Well, you’ve done it. In a matter of days you will be high school graduates. In a matter of months you will be college students. It must have felt, at times, like this day would never come and now it’s here. You should feel a sense of accomplishment about the past and a sense of excitement about the future. I know I felt those things when I was where you are (it wasn’t so long ago that I can’t remember). I was a mix of feelings, ready to leave home while knowing I’d miss my family, nervous about starting something different while energized by starting something new.
My advice to you tonight carries with it that same mix. Some of it is cautionary, some of it is challenging, some of it encouragement, and some of it reminders. Much of it is borrowed and a lot of it is Biblical, so I can’t claim credit for it and it’s less likely to be wrong. Most of it is about wisdom, which combines knowledge with love. All of it, I hope, will be a help to you as you begin a new phase of your life.
You are still young. “Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth…in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.” “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” At the same time, your youth means there is still much for you to learn. I would encourage you to always, regardless of age, “trust in the Lord with all your heart and not lean on your own understanding.” Use your time in college to gain knowledge and enthusiasm for life. “Enthusiasm without knowledge is like running in the dark." Be sincere. Be conscientious. But remember that sincerity and conscientiousness are not enough. “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” “A fanatic is nothing more than someone who redoubles his efforts when he has forgotten his aim.”
In your pursuit for knowledge don’t forget that “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.” I can speak from experience. I knew a lot more as a freshman ministry major in college than I did after a year in ministry. Make sure that when you learn something, you are wiser for having learned it. Remember that “knowledge should lead to wisdom, and that if it doesn't, it's just a disgusting waste of time”. Have integrity. “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no’.” “Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” Learn the difference between listening and waiting to talk. “Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk.” That isn’t to say that you should always remain silent, but that your silence and your speaking should have purpose. “Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.” Know that it is OK to question, but that there should be reason in your questioning. “The wise man questions the wisdom of others because he questions his own, the foolish man, because it is different from his own.”
Be adventurous. “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Be kind. “Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.” “Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t allow other people to be reckless with yours.” “Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.” Get to know your parents. They can be some of your greatest friends and allies. “Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.” Respect your elders. Remember that the “self-made man” is a myth. We are all “fearfully and wonderfully” made, all of us by God’s hand. Batman was once quoted as saying, “I do nothing that a man of unlimited funds, superb physical endurance and maximum scientific knowledge could not do.”
Take time for lightheartedness. “Keep away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh, and the greatness which does not bend down for children.” Take time for pleasure. “There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.” My senior year of college, my roommates and I watched Tommy Boy once a week for the entire year. I never once thought of it as time wasted. While I’m in a more lighthearted part of my speech, I’ll share some more lighthearted, and even silly, advice “It is a truly wise man who does not play leap frog with a unicorn.” If you can’t stand the heat then, by all means, avoid setting yourself on fire. Remember that there is a fine line between the flirtatious smile of a stranger and the awkward grin of a homicidal maniac. “The pen is mightier than the sword, and infinitely easier to write with.” “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”
“Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.”
You may have read in a book, seen on television, or heard on the radio that we live in a post-modern society. This has its advantages and its disadvantages. There is openness in post-modernism that allows for the hearing of different opinions and a melding of good ideas. I experienced this in college more than I ever had before. Remember to keep an open mind, but never so open that your brain falls out. There are absolute truths, and they are wrapped up in the God we follow. Don’t fear scrutiny, the great thing about absolute truth is that it stands up under scrutiny. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know.” Don’t be content to remain ignorant, but know that you always will be about something. Don’t be afraid of being afraid, there is no courage without fear. That’s why comic book writers invented kryptonite. Without kryptonite, Superman isn’t courageous, because you can’t be courageous if you can’t be hurt. But Superman is fiction. God is real. Find your courage in Him. Know that you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.
“Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.” Learn from these things. Grow from them. “Know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Go to church. Read your Bible. Pray. Have faith. “Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.”
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.” For I am “confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
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