Faith and the Life of the Mind

Is it possible we’ve been looking at Christian academics all wrong.

For many students, school feels like a blur of lectures, assignments, and exams. Sometimes boring. Occasionally stressful. Rarely inspiring.

But when you begin following Jesus, it flips the script. Suddenly, education becomes something more than a GPA. It becomes stewardship.

It’s about asking, “How am I developing the gifts God’s given me, including my mind?”

One of the ways faith influences our academics is by reintroducing us to wonder.

Say you’re in a general biology class, staring through a microscope at some mysterious little cell. What are you looking at?

To be honest, I don’t know either. But I do know this: you’re looking at one of God’s many miracles.

We need to help students understand: they’re not just killing time before practice or chasing a grade. They’re discovering something God created. That’s not boring. That’s breathtaking.

But Christianity doesn’t stop there. It also brings us back to humility.

Faith reminds us: we don’t know it all.

Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” That verse reshapes everything for me. Because it means wisdom doesn’t begin with answers — it begins with awe.

It means I show up to class — whether it’s college algebra or a theology seminar — not as the expert, but as the learner.

And in my own life, I’ve found this to be true: the more I learn, the more I realize how much I need someone bigger than myself.

That’s why what we’re in Christian higher education matters.

We’re not just preparing students for a career. We’re helping them steward what God has entrusted to them — their gifts, their brains, their curiosity.

Education, through the lens of faith, becomes an act of worship.