The successful completion of a seminary degree is not a virtue if it is alone. In fact, there are times when the completion of a course of study at seminary is actually harmful and unhelpful. How can this be?
It has to do with the fact that study at seminary (or theological studies of any kind) can sometimes be completed solely at the level of propositional knowledge. There are diverse stores of knowledge to be gathered in these types of study: knowledge of languages, locations of verses, names and works of theologians, etc. Knowledge at the propositional level is an integral part of theology, yet, there are more important aspects of the Christian life than the possession of knowledge. Knowledge is important (cf. Rom. 10:2-3), but it is not a virtue that stands alone (cf. 1 Cor. 13:2).
Theological education bears only bitter fruit if it does not include a proportionate increase in love as students increase in knowledge. This is true whether that education occurs at the kitchen table, at the church pew, or at the seminary desk. This danger is especially prevalent at seminary, however, because that is where theological training is most likely to be divorced from both the family and church structures for confronting sin.
One goal of every seminary should be to ensure that professors and students grow in grace as they grow in knowledge, and that should be bolstered with support from both the family and the church body. Seminaries exist to serve the Lord through providing trained ministers for the church—seminaries are subservient to both families and churches. Neither the home nor the pulpit is served well if seminaries produce knowledgeable, equipped men who are swollen with venomous pride.
One way to guard against such pride is to swell one’s love instead of one’s self-estimation. Love, where it originates truly and from the Holy Spirit, will quell pride and cause theological knowledge to serve the purposes of God by serving others. This occurs in two ways.
First, love provides the right motive to enter into seminary training. If the motives of a student are to please God by service to the church (Col. 1:10), it is very unlikely that he will finish his studies as a conceited man (though it is not impossible). In this way, having a loving motive helps him to focus on the advancement of others through his own theological education. One example of this would be a man who learns biblical counseling methods so that he can glorify God by counseling and encouraging downcast Christians. As he enters the seminary, this loving motive will prevent him from focusing on his own increased counseling skills as a means of self gratification.
Second, love provides the foundation of ministry toward others. As the graduate has increased in his knowledge of God’s truth and of God’s proscribed methods, he has considered others to be more important than himself (Phil. 2:3). If the motive of love sets his focus on the right thing in the first place, a ministry of love will keep it firmly planted there. His own successes (which are really God’s anyway) will not distract him, but will fire his zeal for others with sweet joy, driving him onward into even further ministry. Ministry that is truly loving will perpetuate itself because neither success nor sorrow can turn it aside from God to focus on itself.
May God grant us, then, the grace to focus on Himself as the most glorious, worthy, beautiful, wonderful goal of all ministry. May love for His name and love for His people inform all our motives for future service and for our present ministry. It would be a rich blessing to focus on Him and on others in this way.
If you intend to enter seminary, or if you are a student already, or a graduate, check your heart. Are you a loving person, or are you a person who is self-absorbed? Do your motives for study reflect the glory of God, or do they resemble sinful selfishness? If it is the latter, repent from this sinful course, and flee to Jesus! Learn from Him—He is gentle and humble of heart (Matt. 11:29), and He came to serve others (Mark 10:45). Let us all imitate Him more and more!
--Dean of Admissions
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