Why I Went to Seminary
I just spoke at the Phoenix Seminary Fundraising Breakfast at the Biltmore Resort and what follows is the unedited version of what I shared:
When I was a young child, my family was eating lunch at a restaurant after church one Sunday. At the time, my father was the new pastor at the Baptist church in San Lorenzo Valley, and Dr. Vernon Grounds of Denver Seminary was in town speaking at another church in the area.
He just happened to be dining in the same restaurant as us and noticed our family seated across from him. For some reason, he decided to stand up, walk across the room and introduce himself to my parents. He then looked at the two little boys seated at the table and asked if he could lay his hands on their heads and pray a prayer of blessing on both of them right there in front of a restaurant full of people.
Now, I’m not a mystic, but I’m mystical enough to think that something special was conveyed that day through the hands of a saintly leader to those two little auspicious boys. Whatever occurred that day, I wonder if the experience explains in part the path that my brother and I have both taken in this life.
As a young man, I recall sitting in church and hearing my father tell the church that he believed in his sons and invited them to watch us grow and see for themselves what God would do through us. His affirmation gave us both something to reach for, but more importantly, it gave us the security of having his confidence.
From that day forward, we both took the responsibility seriously of living up to the challenge that our father gave us and endeavored to prove him right. Though we both faltered as all young men do and had to grow up like everyone else, we held onto the affirmation that our father gave to us and it carried us through those years.
As a college student, I worked for a summer on a cruise ship. During the course of that summer experience, I never ran into another professing Christian among my coworkers. I found myself suddenly isolated from my life back in Arizona and my personal commitment to Christ was put to the test as never before.
I had many opportunities to turn away from God and indulge myself in sin, but God supplied me the strength to withstand the temptations. It was during that time of testing that I felt the true call of God on my life to serve Him in vocational ministry, and it was then that I decided that I would go to seminary.
Now, one would think that having the blessing of a spiritual patriarch, the confidence of a father and a clear call from God would be enough for a dynamic and effective ministry. Some would say that I had everything I needed then to be a great minister, but it wasn’t enough. There were some things that I still lacked.
In Paul’s second letter to his protégé Timothy he told the young pastor that his gifts and talents, his sense of calling and even his affirmation from Paul was not enough to be an effective pastor. No, Paul told him that he needed more.
Paul told him that in God’s house there are vessels of gold and silver and then there are vessels of wood and clay. And, the difference between them is how “honorable” they are. In God’s economy there are common and uncommon ministers, and even though God loves and values both of them, He chooses to use the uncommon ones.
Paul’s exhortation to Timothy was that before one can expect to be used by God, he or she must be honorable. So then, how does one become honorable? Paul writes that to be honorable, one must be “set apart as holy”, “useful to the master of the house” and “ready for every good work.”
First, Paul says that to be honorable we must be set apart. The Greek word for set apart is hagiazo, and it means to literally be purified. One can be set apart for anything, but Paul says that one must specifically be set apart “as holy.” This means that we must, in fact, be made holy before we can be considered honorable.
Usually, the word is translated as sanctified, and the thing about sanctification is that it is not an event but a process. Justification is an event, the moment that one is declared righteous through faith in Christ, but sanctification is a process that begins and continues through life.
And, though we are largely sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we are also sanctified through the exhortation of others. In other words, we need other people in our life who are further down the road, more mature and credible than we are who are willing to speak into our lives and show us our blind spots.
We all have blind spots, and we need others who can show us what we cannot see ourselves. In my case, I had a big blind spot when I went to seminary. At my 60 hour review, I received a letter from the faculty informing me that they were largely pleased with my academic work and impressed with my gifts and skills.
However, they also told me that there was one thing they felt would inhibit my ministry and impede my progress in seminary if I didn’t confront it. Collectively, they said there was evidence of pride in my life, and I needed to be purified of it. They knew that God would hold me back until I learned the essence of true humility.
Looking back on that experience, I can honestly say that it was quite painful and embarrassing to have all my professors call me out in a formal way, and I was hurt for a while. But, as time passed I learned that it was quite necessary and was really only the first of several events in my life that God has used to break me of my pride.
So, many years later, I now find myself grateful for the purification I received from the faculty at Phoenix Seminary. I’m glad they cared enough about me to tell me the truth, even if it meant hurting me for a season. Their investment into my life has served me well as it has spared me from just spinning my wheels in ministry.
Second, Paul says that to be honorable we must be useful to the master of the house. The Greek word for useful is euchrestos, and it literally means to be equipped. To be equipped is to have the right tools and skills for the task at hand. In the case of ministry, one must have the tools and skills necessary to read, interpret and apply the Scriptures. They must also have the ability to think theologically and philosophically.
In seminary I gained the tools and skills I could not provide for myself. I learned church history, theology, Bible and the biblical languages. My mind and heart were stretched in profound ways in school as I was taught not only to process but also to integrate all the fields of study into life and ministry.
Now, I have two little boys named Ethan and Christian. Ethan is five and Christian is three, and they both love Thomas the Train. As I have endured watching the many episodes over the last few years with them I have picked up something that struck me. I noticed that all the little trains in the show have one primary goal in life, and that goal is not to be the fastest, the strongest or the smartest, but to be the most useful.
That’s right. Their central goal in their life as a train is to be a “really useful engine.” I was honestly taken by that idea as it accurately describes what our goal ought to be in ministry. We too want to be really useful to the Master, and our usefulness is directly tied to how well equipped we are to serve Him.
Third, Paul says that to be honorable we must be ready for every good work. The Greek word for ready is hetoimazo, which literally means to be prepared. To be prepared is to take the appropriate time to study and practice in order to be qualified and approved for ministry.
There is tremendous value in taking the time to get prepared for doing good work. No lawyer practices law without going to law school and no doctor practices medicine without going to medical school. It is no different for ministers of the gospel as there is no substitute for good preparation.
There is a story told by Lewis Sperry Chafer in his book Grace about two lumberjacks who challenge each other to an all day wood chopping contest. One chopped wood all day long and noticed that the other took many breaks and enjoyed a leisurely lunch. At the end of the day, the one who chopped all day long was upset to find that the other had chopped more wood than he had. The man who took all the breaks told him that what he had failed to notice is that while he rested he was sharpening his axe.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.” Seminary training is about sharpening our axe. It is about taking the time to get prepared so we can be more effective in our ministries and always ready for good works.
In my case, I gladly spent four years of my life in seminary knowing that it would prepare me for all the good works that God has prepared for me the rest of my life. If I didn’t take the time to prepare, I know that I would likely not be ready for all the good opportunities when they came my way.
So, as we can see, there is more to being an effective minister than having the blessing of a leader, the affirmation of others and even the sense of a personal call. According to Paul, being an honorable vessel is about being set apart, useful and ready. It’s about being purified, equipped and prepared for the ministry that God gives us.
We must resist the urge to coast on our own abilities and gifts, on our own confidence in a personal calling, and on the affirmation of others. The truth is that we can have all those things and still just be a common or dishonorable vessel that is unused by God.
To be an uncommon and honorable vessel that is used by God, there must be more. We must give him what He desires from us. That is, we must be purified of our pride, we must be equipped with the right tools and skills, and we must be prepared with instruction and training. If we want for God to use us, then we must, in turn, give Him something that He can use!
This is why we need Phoenix Seminary. We need a graduate school that turns common vessels into uncommon vessels, ignoble instruments into noble ones, and what is dishonorable into what is honorable. This seminary is turning the wood and clay into gold and silver, ensuring that the next generation of pastors, teachers, leaders, missionaries, chaplains and everyday ministers are really ready for the great work that lies ahead.
Hey Kent,
What a great story. It is especially important for our pastors to be trained well for pastoral work. I am glad that you had professors that cared enough to be forthcoming with you about your pride. As you mentioned in your tolerance blog, it is indifference that is the opposite of love, not hate.