Our Problem is Bigger than Our Brains

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 20:34:16 GMT

You are What You Think, Do, and Desire by Sean Herhold

About 400 years before Christ lived, Socrates was trekking around Athens trying to teach people that virtue and knowledge were one and the same. He would convince others that they must be the same thing because no man knowingly did wrong. In other words, when a person lied or stole something, it was because that person believed that was the good thing to do.

The way Socrates explained it was that a person who stole, lied, or committed any other sin did so because they were convinced that action led to some good. That person believed he received a good thing by doing it, and since he received a good, the action itself must be good. A soldier who runs away from battle does so to preserve his life—a good thing—and therefore sees it as a good action, not knowing that courage is actually the greater good. For Socrates, the cure for sin was education—helping people know and understand the true good. Therefore, Socrates concluded that virtue is knowledge.

Socrates essentially saw people’s sin as Eve’s sin. Eve ate the forbidden fruit because she was deceived. In other words, she wrongly believed that eating the fruit was the good thing to do. She believed she would gain something good by doing so, thus making the action itself appear good. To Socrates, we all have Eve’s problem of ignorance.

But according to Scripture, we don’t just have a problem of ignorance. The Bible is clear that Adam was not deceived, but knowingly chose sin. He knew it was wrong and that it was not the good God had for him, yet he ate anyway. His knowledge was not the problem; his desire was.

You see, the problem of sin is not merely a knowledge problem, which means it cannot be corrected by education or learning alone, as Socrates thought. Socrates’ theory on anthropology (man) and hamartiology (sin) only addressed half the issue—the Eve side. His conclusion that virtue is knowledge reduces man to nothing more than a brain on a stick. If all we are is a brain on a stick, then all we must do is correct our thinking. Next time you hear a modern politician blaming poor education for a person’s bad actions, you will know they are operating within this framework that Socrates expounded. But we are more than a brain on a stick, and our sin problem is more than an intellectual issue. It is an issue of the heart.

What do we mean by saying sin is an issue of the heart? It is true that we are sometimes like Eve—we sin because of deception or lack of understanding. But our core issue is not merely corrupted thinking like Eve; it is corrupted desire like Adam. Adam knowingly and willingly sinned because of his desire, not his ignorance. That is a heart issue.

The New Testament does not accept Socrates’ claim that virtue is knowledge. To be fair, Socrates himself had doubts about this claim. Though he believed virtue could be taught, like other forms of knowledge, he admitted he had never identified a true teacher of virtue. The Sophists claimed to be such teachers, but he dismissed them—much like we would laugh if a group of lawyers claimed to be teachers of honesty. The New Testament writers, however, were more Aristotelian in this respect, distinguishing between virtue and knowledge. As Peter writes, “add to your virtue knowledge.”

Rather than teaching that every vice is merely ignorance and every virtue a form of knowledge, Christianity rejects the idea that people are simply “brains on sticks.” It recognizes that both our minds and hearts are corrupted. We must practice prudence—ordering our thoughts according to truth—and temperance—ordering our desires rightly. Both need correction. We have an Adam issue in our hearts (corrupted desires) and an Eve issue in our minds (corrupted thinking).

Here is where Socrates’ teaching proves helpful: How can you correct corrupted desires without first addressing corrupted thinking? How can you desire rightly if you do not know what is good? While the heart issue is greater, the mind must be addressed first in practice. Peter reflects this order in 2 Peter: “add to your virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance.” Ordering desires is primary in importance, but ordering thoughts is primary in sequence.

As Christians, we must pursue both prudence and temperance—correct thinking and correct living. Aristotle helps clarify this distinction with his categories of intellectual virtues (those of the mind, learned through teaching) and moral virtues (those of the heart, developed through practice and habit). This brings us to a crucial concept: habit.

Rather than saying, “you are what you eat,” it is more accurate to say, “you are what you do.” And ultimately, you do what you love. This is reflected in James K. A. Smith’s book You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit . Many of the ideas in this article are influenced by that work. Smith highlights the formative power of habits. We are what we repeatedly do. We sin because we love sin. As Scripture says, man chose darkness rather than light because his deeds were evil. We are shaped by what we habitually practice.

Herein lies both our problem and part of the solution: habits. The sequence works like this—You are what you do. You do what you habitually practice. You habitually practice what you love. But here is the hope: change what you do, and you begin to change your habits; change your habits, and you begin to reshape your desires. This is the pathway to moral formation. Aristotle recognized this, and James K. A. Smith develops it from a biblical perspective.

Peter’s sequence ultimately culminates in love: “add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” Paul and Peter both teach that charity (love) is the greatest virtue (1 Corinthians 13, Colossians 3:14 and 1 Peter 4:8).

In 2 Peter 1:5–7, we see several ideas consistent with Aristotelian virtue ethics—virtue, knowledge, temperance, and patience—but Peter frames them within a distinctly Christian structure. He begins with faith and ends with love. Greek philosophy lacked both the proper foundation and the proper end (telos). We do not generate virtue from within ourselves. Before we can “add virtue,” we must consider what we are adding it to—faith.

Faith is the starting point. It is through Christ that we receive the power for transformation:

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Through Him, we are given both the knowledge that corrects our minds and the power that transforms our desires. Notice several things in this passage: First, the power for change comes from God’s grace through Christ. Second, we are called to grow in virtue. Third, we are transformed through knowledge of Him (addressing the mind) and by escaping the corruption of lust (addressing the heart). Finally, though the power is God’s, effort is still required: “giving all diligence” (2 Peter 1:5).

Christ is the answer to both our fallen minds and our fallen hearts. He is the true teacher of virtue that Socrates never found. Those who have faith in Him are empowered to change. It is God’s will that we be conformed to the image of His Son. The virtuous person is one who, by faith in Christ, chooses to think and act rightly until those choices become habits, and those habits become virtues, and those virtues become part of who he is in the Lord.

- Sean Herhold

Education is Formation not Information: FBA's Vision

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:01:41 GMT

Education is Formation, not Information: FBA's Vision by Sean Herhold

At the end of 13 years of schooling (Kindergarten through 12th) the primary question is not what does a student know, but who has the student become.

That is why a good education focuses on the bringing up or the rearing of a child. There are multiple facets to bringing up a child. One aspect does involve the intellect—the knowledge a child receives as well as the way he is trained to think. But a human child is more than just intellect. People are not “brains on a stick.” Humans are not even primarily intellect. Their intellect is just one part of what they are.

Another part of the human child is his desire—his passion. The heart of a person is at least as important, probably more important than the brain of a person, so to speak. Asking,
“What does a person desire?” tells you more about that person than asking, “What does a person think?”

So, the intellect is one part of the person. Passion, or desire is another part. And a third part to consider is the person’s will, most visible in the actions of a person. Ask, “What does a person do?”

Three questions:

What does a person think?

What does a person want?

What does a person do?

Well, any person might think, want, or do any number of things. That’s where education comes in. Educators add the word should to the three questions. What should a person think? What should a person want? What should a person do? Every school, and every education system has either a spoken or an unspoken answer to those questions. Let’s look at the obvious answers society’s school use.

What should a person think? They should think what has been deemed socially acceptable. What society has told them to think (about sexuality, politics, social justice, economics, environment etc.)

What should a person want? They should want whatever satisfies them the most. They should be true to themselves. THey can have a whole range of wants, and a consumer society bent on materialistic things will want all sorts of things: clothes, shoes, cars, careers, status, titles, fame, fortune, etc.

What should a person do? A person should do what feels right to them. Whatever pleases himself, that is what a person should do.

In short, the formation of a student in the world’s school system produces citizens who are generally selfish and easily manipulated. That is not the form we want our students to grow into.

In Christian Education, the answer to these three questions is entirely different. The answers we have direct the minds, passions, and wills of young people towards the good, the true, and the beautiful. Every person has a conception of what the ‘good life’ is. Imagining the good life for some brings pictures of wealth, houses, cars and possessions. For others, good life imagery includes family, friends, and relationships. Some people might imagine trips, travel and vacations, others picture a stationary life, staying in the comfort of what is known and familiar. Even still others picture parties and unrestrained fun.

Every human being longs for the good life. But each could have varying misconceptions about what makes up the good life. As Bible-believers, we understand the good life is only accessible through a relationship with God that molds an individual into the form of God’s Son. The good life is the virtuous life. The fulfilling, purpose-filled life is the life lived exactly as God intended it to live. Living and operating the way God made us to live and operate is exactly how I would describe the essence of virtue. The excellence of man is to bear the image of God, showcasing God’s excellence. “That ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

So then, the goal of Christian education is not just to inform students, but to form students into virtuous citizens of heaven. How can we do that? With these three components:

Veritas - Students must become acquainted with truth. To live the good life, individuals must have an ear for truth and an eye for beauty. True beauty. Objective beauty. Not this ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ beauty. That is simply attraction. And as the world shows us, people can be attracted to some awful things. Attraction is like appetite. The more junk you consume, the more your appetite for junk grows. This is true about junk food as it is true about the junk of life. True beauty is that which directs our eyes to God, the sum of all beauty. A brilliant sunset, a majestic mountain range, or a pleasant meadow all have intrinsic, objective beauty that point to the Creator and all beauty. Students need to have a daily diet of truth and beauty. They need to feast their eyes on beauty and their ears on truth. That way they develop an appetite for the true and the beautiful, an appetite that can ultimately only be satiated by God himself. “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” Psalm 42:1-2

Daily turning the eyes and ears of students to truth and beauty is the first vital component of an education that forms as it informs.

Virtus - Second, training students to exhibit and practice virtue. You don’t wake up one day and then just choose to be virtuous. Well, maybe you do wake up and decide that you want to be virtuous, but that doesn’t immediately make you a virtuous person. Virtue must be cultivated with habitually virtuous actions.

You cannot choose to just be virtuous, your virtue is determined by your habits. You don’t even necessarily choose your habits, those are determined by the actions that you make day after day. But you do choose your actions. And in choosing the right actions day after day, you form good habits, and a person who has many good habits because he daily chooses good actions is well on his way to becoming virtuous. Put succinctly, to become habitually virtuous, you must practice virtuous habits.

An education fixated on formation will direct students and provide opportunities to regularly practice good habits. Those practices may be unnatural at first, and may even be uncomfortable for children, but as with all habits, the more you practice the more ingrained and natural they become. Students spend up to a decade and a half in school. The habits they form in that period are the habits that form them for the rest of their lives. Education is formative, but the chosen form is important. We want our students to practice good habits. The patterns they set now mean something. Ultimately, we want students to pattern their lives after the virtues of Christ.

Christus - This last point is the most important one, for it is the foundation of the first two. Training in truth and virtue can never be fulfilled if it doesn’t begin with faith in Christ. One can try to be courageous and just, but will always fall short of perfection. Jesus is the only one who was perfectly virtuous. It is only in and through Him that our virtue can be perfected.

Placing faith in Christ and His work is the starting place. But definitionally, a starting place is not the end. That’s why we are commanded to “add to our faith” virtue and knowledge so that God can perfect and finish in us the work that He began on the cross.

FBA's Vision Statement: FORMING STUDENTS INTO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST BY TEACHING THE TRUTH AND TRAINING IN VIRTUE.

Educating for Wisdom, not Work

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:12:38 GMT

Educating for Wisdom, not Work by Sean Herhold

Take a moment to read this quote by Woodrow Wilson,

“We want one class of persons to have a liberal education, and we want another class of persons, a very much larger class, of necessity, in every society, to forgo the privileges of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks.”

I would advise you to stop here and read it again. Read it a few times, or until you’ve really soaked in what Woodrow Wilson was saying in 1909.

Yes, then president of Princeton, soon to be president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson is advocating for two different education plans for two different classes of people. One class, the elite class presumably, would receive a Liberal Education (note: at that time a liberal education was a ‘liberating education.’ An education that freed men by freeing the mind. A liberal education was an education for free men.) Then, Wilson advocates for another kind of education for another class (and we can infer a lower class) of men. Those not fit for the education of free men, should resign themselves to just prepare for their future jobs. This is what we today call vocation training. In the Greco-Roman world, that was understood to be the education for slaves.

Let all of that sink in. One class, obviously the elite class, would get the liberal education and presumably would be the small group of people who go on to make the important decisions, lead the country, and direct the masses. While the masses need not bother with an education like that, they should just go to vocational training. How can an idea that is so anti-democratic, and anti-American, come from the president of one of the nation's most prestigious universities over a hundred years ago in 1909? And how can that same man later be elected president of the nation, a remarkable feat that requires the support of the masses, the masses that he essentially dismissed as not worthy of an elite education?

I imagine that any parent reading this article, if they were asked whether they would prefer that their children have an elite education, or just some vocational training, they would elect for the elite education. Or would they?

When presented with these two options, the choice seems obvious. “What is good for the best is good for my child” and “I want my child to have the best” are things I would expect most parents to say if given these two options. But unfortunately, the two options are not typically presented side by side like that, and perhaps naively, parents often opt for vocational training instead of a liberal education.

After all, what good is an education that “frees the mind” or “cultivates the soul” in a competitive job market. And there is the trap. What is the purpose of education? To prepare a student for a vocation? Or to cultivate the mind and soul of the student into a fully developed and virtuous person.

This is where we are fortunate. Because I don’t believe these two purposes are mutually exclusive. Perhaps one produces the other. A virtuous person is a vocationally adept person. But that’s not to say a vocationally prepared person is a virtuous one.

“Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.”

- C.S. Lewis.

Pursue an education of virtue, and you’ll be ready vocationally, and probably in a better and broader way than you imagined. But pursue a vocational education, not only will you lack virtue, but you’ll be lucky if the practical skills you learned yesterday are still needed in tomorrow’s ever changing job market. Develop the virtue of prudence in school and you’ll be able to learn any essential skill you desire and apply it when it is useful.

So, then why did Woodrow Wilson, and other progressive educators desire to trade a liberal education for the masses for a vocational one? For some progressive educators, perhaps their ideas were nefarious. Perhaps they wanted a dumb-downed population that would be easier to lead and sway. For other progressive educators, perhaps their intentions were well-meaning. America was in the height of the Industrial Revolution. There were millions of factory jobs that needed filling. And these jobs did not require a very impressive specimen, they just needed people to do “specific hard manual tasks” repeatedly. No thinkers please, just do what you are told and there will be a paycheck waiting for you.

In the first half of the 20th century, super industrialist tycoons and entrepreneurs like Carnegie and Rockefeller set up foundations that contributed more dollars to American education than the government did. Why? Because they wanted schools to become like their factories, an assembly line turning children into factory workers. Not only did this give them the manpower they needed for their mega-corporate empires, but it also killed much of their would-be competition in its infancy. Carnegie himself refused to be subjugated to the education system as a child, but he became very interested in subjugating others. After all, free thinkers, creative minds, and adventurous spirits were a threat to his profits.

And thus, in the 1900s, the pattern of education reforms began. And every 20-30 years some new education reform appears to help solve all the problems the last one created. But the common denominator between all of them, whether it’s see-say reading, or common core, they all have a similar purpose rooted in training students up to be ready for America’s jobs. They are vocational reforms.

The most recent fad perhaps sounds the most useful of them all. In the technology age, what better education can you have then Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mechanics (STEM)?

But whatever vocational skills you give a child now (even ones regarding technology) will be outdated in the job markets of tomorrow. And they will have been robbed of an education that forms the mind, cultivates the soul, and develops them into a virtuous person.

“But will my kid be able to get a job?” That is the question that holds some parents back. This issue is resolved much like the issue of standardized testing. Students with a classical education, focused on cultivating virtue and the mind, do much better than students in schools that “teach to the test.” You see, one group aims for heaven, and gets earth too. While the other aims for earth and gets neither.

Many of the big tech companies of our time are realizing they don’t want the student who has a degree, they want the student who has the virtue of prudence. Now, maybe they don’t use those terms, but places like Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, etc. have come to realize that technical skills can be taught easily to a person who knows how to learn.

We shouldn’t be surprised about this phenomenon. It is in line with what Jesus promised in Matthew 6:32, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” Grow in spirit, cultivate the mind, learn to be virtuous, and the future job will take care of itself.

That’s why here at FBA, we educate for Wisdom, not Work.

Sean Herhold, Principal

Faith Baptist Academy

Sean@faithbaptistofwc.org

Joining the Great Conversation

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 17:36:43 GMT

Joining the Great Conversation by Sean Herhold

Every time I think I have an original idea, it is not long before I realize that I am way down the list of people who thought of it.

The first time I noticed this phenomenon was when I was working on my master’s thesis in grad school. I wrote about various philosophies and practices for family ministry in churches. Of course, I knew there were thousands of churches with just as many philosophies and practices for how to reach and minister to families, but I thought I had the bright idea of systemizing or categorizing all the different family ministry philosophies. As it turns out, I discovered this had already been done, and that a whole slew of books had already been written on this. My instructors explained to me that my discovery was great, but that my job was to bring all the prominent authors together into one conversation within my thesis, then to add to the conversation with my own original research.

I thought I was starting the conversation, but it turns out, I was just walking into a conversation that had been going on for decades. It was my job to ‘get caught up’ on the conversation so that I could effectively participate in the conversation. That experience was probably the most difficult singular experience I had at college, and yet it was also one of the most enjoyable and rewarding.

Now looking back, my thesis was quite amateur, and ultimately is not something I’m extremely proud of. But it was an important step in my education because even though the product was not phenomenal, the process was invaluable. Discovering and joining the conversation regarding family ministry was a precursor to what I would find next.

It was a little after I finished my thesis and got my masters that I discovered another conversation—the Great Conversation. Mortimer Adler, author of Great Books of the Western World, explains the Great Conversation as the ongoing dialogue of great minds across centuries, expressed through the foundational works of Western civilization. Every classic work, whether by Plato, Augustine, Shakespeare, or Lewis, is essentially “talking” with earlier works and being “answered” by later ones. The greatest ideas and questions put forth by the greatest minds of history are preserved for us in what we call the Great Books. Adler wrote, “Education is the process of being initiated into the Great Conversation.”

I was not personally introduced to the Great Conversation during my formal schooling, but I’m thankful that I discovered it. Much like when I was writing my thesis, I discovered the Great Conversation when I again thought I was having an original idea. This time, my idea was a philosophy of education centered around training in virtue rather than training for vocation. This time, I was not so surprised to find others had written on this very idea, but I was at least a little surprised that the conversation had been going on, not for several decades, but for several millenia.

I believed the type of student produced by education was more important than the knowledge being conveyed in education. I had known too many students who had had good grades, but didn’t know how to think on their own; students whose heads were filled with factual knowledge, but didn’t seem to know right from wrong. In other words, good grades did not translate to a life of wisdom and virtue. And the justification for this kind of education was that it was preparing students for the workforce. But, it was becoming more and more apparent that education wasn’t even doing that very well. I came to believe that a proper education was to train in wisdom and virtue, not for career advancement and job skills.

The next step was to find out what that kind of education would look like? Does it exist anywhere? And if so, how can we replicate it? I knew mainstream education did not contain the answer, that much was obvious. I read a book by John Taylor Gatto, an author who after teaching for about 30 years in the public school system, became one of the biggest critics of the system. Gatto pointed out that America had an era of genius that produced men like Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams, Washington, Lincoln, Lee, and many others. But all of these geniuses lived before America had a public school system. Gatto pointed out that almost 100% of Americans in the late 1700s were literate. And not just barely literate, but effectively literate, reading and writing at levels that astounds the most literate professors of today. And not only were people of that era incredibly smart, they were also wise, courageous, prudent, and temperate, amongst a host of other virtues.

How did such an era of genius arise? It wasn’t due to mass schooling, that did not exist yet. It happened because as kids were taught to read, they were introduced to the Great Conversation as early as possible. Their minds were set upon life’s greatest questions as early as possible. Can you imagine living in a time when men often got their first job around age 12? When teenagers like George Washington would teach themselves trigonometry in order to get a job as a land surveyor at age 15? A time when teenagers in general were more interested in the deep conversations that adults were having rather than the silly games the kids were playing.

Today’s society seems keen on keeping kids kids for as long as possible. We do this by shielding them from freedom and responsibility, by distracting them with endless entertainment in movies, music, games, tv, and social media, and by patronizing them with shallow books, stories, and lessons. One of the biggest differences between the schooling of today, and the education of old is the introduction of students to the Great Conversation. And because students today are left out of the Great Conversation, they do not benefit from all the great ideas the best minds of history have had. Imagine trying to teach at an engineering school without ever talking about the discovery of the wheel. Sure the wheel is an old discovery, but it is still relevant to every engineer today. Every student should be given the privilege of entering the Great Conversation, of knowing what great thinkers have thought, and enabling them to stand on the shoulders of giants.

Right now, it is as if we are asking each generation to start over, to reinvent the wheel, to conduct trial and error experiments with ideas at the risk of their own life and happiness. By participating in the Great Conversation, people can start on third base regarding good and bad ideas. I’ll close with just one example: we don’t have to try socialism in every generation to know it is a bad idea that doesn’t work in real life. And yet nearly every generation is allured by various socialist concepts. However, a generation who has not participated in the Great Conversation will lack the knowledge of history, the understanding of human nature, and the wisdom needed to see the faults in socialism.

Now there is just one obstacle to overcome. The obstacle is this: the Great Conversation is contained in the Great Books, and people today don’t like to read. Some don’t like to read because they are simply not very good at it (short attention spans, lack of focus ability, etc.) others don’t like to read, simply because they’ve never read anything worthwhile that really grabbed their attention. I believe the Great Books are the solution to both of these problems. The Great Books cover a wide variety of topics and literary styles as well as reading levels and can appeal to any literate person. To get started, just simply type Great Books of the Western World in your search bar, and choose the book that looks most interesting to you, or perhaps the shortest book, or the simplest book.

Each book you read will prepare you to begin the next one. You might have to ‘force yourself’ at first if you're not a reader, but soon you’ll begin noticing a snowball effect. Your ability to read will grow as will your desire. And just as the snowball gathers speed, your swiftness at picking up and consuming new books will increase as well. And the more books you have read, the more riches you’ll be able to dig out of the next one you pick up.

Sean Herhold, Principal

Faith Baptist Academy

Sean@faithbaptistofwc.org

Trade Amusement for Leisure

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 15:58:34 GMT

Trade Amusement For Leisure by Sean Herhold

Believe it or not, FBA is intentionally forming people of leisure.

What comes to mind when you think of leisure? Do you picture yourself sipping an iced drink on a Caribbean beach somewhere? Or maybe your idea of leisure is putting on baggy pajamas and an oversized hoody and curling up on a couch to binge watch a Netflix series all weekend. Some of you might even have pictured picking up an entertaining novel and not putting it down again until you had consumed every page from beginning to end. For most of us, the term leisure means having the time to do something entertaining or amusing.

The definition of leisure is simple: it means not being occupied by business or work. Throughout most of human history, leisure has been thought to be the privilege of the wealthy classes since poor people could not afford leisure. In other words, they could not afford to not be occupied by business or work, they had no free time. The fields weren't going to till themselves, the clothes weren’t going to stitch themselves. Only those wealthy enough to hire others to do those things were wealthy enough to enjoy leisure.

The first thing we should note is just how wealthy Americans are, for nearly every American can afford leisure. Now, there are exceptions. I think of the example situation of a single mother who has to work two jobs, cook for the kids, and still find time to clean the house and help with homework. That is a person who literally cannot afford leisure, because the rent, electricity bill, and groceries don’t pay for themselves. That is how most humans for most of history felt regarding leisure—it’s just too expensive.

There have been a few exceptions in history, times and places where people were affluent enough to actually have spare time. The Greeks were perhaps the first that actually incorporated “play” into their culture. The Greeks made games and competition a regular part of weekly schedules. But, of course, no example of affluence is more apparent than America. For today, even the poorest American teens and kids spend on average close to 4 hours a day entertaining themselves with screens (phones, tablets, tvs, etc.) Four hours a day! There’s certainly no shortage of time in American’s schedules.

Our time of prosperity has afforded nearly everyone the privilege of leisure. But, do you think that people are happier today with all the extra free time they have? Well, they might be happy to have the free time. But, in general, are people happier today? I think you know that the answer is, “No. People are not happier today.” It’s not because they have leisure time that they are unhappy. It is because of how their leisure time is used that they are unhappy.

Before there were smart phones, tablets, movie theaters and tvs, Americans were still blessed to have more leisure time than average human history. In fact, from the time of our nation's founding through most of the 1800s, nearly 100% of people were literate—a pretty good indicator that people in general were not using 100% of their time working purely for survival. No, the average American in the 1700-1800s was a reader, and probably a far better reader than today’s average American.

If we go back to the ancient Greeks for a minute, we’ll find that their idea of a man of leisure was a man who could afford to exercise his mind and study the books and topics that other men wish they could, but who could not afford to. The ancient Greeks, and the founding Americans had an altogether different idea of leisure than we do today. Today, we see leisure as entertainment and amusement and have almost completely lost the concept of Noble Leisure. We have become men of vice, sinking into our baser desires whenever we have free time. We fill all our free time with the endless noise of meaningless sitcoms, repetitious news cycles, TikTok reels, and doom scrolling.

Leisure for our forefathers meant having time to strengthen and edify their minds. We use it for amusement (amuse literally means ‘not thinking’). They became mentally stronger because they had leisure. Whereas, we might have one of the most mentally frail generations of all times on our hands. People who’ve never had to think, who’ve never been given the space to think. People who always have a device nearby to fill their minds with thoughts instead of allowing their own imagination to fill the void. The results? Creativity is dying. Depression is alive and well. Mental disorders, anxiety, stress, and fear are at all-time highs. Why? Because we’ve allowed our minds to grow weak by never exercising them and feeding them junk 4 hours a day.

We need to have a return to Noble Leisure. We have the time. We can afford leisure. We just need to return to making good use of it. The first step is realizing that enjoyment is not only found in entertainment and amusement. In fact, you can find joy in work, in learning, and in reading (even non-fiction books.) I think this misconception that enjoyment is only found in entertainment shows itself even in how we raise our kids. For example: when we speak of family time, we almost always are referring to doing something “fun” like going to watch a movie or going to an amusement park (there’s that word again.) And any type of “work” stands in the way of family time.

Actually, family time can simply be spending time with family. And perhaps the most meaningful moments of family time is learning together or working together with your kids. If family time is exclusive to “having fun together,” what happens when your idea of fun starts to differ from your kids? This occurrence often catches parents off-guard during their kids’ teenage years, because suddenly, what the kids used to enjoy doing with their parents, isn’t fun anymore. And one of two things often happen, the parents can “force the fun” with their teenager, or what is perhaps more common, the parent and the teenager go their separate ways to seek out what’s fun for them, i.e. the parent watching their show in the living room while the teenager plays video games in his room.

Family time needs to be more than just “having fun” together. The family bond is strengthened when families solve problems together. But if the parent is begrudging towards homework, housework, or any other type of work, or even “working leisure” (Noble leisure) then you can be sure the kid will be too. The truth is, we can find enjoyment in those things even though they are not entertaining (strictly speaking.) In fact, we must find enjoyment in those things.

It’s much like our relationship with God. Prayer and Bible study are work. They are probably the highest form of Noble Leisure. But, if we pray and read our Bibles begrudgingly, then we are robbed of the reward of doing those things. It’s when we enjoy the work of prayer and long for the work of Bible study that we really see the fruit of those things.

So, what about you? How do you spend your time? Your leisure time, to be specific. Some people spend it pretending to be busy. As though being busy is some sort of virtue in and of itself (it depends on what you are busy with.) Others don’t even pretend to be busy, but will spend every spare moment they have with the closest form of entertainment. They spend every weekend, every evening, any time at all that they are not at work by entertaining themselves. They never exercise their minds. They are never alone with their thoughts.

Is all entertainment and amusement bad? No. But just like fast food, if that is all you eat, you’ll quickly see the negative consequences in your health. For the sake of your mental health, it’s time to start including Noble Leisure in your regular routine. Start enjoying the process of bettering yourself, of learning, or improving, and of growing.

Sean Herhold, Principal

Faith Baptist Academy

Sean@faithbaptistofwc.org

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