DOA

For most of us DOA stands for Dead on Arrival, but what God has been working in my life over the past couple of months has DOA standing for Danger of Academia. Through my studies and through Jess, God has reminded me of the need for knowledge to engage the whole being. Attending Seminary I have often found myself having to guard against education becoming a mental exercise or to be solely a matter of accumulating knowledge. This is what I have come to deem as the Danger of Academia.

Before anyone gets too excited and thinks I am going to recant my charge of anti-intellectualism within the contemporary Church and culture. I conversely, believe we need to avoid Blind Belief, which divides faith and thinking and refuses to allow the two to interact. The attitude is "I believe it and I don't need to think about it".

Both of these dangers need to be avoided. Education must transcend the mind, engage our spirit and flow out in our attitudes and actions. We must be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). In regards to belief I think Hosea said it best when he wrote the words,
"a people without understanding will come to ruin!" (Hosea 4:14). Ok, so he may have said it in Hebrew, but ya get my point. If we fail to follow Augustine's advice of faith seeking understanding, I fear we maybe DOA. While the Academic runs the risk of being spiritually dead, the blind believer runs the risk of being dead to the world God wishes to save.