of fame, and of indulgence. The way the world operates right now paves
the way for money to gain the number one seat in one’s value system. If this is the kind of model being adopted
when money is involved, then for sure money will corrupt any noble dream. James Hudson Taylor knew about this when he
set up Inland China Mission. So he set a
policy that kept money at bay.
Missionaries who joined ICM must not concern themselves with money. Christian History Magazine issue 52 recorded
that ICM missionaries “would have no guaranteed salary but trust in the Lord to
supply their needs. Income would be shared. No debts would be incurred.”[1] This has been their policy ever since. ICM is now OMF International. A missionary friend of mine from OMF
International still quoted that policy.
They believe that money is not the motivation for mission. The sufficiency of funding will not be the
reason for doing mission work. The Lord
is their reason.
Sadly but true, many noble dreams
have been gradually corrupted by money.
As the institution grows bigger, money slowly takes precedence. And slowly but sure, the institution’s
structure is adapted toward money.
Before long, the faith of the workers shifs toward money. Knowing this pattern, some people, from the
beginning, have set money at the center.
While money has its usefulness, seating it at the center corrupts the
entire body. Even if we talk about a
purely business venture here, the noble goal of setting up the business venture
in the first time is now swallowed by the primacy of money. So, if we look at TV Shows like Shark’s Tank
or Dragon’s Den the entire conversation will head toward money. The dollar number is the language. Money is at the center of every decision
made. In summary, the goal is not of
noble quality anymore. The goal is to be
rich. And as one very prominent
businessman says one time “the goal now for many young man is to get rich
fast.” The world is now upside
down. Profit was meant to be the reward
for a good “service.” The goal is to
provide the good “service.” But the
appeal of the reward is too powerful that the goal is not providing the good
“service” anymore, but to gain as much money as one can. The reward becomes the goal, and the means to
achieve the goal is by providing good “service.” Following the pattern of the world, good
“service” is no longer defined by good in itself, but by how market reacts
toward the “service” provided. Good
“service” now means giving what the market demands. Good is what people say. And what people say depends on whether it is
a great number or not. The number ends
up being translated into the dollar.
Such is the language of business today. This mode of thinking is also affecting the
world of non-profit organization. The
language of business dominates. Money
talks. Every decision is then made based
on whether it is profitable to the organization or not. If the dollar number is not great, then the
decision is usually made against it.
This happens in education as well. This syndrome is worldwide. The noble purpose of education as beautifully summed up by Rousseau in Emile:
“In the natural order where all men are
equal, manhood is the common vocation.
One who is well educated for that will not do badly in the duties that
pertain to it. The fact that my pupil is
intended for the army, the church or the bar, does not greatly concern me. Before
the vocation determined by his parents comes the call of nature to the life of
human kind. Life is the business I would
have him learn. When he leaves my hands,
I admit he will not be a magistrate, or a soldier, or a priest. First and foremost, he will be a man. All that a man must be he will be when the
need arises, as well as anyone else.
Whatever the changes of fortune he will always be able to find a place
for himself.”[2]
The
grand purpose of education is to educate a human being to be a human
being. The definition of “human” must be
made first priority here because whatever the definition is the entire system
of education will be designed to achieve that definition. In “Grand Weaver” Ravi Zacharias points out
that the main problem with the Fall is that Adam and Eve desired to take
matters into their own hands. The
authority and power have been given to man to work in the garden, to name the
animals, and thus to set the boundary of other living creatures under them
within the authority given to them. But
there is a particular domain that God doesn’t give to man to have authority
over, which is the domain of morality. It
is God’s prerogative. God sets the
boundary. The tree of the knowledge of
good and evil is off limit for man.
Eating it means taking upon themselves the authority to define what is
good and what is evil. But God forbids
Adam and Eve from doing so. It is not
their domain. And ever since the Fall
humans have tried to define morality according to their own idea. But this must not so. Now, to define “humans” we can’t merely adopt
what the philosophers say. Humans are
complex creatures. They don’t only
function physically, or pragmatically, but far deeper than that they function
morally and spiritually. How can we
define human morality when we are still confused as to which one is good which
one is evil? The American people
continue to debate whether it is ethical to own a gun, and given the recent gun
violence in many states, people start questioning the second amendment. People then argue sharply against one another
of the ethical implications of whether owning a gun is good or evil. It is just one matter. We haven’t touched the debate over abortion
or euthanasia or any other thing. The
definition of “humans” must go back to the creator. He alone has the full knowledge of the truth
of what human is.
And so, if education is to do its
natural tendency, then it must seriously ponder the definition of human. Education must not be directed toward leading
human out to be something other or less or more than human. John Dewey argues that education must be
aimed toward the formation of good citizen.
But being good citizen is only a fraction of the meaning of being human. The definition of citizen too must be
understood carefully. Each country has
its own set of rules and values. What
country we are talking about when we adopt Dewey’s philosophy of education? Citizen of the US? Citizen of Russia? Citizen of China? And so on.
Rousseau’s philosophy of education is much nobler than Dewey’s in this
regard. The definition of human must go
back to human intrinsic and ontological value as given to them by God himself. It is not defined by one’s allegiance to a
certain country in the world. The
country may remain today, but may cease to exist tomorrow. When the country ceases to exist, do we lose
the meaning and dignity of our being?
Coming back to the definition of human we must hear what the Creator
says about it. In creating human, God
says that we are created in his image (Genesis 1:26-28). Therefore we bear resemblance to God. We are severely limited for sure, but yet we
can certainly find the trace of the divine within our being. The education of human must then focus on the
formation of this image of God within.
This is noble. And this noble
purpose must not be compromised by anything.
For in it lies the essence of our being as human.
The world as we know it today has
changed, however. The rise of money to
the pedestal has replaced many noble values.
Money has infiltrated the world of education. While people still see the value of
education, its noble value has been reduced significantly. The ideal of education is almost a rarity
nowadays. Even informal education is being
sloppy these days. The formal education,
since industrial revolution, has taken a different form. The goal of formal education in the
industrial era is the creation of operators of machinery. The diploma is given for the achievement of
certain measurable performances in skills and knowledge of particular
things. With all the development that
has been going on ever since the industrial revolution, education (formal,
non-formal, and even informal) has become a means to produce a money making
machine. Human is being reduced to whether
he/she is able to make the most money.
Educational institution is valued when it can produce man and woman who
can generate the most material wealth.
The educational institution itself is currently undergoing a huge transformation. Educational institution is being adapted to
the business model. If the educational
institution is not profitable, then its existence will be questioned. The measure of success of education is no
longer whether the human that graduate from it becomes dignified and noble
people, but whether the graduate may secure a high paying job or not. So the model for education must follow
business. Education provides service. Its service can only be judged good if it
meets the market demand. As soon as
education steps toward serving the demand of the market, it has taken a totally
different path than what it should be. The
path to please the market is the path to commercialize the institution. People are willing to pay when it comes to
meeting what they want. The willingness
of people to pay becomes the drive for offering to the market something that
will expand their imagination. In this
kind of world, if education only offers the education of human to be true
human, people will say “nah.” No one is
going “buy” that kind of education. But
if the promotion goes “Your son or daughter, upon graduation, will be
guaranteed a job in the Fortune 500 companies,” then many people will buy its
service. Unfortunately, in today’s
world, it seems that this commercialization path is the only way to make
education work.
And so all schools, colleges,
universities, gradually rewrite their strategic planning following the
commercialization of education. They
think they have to commercialize. The consumeristic
behavior of the modern people makes way for the commercialization of education. This path leads to giving the power to the
market. The shaping and formation of
human is now at the hand of the market.
If the market demands more specialized doctors, then education will
produce specialized doctors. If the
market demands more computer programmers, then curriculum will be designed to
produce more computer programmers. This
kind of drive becomes the main drive.
Thus when people graduate from these formal education, they will become
lawyers, doctors, engineers, and so on, but no longer will they be true human. No longer is there discussion on what it
means to be a human being. Man is now
defined by their profession. Their
dignity lies with their profession. The
more their profession is rewarded, the more proud they are. The more the money they can collect through
their profession, the higher their dignity is.
No longer does their dignity lie in the intrinsic and ontological value
of human being as created in the image of God.
Their worth is now determined by how much money they make. This is the destructive effect of the
commercialization of education. And it
leads to many more grieves. The kind of
profession that may yield much money is thin.
The pie is small. But the
population is huge. Only a small number
of people may achieve the top of the pyramid.
Perhaps 95% of the people in the world will never taste the “good”
life. No doubt competition is the rule
of the game. Survival of the fittest is
hailed as the phrase of the new era.
Evolution theory gains fame because it fits precisely the reality of the
world as we know it today. Competition,
survival of the fittest, or whatever name they may come up with, only breeds
selfishness. The commercialized
education piggybacks on it and produces more selfish people in the world. They exist to feed the greed within the
selfish human depraved heart. And today
we are wondering why people are selfish?
Today we are wondering why people are egotistic maniac? Today we are wondering why people do whatever
it takes, be it stealing, robbing, manipulating, exploiting, etc. in order to
get what they want? Those who always
lose in the competition eventually got depressed. In their depression they protest to the world
by bringing down those who enjoy the trophy of the competition with them,
before then they end their own life.
This is the devastating effect of the commercialization of education.
Sooner or later people will realize
that the “service” can only be bought by those who have. Those who don’t have will remain at the
bottom of the pyramid. There is some
people who understand the noble goal of education. People like Peter Cooper, who founded The
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, understood this
dilemma. The Cooper Union “college” was
founded for the purpose of distributing justice. So education is not only for the haves. So the no-haves too may have opportunity to
excel, to achieve their dream. This
“college” attempts to answer the injustice caused by the commercialization of
education. When the Cooper Union began
to charge tuition, a serious demonstration broke out from the students. The tuition charge was seen as betraying the
noble purpose of distributive justice in the world of education. This is just one aspect of justice in
education. The balance currently is
tipped toward the wealthy. Money still
sits at the top. And people are still
voluntarily applying to be slaves of money.
So this vicious cycle continues.
The saga of the commercialization of education does not end here. It will only grow bigger. Until all educational paths, including
informal education, bow to money as their ultimate master.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:24: “24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he
will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and
despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” The childish and selfish dream that we spoke
during our teenage years still dominate the world today. But this dream will not come true. It is a misleading dream. For it proclaims that our life purpose is
only to gratify our self. We are created
in the image of God. The natural
tendency that we ought to have is to serve God.
This is right and fitting. God
himself designs human to serve him.
That’s our basic constitution.
But ever since the Fall, we want to define our own self. We define our own morality. We define for our self what is good and what
is not. In the confusion humans stumble
upon this powerful “god” called mammon.
It captivates the heart of man. As
soon as man bows to money, they have become slaves of money. One cannot devote himself for money and God
at the same time. He has to choose. If he serves money, he is going to ignore
God. And vice versa. The true model of education must serve God and
not money. Education that serves money
will lead to the formation of graduates that serve money, for basically it is
what they teach. Education that serves
God will lead to the formation of graduates that serve God, for it is what they
teach. The commercialization of
education paves the way for education that serves money. It betrays the noble purpose of
education. While money is still
important for the “business” of education to run effectively and efficiently,
it must not be allowed to become the master.
It should remain as a tool to achieve the noble goal. And it is just one of the tools among many
others. When money is seated at its
proper position, then education may walk in the noble path once again.
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