Wisdom and Eloquence

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

Two Defining Characteristics of a Biblically-Minded Servant-Leader

At our School, our vision is to train up a generation of Biblically-minded servant-leaders who will lead the church and the culture toward righteousness. As we have been fleshing out, as a staff, what this means, we have focused much of our attention on two very key characteristics for our students: Wisdom and Eloquence. For years I have spoken about the importance of wisdom. Proverbs emphasizes the central importance of wisdom again and again – “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom.” - Proverbs 4:7

Wisdom is the skillful ability to apply God’s truth to all of life. It begins with knowledge, which then proceeds to understanding and is finally culminated in wisdom, where knowledge and understanding bear fruit in the reality of life. When we live our lives based on God’s truth, we are wise. No other definition of wisdom is adequate or complete. It is not about how smart you are or how much you know, it is about how you live.

As important as wisdom is, eloquence is also central to our vision for Biblically-minded servant-leaders. Very few leaders succeed in both wisdom and eloquence. Very few have God’s truth applied to life and the ability to clearly and effectively articulate their message in a way that has the power to be influential and thus transformative. Certainly, Jesus embodied both wisdom and eloquence, as He spoke the clear and life-changing truth of God in power and memorable ways. And the Bible as a whole demonstrates these twin qualities of wisdom and eloquence perfectly. The Bible is not only completely true and reliable and life-changing, but it is also a beautifully written masterpiece of literature. If we long for our children to be more Biblical and more Christ-like, we have to be striving after these two goals: wisdom and eloquence.

We are seeking to do the best we can at our school to train students in these two character traits. You can do much at home, too. In fact, in this area, as in every area of life, you have more influence over your children’s education and development than we do. What can you do? Talk to your children. Think through, reason and discuss tough issues with them. Help them to connect God’s truth to their daily lives. Give them stimulating and challenging things to read and then discuss them as a family. Does this sound too radical? In our culture’s current state of moral and intellectual decline, radical is exactly what we need. Going with the flow and doing things the smooth and easy way just won’t cut it anymore.

“And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” – Mark 1:22