A New Education

I never really thought that seminary was that important...until, that is, I started taking classes. I know that I say I'm learning so much, but it's so much more than just learning. I'm being challenged in what I believe, and why I believe it. Things that I never thought about before are suddenly being brought to the forefront of my mind for the express purpose of discovering where those thoughts came from.

My friend and I have been talking recently about the chapel services here on campus. The school has these "brilliant minds" flown in from across the country to come and preach to us, I guess to show us what real preachers are supposed to look like. This past week, I was particularly disgusted with one preacher who read the text which happened to be Phillipians 3:10-11. It is an incredible scripture, and I would have loved hearing more about the context and personal application of the scripture. However, the preacher read from this passage, and then spent the following 40 minutes preaching a sermon on something that A.W. Tozer said while feebly making little analysis at all to the scripture. I didn't get it. I was frustrated because this preacher seemed to have belittled the scripture by trying to use it to conform to what he wanted it to say.

I never really thought about it much before, but that must make God incredibly sad. This is his breath- God-breathed inspiration- and we try to conform it to what we want it to say. We use it to fit our own agendas. One of the main things Paul told Timothy was to "hold to the pattern of sound teaching..." (2 Tim 1:13). Paul lived his life according to the Gospel because it was powerful and sufficient. As if we could ever add anything that would increase the power of God's Holy Word.

You encounter all kinds of people here on this campus. Some are completely conservative and others are completely not. This unique randomness has opened my eyes to a new way of looking at the world. I used to be a very legalistic person - rules were made for a reason, and I was going to follow them. My eyes have been opened in the past few years to the deception of this belief. I'm not advocating free sin reign or anything, but so often we live by the do's and don'ts. I used to, but I'm coming to understand what it means to live free in Christ. It's liberating.

All this to basically say that Seminary is kicking my butt. Not in terms of workload, but in terms of ideas and understanding of who God really is. I have lived so long with blinders on my eyes that the Christian life looks one certain way. When in reality, our differences combine us into the One Body of Christ that is being perfected day by day. It's exciting, and I'm extremely grateful for the challenges that I'm facing.