Learning - How the fool, the sluggard and the wise each respond to it

I work with teenagers a lot. As students, many times they feel that they exist to make school happen. Without them the teachers couldn’t survive and school itself would be pretty boring. Sometimes, Christians feel that they exist to make church relevant and that without them the church just wouldn’t be the same, and it certainly wouldn't accomplish much without them.

School exists for the student, to teach and prepare. The Church exists for the believer, to equip and to grow. In both instances, preparation and growth are the result of teaching and learning. Learning is not something that’s prized too highly these days, yet if we don’t learn we can’t pave the road to our future destinations. Turning a car on isn’t the same as going somewhere. Going to school isn’t the same as learning and going to church isn’t the same as growing and being equipped.

Are you a student? Are you a learner? We should always be students. We should always be learning. Whether at school, at work, at home, at church, etc. learning is essential to preparation, growth and maturity. Learning is a gift we either despise and waste or welcome and use.

We can approach learning in three different ways: The way of the fool, the way of the sluggard or the way of the wise.

It might look like this for each:

The Way of the Fool
The fool thinks he has sufficient knowledge. He knows enough. In reality though, the only thing awaiting his arrogance is disgrace. (Proverbs 3:35)

The fool believes he is self-sufficient, convinced that he needs no one’s advice. (Proverbs 12:15)

The fool trusts in his own knowledge, wisdom and understanding about the present and the future. Inevitably though, he will become the prisoner of foolishness, arrogance, and sorrow. He does not realize that he needs the experience and maturity of others. (Proverbs 28:26)


The Way of the Sluggard
The sluggard wants all the benefits of learning, but despises learning because it’s hard work (Proverbs 13:4)

The sluggard is lazy. As a door is made for hinges, a sluggard is made for a bed. A door only opens and closes and the sluggard only turns from one side of the bed to the next. A door creaks on it’s hinges, the sluggard groans when awoken. He’s too tired to learn and considers sleep (or watching more tv, playing more video games, checking facebook, etc) a better use of his time than learning. (Proverbs 26:14)

The sluggard is too lazy to feed himself; he wants to be fed! (Proverbs 19:24) Because he was too lazy to learn, he won’t get a good job. And if he gets a job, he’ll be too lazy to work hard. And because he won’t work hard for his food, he wants others to bring him food just like he wants others to do his job. Paul says a man who does not work should starve. (2 Thess. 3:10).


The Way of the Wise
The wise son and daughter brings joy to his parents, because they listen to instructions and learn how to follow them. Submission is an attitude of the heart. Learning is submitting to another. Similarly, a wise employee, student, or church member brings joy as they submit in learning what is taught and applying what they learned. (Proverbs 15:20)

The wise increase in learning. (Proverbs 1:5) The hope and expectation is that learning results in knowledge or growth. No one should stunt their own growth by ceasing to learn, but should continuously take joy in learning because they want to grow and mature.

The wise will inherit honor and favor because they are diligent and faithful students. Parents, teachers, employers, pastors and God all notice when someone is pursuing growth and making every effort to learn. This results in trust, honor and blessing towards the student. (Proverbs 3:35)


In which of the three ways do you approach learning?

I heard a pastor say, “What you know is not enough.” It is true of all of us. Learning is recognizing that someone else knows more than you. Some stop asking questions of their parents, teachers, older friends and pastors. We should not ever think that they can’t teach us anything. That attitude is not an honoring one, but a dis-honoring one. This will translate over to God. Receive the gift of learning and use it for God’s glory. It will bring you joy and good to others around you.