The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7 NIV)
Sometimes a number can just blow up your thinking and tug at your heartstrings. Recently, I heard a statistic that did just that. On a Sunday night just before the election our church hosted a guest speaker who pastors a church in what he called the “hood’s hood” of Detroit. His sermon was about what we do and how we function as a society after the election, but one of the statistics he mentioned was a gut-punch to me. He said 80% of children in that area cannot read.
Reading is something people who can read don’t even think about. We read daily, taking this long-imparted skill almost for granted. In my life, reading books with my kids, reading articles online, reading the “fine print” on documents, and reading for pleasure are all regular events. I had rarely thought about how important this skill is to the functioning in daily life until this preacher called it out. He mentioned that the 80% of kids in his neighborhoods who can’t read become adults who can’t read. They can’t read to fill out a job application or a contract. They can’t read to help their children with homework. They can’t read the ballot proposals that raise taxes or put immoral things into the state constitution. He mentioned that our state has recently constructed a 4000 bed prison in that area. The pastor called the illiteracy of the population a “pipeline from third grade to the prison.”
What should the Church do?
The Bible calls us to “get” wisdom and knowledge. While I admit that there are many ways to learn, reading is a primary way to do that. Are we, the Church, willing to devote time and energies to helping young people develop the critical reading and thinking skills that they need to succeed as adults? We may not be interested in moving to Detroit to help there, but children in our local communities need reading tutors, reading buddies, and other adults to come alongside them to encourage them to develop these skills. Elisha helped Elijah because he wanted what Elijah had. Timothy and others followed the Apostle Paul because they knew that they could learn from him. Jesus asked us, “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher” (Luke 6:39-40 NIV). Can we help these young people become fully trained so that they can then help their own families and communities? YES!
God,
Thank you for the many gifts and skills you put within your Body and your calling to go and make disciples. Thank you for your Word which challenges us to seek after your wisdom and understanding. Today we pray that you will cause your Church to rise up to help illiterate children and youth. We pray you would give us a heart and a hunger to share our time and energies to encourage the development of life skills – and that you would give us the opportunity to share the Good News with them. We pray in Jesus’s name that you will help us to be a factor in breaking generational curses of illiteracy and economic underperforming. AMEN.