Why I’m Going to Seminary
Graduate school has been in my sights for years now, yet deciding what specifically to pursue has been an emotionally draining struggle. Pastoral ministry or academia is where I see myself a decade from now, but I knew it would not be immediately after my undergraduate. The idea of a fresh college grad hopping into pastoring and preaching seemed, in my opinion, unwise. Shepherding people to pursue and honor Christ as spouses, parents, and coworkers meant I needed to spend a few years being a Christ-honoring spouse, parent (not yet), and coworker. So, my career has been in a variety of operations jobs for the last couple of years, but the Lord’s calling, in a multitude of ways, seems to have directed me to seminary.
Typically, theological education costs a lot of time and money. Both could be spent on much more practically productive endeavors. Career advancement, savings, housing, the list goes on and on of items that will in some way be altered over the next three years for my wife and me. The pressing question is why? Why spend the money and years of my mid-twenties on a master of divinity degree which has one of the lowest return rates of any graduate program?
Being Present
In my mental corn maze to discern which graduate program to enroll in, I have wandered into a multitude of ideas: law school, philosophy, MBA, engineering, and seminary. To be clear, thinking deeply is my hobby, so philosophy is appealing. Though law sounds prestigious, and an MBA might ensure a higher paycheck. In some graduate programs, I could pursue both Law and an MBA along with a tract in philosophy! In worldly achievement and financial projection, a master’s of divinity degree doesn’t really hold a candle to any of the aforementioned options, yet seminary remained in the pack.
While dialoguing with a wiser friend on my dilemma, he remarked that I should acquire the graduate degree that offered the most favorable financial future and just read theology on the side. He continued, “honestly, many theology courses are free online, and you can read the same books on the syllabus.” In a sense, my friend is correct; In today’s endless internet library and infinite Amazon bookstore, it would not be that hard to piece together a DIY M.Div. in my spare time.
In the final analysis, though, I am not persuaded. Yes, I could read the books and listen to the lectures, but the main focus of my time, energy, and passion would not be tethered to theology. Seminary is the sacrifice of mental and emotional capacity in a career in order to solely center the heart and mind on the knowledge of God. The world will still be there when I’m done studying theology, but I won’t be truly studying theology if I’m mainly in the world. To deprioritize, for a limited time, career and its ambitions is to free the body of its daily physical and emotional taxation. In the next three years, I will be giving myself, in a real sense, to the task of the knowledge of God. Indeed, I will listen to all the lectures and buy all the books, but most importantly, my entire being will be present.
Hard Choices
My father once said to me, “Easy choices make a hard life, but hard choices make an easy life.” Now, this little proverb isn’t intended to be a binary judgment on the results of each individual’s circumstances, but there is a real principle here. What he meant was that if one always defers to the immediately easy decisions in life, it creates a more difficult existence in the long term. On the other hand, if one decides to make the hard choices early, it creates a more equipped and easier life in the long term.
The irony of mentioning these wise words is that I am probably making parts of my journey “hard” by going to seminary. With a clear call, I am accepting those potential consequences. The place where I am making the hard choice in order to create an easier long term is in pastoral ministry itself. If shepherding is my future, seminary establishes a theological and practical foundation for a lifetime of challenges faced by ministers. Even if I was not going to pursue ministry, building a coherent, well-rounded faith and theology seems obvious for anyone serious about Christ and spreading His gospel for a lifetime. Sacrificing now by enrolling in seminary seems to ensure a future fruitfulness in disciple-making and sheep-tending.
Deep Passion
This reason is listed last intentionally; Just because one is passionate about something does not mean he or she is called to it. Likewise, not everything one is called to is he or she intensely passionate about. By God’s grace, the passion has been there for a long time, and now the Lord has given me the call. The mixing of those two has been slow, yet the final result has and will continue to be sweet.
Theology is the passion of my life. I recently conveyed to a neighbor, “If I’m not obligated to do something, I am spending all my time studying theology.” My heart, my mind, my everything is invested in reading the old, investigating the new, and inquiring of theologians far and wide. In my theological discoveries, I cannot help but share them broadly amongst fellow brothers and sisters while always being ready to give a reason for the hope that is within me to the skeptic. My passion in life is to theologically engage people’s minds in order to pierce their hearts. First, I must engage my own mind, pierce my own heart, and from that place send those arrows outward. Seminary is where this desire meets calling, and where passion meets guidance.
Just because one is passionate about something does not mean he or she is called to it. Likewise, not everything one is called to is he or she intensely passionate about.
Biblical scholar A.T. Robertson, in his 1890 inaugural address at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, persuades me this way: “If theological education will increase your power for Christ, is it not your duty to gain that added power? Never say you are losing time by going to school. You are saving time, buying it up for the future and storing it away. Time used in storing power is not lost.”
With that, I’m off to Reformed Theological Seminary. May God bless my endeavor.