真正塑造生命的，不是教材，而是空間 ——讀《未來在等待的教育：從創造生命的空間開始》（To know as we are known education as a spiritual journey） - 巴默爾 (Parker J. Palmer)

 

真正塑造生命的，不是教材，而是空間

——讀《未來在等待的教育：從創造生命的空間開始》（To know as we are known  education as a spiritual journey） - 巴默爾 (Parker J. Palmer)

近年，我愈來愈常思考一個問題：究竟，是什麼塑造了一個人的生命？

如果生命的改變主要來自知識，那麼今天應該是歷史上最成熟的一代。我們擁有前所未有的資訊，聽得到世界各地最優秀的講員，讀得到最好的神學著作，也能在短短幾分鐘內找到任何想學的知識。然而，我們不得不承認，一個人知道得更多，並不等於他活得更成熟；完成更多課程，也不必然代表他的生命更像基督。

這正是我閱讀 Parker J. Palmer《未來在等待的教育：從創造生命的空間開始》時，不斷思考的一個問題。

坦白說，這本書並沒有帶給我一套嶄新的教育理論。相反，它讓我有一種久違的共鳴，彷彿有人把多年來一直縈繞在我心中的想法，用成熟而完整的語言表達出來。

多年來，無論是在牧會、門徒培育，還是近年思考教會更新，我一直相信，真正的教育不是把知識傳遞給人，而是幫助一個生命慢慢被塑造。知識當然重要，但知識只是材料；真正使生命成長的，往往不是教材本身，而是人在怎樣的環境裡學習，在怎樣的群體裡生活，又在怎樣的關係裡被陪伴。

Palmer 正是從這個角度重新理解教育。

他認為，教師最重要的工作，不是提供答案，也不是控制學習的過程，而是創造一個讓人願意向真理敞開的空間。在這個空間裡，人可以提問，可以探索，可以犯錯，也可以在真誠的對話中逐漸認識自己、認識他人，並認識真理。真正的教育，不是教師站在台上說得多精彩，而是真理是否能夠在一個人的生命裡扎根。

這讓我想到耶穌的門徒訓練。

耶穌並沒有建立一所學校，也沒有編寫一套課程。祂呼召十二個門徒，與他們一起生活、一起服事、一起面對衝突、一起經歷失敗，也一起見證上帝的工作。祂的教導固然重要，但真正塑造門徒的，不只是那些教導，而是祂所建立的一個生命共同體。門徒是在同行中學習信心，在失敗中學習謙卑，在彼此相愛中學習天國的價值。教育，在耶穌身上從來不是一門課程，而是一種共同生活。

這也讓我重新反思今天教會的教育工作。

我們很容易把教育理解為課程，把門訓理解為教材，把成長理解為完成了多少裝備。然而，若一個人上了許多課，卻沒有真正進入一個彼此同行、彼此承擔、彼此塑造的信仰群體，他所累積的，很可能只是知識，而不是生命。

或許，今天教會最大的挑戰，不是缺少課程，而是缺少一個能夠承載生命成長的文化。我們努力改善教材，卻忽略了群體；我們不斷增加聚會，卻未必建立關係；我們希望培育門徒，卻很少思考教會是否已經成為一個讓門徒能夠被塑造的屬靈空間。

當我閱讀 Palmer 時，我愈來愈確信，這正是近年我一直努力思考和實踐的方向。無論是推動家庭祭壇、屬靈父母、跨代同行，還是建立生命成長的門訓策略，其實都不是希望教會增加一個新的事工，而是希望教會重新成為一個能夠塑造生命的地方。因為真正改變人的，不只是講台上的信息，也不是課室裡的教材，而是一個長期浸潤在恩典、真理與同行之中的群體。

我欣賞 Palmer，不是因為他提出了一套新的教育方法，而是因為他提醒我們，教育的核心從來不是知識，而是人；不是課程，而是生命；不是效率，而是塑造。當教育重新回到生命，當教會重新成為一個孕育生命的群體，我相信，我們所期待的下一代，才真正有未來。

或許，這也是本書書名最深刻的含義。

未來並不是等待更好的教材、更多的課程，或更有效率的制度；未來，正在等待一群願意重新相信：生命，是在一個充滿真理、恩典與同行的空間裡，被慢慢塑造出來的人。

Antony傳道

What Shapes a Life Is Not the Curriculum, but the Space

Reflections on To Know as We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey

by Parker J. Palmer

In recent years, I have found myself returning to one question again and again: What truly shapes a person's life?

If transformation were simply the result of acquiring more knowledge, then our generation should be the most mature in history. Never before have we had such easy access to information. We can listen to some of the world's finest preachers, read outstanding theological works, and find almost any resource within minutes. Yet we know from experience that knowing more does not necessarily mean living more faithfully. Completing another course does not automatically make us more Christlike.

This question stayed with me as I read Parker J. Palmer's To Know as We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey.

To be honest, the book did not introduce a completely new philosophy of education to me. Instead, it gave voice to something I have long believed but had never seen expressed with such depth and clarity. It felt as though someone had taken an intuition that had quietly shaped my ministry for years and articulated it in a rich theological and educational framework.

Throughout my years in pastoral ministry, disciple-making, and more recently in thinking about church renewal, I have become increasingly convinced that education is not primarily about the transfer of knowledge but about the formation of life. Knowledge certainly matters, but knowledge is only the material. What ultimately shapes a person is the environment in which they learn, the community in which they belong, and the relationships through which they are nurtured.

This is precisely how Palmer understands education.

He argues that the teacher's primary responsibility is not to provide answers or control the learning process, but to create a space where people are willing to open themselves to truth. Such a space allows people to ask honest questions, explore freely, make mistakes, and grow through genuine dialogue. In the end, education is measured not by how effectively information is delivered, but by whether truth takes root in a person's life.

Reading Palmer also reminded me of the way Jesus formed His disciples.

Jesus did not establish a school or write a curriculum. Instead, He called twelve ordinary people to walk with Him. They shared life together. They served together, experienced failure together, wrestled with difficult questions together, and witnessed the work of God together. His teaching was essential, but what ultimately shaped the disciples was not merely what He said—it was the life they shared with Him. Their faith was formed through companionship, their humility through failure, and their understanding of God's kingdom through a community of love. For Jesus, education was never merely a course of study; it was a shared way of life.

This has also caused me to reflect on the educational ministry of today's church.

We often equate education with classes, discipleship with curriculum, and spiritual growth with completing a series of training programs. Yet a person may attend many classes without ever becoming part of a community where believers genuinely walk together, bear one another's burdens, and help shape one another's lives. In such cases, what is accumulated may be knowledge, but not necessarily spiritual maturity.

Perhaps the church's greatest challenge today is not a lack of educational resources but a lack of a culture that nurtures spiritual formation. We continue to improve our teaching materials while overlooking the importance of community. We add more programs without necessarily cultivating deeper relationships. We desire to make disciples, yet too rarely ask whether our churches have become places where disciples can truly be formed.

As I read Palmer, I found myself increasingly convinced that this is the very direction I have been pursuing in recent years. Whether encouraging family worship, cultivating spiritual parenthood, fostering intergenerational discipleship, or developing strategies for life-on-life disciple-making, my goal has never been to add another ministry to the church's calendar. Rather, it has been to help the church become a community where lives are genuinely transformed. Lasting change does not come merely through sermons or study materials, but through belonging to a community shaped by grace, truth, and faithful companionship.

What I appreciate most about Palmer is not that he offers a new educational method, but that he reminds us of something far more fundamental. The heart of education is not knowledge, but people; not curriculum, but formation; not efficiency, but transformation. When education returns to the work of forming lives, and when the church once again becomes a community where people are shaped into the likeness of Christ, I believe the future we long for truly begins to take shape.

Perhaps this is the deepest meaning behind the book's title.

The future is not waiting for better curriculum, more programs, or more efficient systems. The future is waiting for communities that once again believe that lives are formed slowly and faithfully within spaces marked by truth, grace, and genuine companionship.

Pastor Antony Lee