Should I Go To Seminary?
This
is a burning question for many in ministry and many wanting to go into ministry
full time. I know I wrestled with this question for a good ten years before I
actually went to seminary. I always debated the benefits of going to seminary.
Is it worth the time? Do I want to move away from the ministry I am in? What
can they actually teach me that I can’t learn on my own? Is it really that
valuable to my development as a minister of the Gospel?
Now
I get it, everyone has to find their calling and sometimes God’s call to
ministry doesn’t involve seminary, but for me it did. The tipping point came
for me when I asked a trusted friend what he thought about me going to seminary
and he responded in a curious way. He said, “Well yes, isn’t that what pastors
do?” And his answer sounded trite, but he followed up his comment with this
explanation. “Seminary is the normal path for men going into ministry, if this
training was set up to train ministers of the Gospel then, yes, you should do
it.” For my friend it was no different than a doctor going to medical school or
and engineer studying math and physics at the university. If I was to be a
minister of the Gospel, then I should seek the usually means of preparation,
and I did. For my friend it was one part calling to ministry and a second part following
the regular path towards that calling unless God moved in a different
direction.

But
in my mind one aspect of my seminary time sticks out as invaluable. The
connections I made with other men and women pursuing their calling in ministry
has changed my life. This was a complete surprise to me. I made friends with
professors, theologians, seasoned pastors, writers, and men just like me called
to and training for ministry. At any seminary there are the guys that are just
there wasting time, but there are also guys that are soaking up every minute
and stewarding the opportunity to study well. I jumped in with a solid group of
guys and we studied hard. These days of study and debate have been some of the
best and brightest of my life. We lived life together and studied the Word
together. We lived and breathed the Word and dreamed of how God would use us. Now
I look around the country and the world as my group of friends are putting
their training into practice. My friends are pastoring churches, leading
ministries, teaching in Christian schools, and giving up their lives as
missionaries all over the world. We keep up with each other and have a
friendship that was made and refined in the Gospel of Christ as we studied
together. It is so exciting to see
the ways God is using us. As a side note let me encourage you if you are
thinking about going to seminary to move to an institution and study intensely
with the goal of leaving. Moving to seminary should be short-term and temporary.
I know not everyone can leave their place of ministry, but if at all possible,
do it. The community of believers studying the Word together has an infectious
and special quality about it that has borne fruit in amazing ways I could have
never seen coming.

Is
seminary really that valuable? It is invaluable. Count it a privilege to even
be able to consider the question and jump in with both feet. Come out walking
arms linked with many other brothers and sisters in Christ standing on a solid
foundation of Biblical knowledge.
SBTS
has a hymn that they like to sing at every graduation that looks forward to the
day that all of us as ministers of the Gospel will be gathered together before
Christ and think about what He has done in the world, how He used our weakness
to display his strength. It was written by Basil Manly, Jr. circa 1860 for the
first graduating class of Southern Seminary and it goes like this:
Soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed,
A world in ruins needs your aid:
A world by sin destroyed and dead;
A world for which the Savior bled.
A world in ruins needs your aid:
A world by sin destroyed and dead;
A world for which the Savior bled.
His Gospel to the lost proclaim,
Good news for all in Jesus’ Name;
Let light upon the darkness break
That sinners from their death may wake.
Good news for all in Jesus’ Name;
Let light upon the darkness break
That sinners from their death may wake.
Morning and evening sow the seed,
God’s grace the effort shall succeed.
Seedtimes of tears have oft been found
With sheaves of joy and plenty crowned.
God’s grace the effort shall succeed.
Seedtimes of tears have oft been found
With sheaves of joy and plenty crowned.
We meet to part, but part to meet
When earthly labors are complete,
To join in yet more blest employ,
In an eternal world of joy.
When earthly labors are complete,
To join in yet more blest employ,
In an eternal world of joy.
*The first image above was used in accordance with the licensing agreements of WikiCommons and in no way reflects the views of the artist that produced the image. The second image comes from http://www.sbhla.org and was used without consent and in no ways reflects the views of the artist that produced the image.
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