Why Seminary Now? (part 2 of 3)

Before I continuing my earlier post on "Why Seminary?", I wanted to introduce reasons why seminary isn't for everyone.

REASONS NOT TO GO TO SEMINARY

PRIDE and SELFISH AMBITION. I heard that the gifted preacher Charles Spurgeon didn't go to seminary. He was serving the Lord and was encouraged by his father to get a seminary education. His father arranged for him to meet the president of a well known seminary in England. Spurgeon went to his home and waited in the parlor of his house two hours, as the president's assistant thought he was someone else. After the two hours, the president had to leave to catch a train. Because of the mix-up, he didn't get to meet him.

As Spurgeon left the president's house, he was confused and wondered what was God's plan. As he pondered this, he felt that God spoke to him through a verse in Jeremiah: "And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not" (Jer. 45:5). Spurgeon realized that he was already serving the Lord and didn't need to go to seminary. He realized that seminary would in fact be a stumbling block for as it would tempt him to greater pride.

RESTORE YOUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH. An acquaintance of mine has written about "how he sold his soul in seminary." Rather than help in grow in his relationship with Christ, he found that the busyness of studying took so much of his time and energy that his relationship with Christ began to grow cold.

We also heard that seminary cannot give you what you don't already have. One of the seminaries we visited made this clear to us. The admissions officer told us something along the lines of" "Seminary isn't going to give you a heart for God, a desire to share the gospel, or love for people. If you don't have these things, seminary isn't going to give them to you. Seminary can only help you do what you are already doing better".

REFLECTIONS

These thoughts led us to some good soul-searching. I was challenged me to think about my reasons. Was I going out of pride or to fill my head with knowledge? Or, is it truly for God and His glory? A formal education (whether its engineering, teaching, law, etc...) is not good or bad in itself. The motivation makes all the difference in the world. One can go into any endeavor with the aim of bringing glory to God or bringing glory to self.

Though an engineer doesn't need a degree to do his job, a degree lays a good foundation. This knowledge can be self-taught, but it is often better and more efficient to learn from other teachers. In the same way, a pastor, teacher, or elder doesn't need a seminary education. God's Word is sufficient so that "the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:17). There are also plenty of solid books written by godly men on theology. But, there is something to be said about taking the time to be properly equipped and to learn from others.

If God has called me to serve as a pastor, shouldn't I be willing to invest the time and money to learn and be equipped? Pastors are doctors of souls. Someone looking for a doctor to perform surgery should make sure that the doctor is properly trained. Someone who is looking for a pastor to nurture their souls should make sure that the pastor knows God and His Word.

On future posts, I'll discuss why we decided to go to seminary full time (instead of part time), and why we decided to go to Westminster.