As a teacher of Mathematics, do you know what I find very interesting, even puzzling? In our society, if a person cannot read then there is a terrible stigma that goes along with that inability. It debilitates and cuts people off from experiencing the larger world around them. Yet, when it comes to Mathematical illiteracy, people flaunt their inability with pride, even impunity. "I just can't do the math!" is what they say. Is this just, 'the way it is..'? Are we, as teachers, to just shrug our shoulders and say, "There is nothing I can do about it." Well, let's take a moment to reflect upon God, and where He has planted us.
God has made us reasoning creatures. There is an ocean of evidence for this. The first being that "God made man in His image." (Gen 1:27) This means that we were initially given the capacity to know God and relate to Him as well as each other. The very fact that God gave Adam and Even commands: "Of any tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." (Gen 2:16-17) means that our first mother and father were given the ability to understand conditional statements and their outcomes. Every command God gives us in scripture can be logically formulated into a conditional statement. Even God's offer of forgiveness is given as a conditional. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) The love of God IS conditional. Not His offer of love, but the condition of faith and trust in Christ is THE condition for entering the kingdom of heaven. (Gospel of John and 1 John - read both books fully and prayerfully). When we say the love of God is unconditional, we mean that all those who come to Christ are not rejected or turned away. The gift is offered freely to all who come.
Do we think that the earth turns about the sun on a yearly cycle, and has done so for thousands of years and that God does not care about the principles of physics? [Which by the way are expressed mathematically.] Do we really think that God has given the human body specific concentrations of one element and specific concentrations of another element, and that these elements interact at the molecular and atomic levels to help the body grow and develop, and yet God does not care about the principles of biology? [Which by the way are expressed mathematically.] Do we think that the physical constants that define how our universe works, being so precise, and yet they cannot vary even in the slightest, that despite this God somehow made the world through magic and whimsy? No. God made the world and the universe through wisdom and understanding. (Prov 3:19). This means God thinks. God thinks hard. Well, it's not hard for him. But it is for us. And that my friend I think is part of the answer to our problem.
Thinking mathematically is hard. Its the weight lifting of the mind. It takes dedication and effort. Besides, a person needs to see why the heavy lifting is necessary, even desirable before they commit to it, and this is where we have generation-ally failed our students. We have failed to stand against the attacks that declare, "The world happened all by chance." We have failed to show ourselves and our students how God is evident in creation. The narrative that the universe is a random accident is so deeply ingrained in the psyche of our world, that even Christians feel that it is not okay, even socially sinful, to stand up and with the authority, the scriptures give us and say, "No, that is not the truth! Here is the way! Walk-in it!"
So why do we not stand? The reason is sad, but it must be looked at squarely in the face. We don't know our bibles. The deeper tragedy is that because we don't know our Bibles, we don't know the God we claim to serve. Trusting in Christ can be done by anyone who comes to the cross. That heavy lifting has been done for us. But to know Him deeper, to actually partake of that relationship which so many claims to have, and yet the evidence says otherwise. That takes prayer, and study of the divine Word. It takes a seeking heart. One that will not give up until it finds its treasure. (Jeremiah 29:13)
When people reject something of which God has demonstrated that He is the source, it is because they do not understand it, they have found it offensive, or they have found it very difficult. Is everyone capable of doing mathematics? Certainly not. And praise God our standing with Him is not contingent on our mental prowess. But Mathematics is a gift. It is. It helps us understand the language of the principles of creation, and gives us a way to study creation meaningfully, and even worship-fully. It helps us develop our logical reasoning skills, of which God Himself is the author, and of which God uses when He communicates to us in His word.
The summary of all this is. You are not planted to change the world. You are planted to grow and flourish where God has placed you and bring Him glory through the profession you now have. Now if your flourishing ends up changing the world for God's greater glory, then praise be to His name, but if you grow and seek to connect your students to the mind of God in His creation through mathematics. You, who trust in Christ and Christ alone, will also hear on that day. "Well done, good and faithful servant."
- John Partridge
October 21st, 2019
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