Yesterday evening my grandfather told me the story of George A. Gunn, Hebrew expert and professor at Shasta Bible College.

Gunn is one of the few American scholars on earth who can freely converse in Hebrew. Years ago, Gunn studied for his doctorate, and completed everything but the dissertation. To many this appears a massive waste of money and time. Why go this far and not run the final lap to get the degree? Because Gunn knew the danger of a Th.D. or Ph.D. behind a man's name. Those silly letters can put the man's trust in the wrong thing, when in reality, the only valid source of hope and glory and identity comes from Jesus Christ alone.

Degrees are not bad. They are simply a man-made system of identifying those who have studied hard in a certain field or been trained for a specific task. But degrees are dangerous, and for Gunn the danger was not worth the risk.

Gunn refused to finish just to protect himself from pride. He gave up letters of ink for crowns in heaven. That man's rewards in heaven are great.