Achievement

Last week I got to attend convocation ceremonies at the AC. On those rare occasions when I find myself back in the world of academia, especially at convocation time, I am always intrigued by how the virtue of achievement completely dominates. It is not unlike spending time in a foreign land with a different culture. It’s not that achievement and recognition aren’t valued in our culture at large for they obviously are. But out in the real world we don’t tend to parade it so. We usually do the opposite and down-play it forcing it to surface in less conspicuous ways. It is considered in poorest taste not to. Consider the guy who goes around talking about that promotion or raise he got at work.

In the academic setting there is absolutely no shame in it. It is blatantly front and centre, right down to the wild and crazy head gear that goes along with some of those doctorates!!! And it isn’t just that academic achievement becomes the one value that trumps everything else. It is more like achievement becomes the only value that exists. Character doesn’t really factor in, unless you get caught cheating of course. How kind a person might be or how generous they are in their relationships doesn’t count at all. Things like courage, humility, compassion, and even wisdom, don’t have a foot in the door.

Now, it’s no news flash that our contemporary education system largely ignores character development, and what might be called relational intelligence, except maybe by default. And lest I be misunderstood, this is not meant to be a criticism of our schools. In fact, I tend to think it best that they stay that way. Because I don’t believe they have the capacity, let alone the moral authority, to do more than what they do. After all, an academic institution really is about one thing – academics. It’s the only thing they really can do well. When it comes to moral and spiritual development, any attempt to use the public education system to promote these values will prove to be disastrous.

Whose job is it then you might ask? That is a very good question. I would argue for home and church. And I would argue it needs to be in that order too. And all of this is not to say that achievement has no place or value, nor is it without reward. It only needs to be kept in perspective while priority is given to prior values. And hopefully that is what we are able to do as we teach our children the rewards of effort and diligence tempered with virtues like mercy, forgiveness, grace, compassion, kindness, self-sacrifice, humility, courage, integrity. And hopefully, in our church family we can be more about loving and appreciating people based on who they are rather than what they do and encouraging them then to do well for His glory.