‘You Could Go to Seminary!’

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“You could go to seminary!”

I will never forget those words from my wife Lynnette—and she won’t either.

They were uttered as we were eating lunch one day in the spring of 1994, watching The Coral Ridge Hour from Dr. D. James Kennedy and Coral Ridge Ministries. The segment at the end of that particular episode highlighted the new Knox Theological Seminary, which Dr. Kennedy had begun and was promoting to his national television audience.

I was ending the second year of my first pastorate, in a small church in a small town in northwest Illinois, and had completed two graduate classes during that school year.

Lynnette’s words shocked me—and, I think, her as well. They also changed our lives forever.

At that moment, I knew I wanted to, and needed to, go to seminary, and began to look at the possibilities. These were the days before the Internet—the “information superhighway” which, we were told, would change our lives, as well. We did not even own a computer. Nor did we have the money or means to take cross-country trips to visit the schools of our dreams.

However, I did know that I did not want to move to a big city. I also knew that I did not want to simply follow my college classmates and friends to the same seminaries they were attending. I was willing to break new ground—and I wanted at least a slightly different perspective than I had received in college.

I was probably more open to differing viewpoints than even I realized at the time, but deep down I was intrigued by—even if not yet committed to—the traditional dispensational viewpoint that I had already learned from many beloved teachers, both those near to me, and also far, by means of books and media.

I had heard of Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa, from just a few different sources—so I decided to call them.

“Do you have a seminary?” I asked innocently.

“Yes, we do,” the voice on the other end reassured me.

Faith Baptist Theological Seminary was eight years old at the time, and within a few days a packet of information from the school was in my mailbox.

The minute I read it, I was pretty much hooked. I could not believe how many degrees these professors had—and the impressive list of schools where they had obtained them!

But one item jumped off the page at me: Dr. John C. Whitcomb was going to be teaching a week-long module in the seminary in September! I could not envision myself being anywhere else but there by that time.

I believe that God led me providentially to attend the seminary at Faith. I cannot think of a way that another seminary anywhere could have met my needs at a deeper level than Faith did. The opportunities that I had to study there—with such amazing professors, in such an intimate academic setting—could never be duplicated. These men were my teachers and my mentors, and they became my friends.

This is not to say that the whole experience was one great, happy, rosy time. Going to seminary—and going through seminary—were easily some of the hardest things I have done in my life. I can testify, however, that I could not now imagine my life without that experience. I must say that I would likely never have gone, and could never have made it through, without Lynnette’s help—and I am eternally indebted to her for that.

Perhaps you can relate my story to other difficult but worthwhile endeavors that you have undertaken, or are considering. Maybe there is even someone reading this article who has been on the fence with regard to their confidence in their own ability to attend seminary. There are certainly many more options now than there were in 1994, especially with the plethora of online programs. I would say to you what Lynnette said to me back then: “You could go to seminary!”

I returned to Faith this month for the first time in 10 years—since we were there in 2011 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Genesis Flood with Dr. Whitcomb and his family. I exhibited at this year’s Refresh Conference, and was able to engage in some additional ministries in the college. It was a time of reminiscing and reflecting for me, as well as a very productive opportunity for ministry outreach.

Faith celebrates its 100th anniversary during this year of 2021, and I am humbled to have been a part of the last 27 years of that history.

May God, in His grace and mercy, continue to bless this school for many more years to come, until Christ returns—for the good of many more students.

Paul Scharf 2019 Bio

Paul J. Scharf (M.A., M.Div., Faith Baptist Theological Seminary) is a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, serving in the midwest. He also assists Whitcomb Ministries and writes for “Answers” Magazine and Regular Baptist Press. For more information on his ministry, visit foi.org/scharf or email pscharf@foi.org.

Discussion

Before I earned my MDiv, I didn’t really understand the value of advanced theological training. Certainly, the church I attended at the time did not value formal theological education. The senior pastor had his BA in marketing. The associate pastor had his BA in Biblical Studies and MMin from The Crown College. Both were known as good preachers, but neither could preach expositionally, and they both often spiritualized the text. Although the associate pastor had no knowledge of the original languages, he often spoke about Greek and Hebrew words in his sermons. (The senior pastor was old school KJV, so he didn’t need the original languages.)

Then, I moved to another city and found another IFB church. After we started attending, the church hired a new senior pastor who had no formal theological degree. In fact, he had no undergrad degree at all. Yet, in sermon after sermon, he would reference the Greek and Hebrew words in his sermons and make remarks about the verb tense-form. I discovered he had the portfolio edition of Logos.

It was during our time in this church when I started attending seminary. After just taking first-semester Greek, I could tell the senior pastor was out to lunch when he mentioned the original languages in his sermons. Further, in conversations with him, I could tell he was not theologically grounded, but just believed what he was taught by his former pastor. After several years in seminary, I moved our family to another church in our area where the pastor did have several advanced theological degrees and who was an expositional preacher by conviction.

What a world of difference! “He preached as one having authority, and not as the scribes and pharisees.”

Now that I’ve completed my MDiv and am an elder at the church, I would not consider a candidate for senior pastor who lacked an advanced theological degree from a reputable seminary. That being said, an advanced theological degree does not guarantee the guy can pastor or preach well. So, there are other criteria I would look for. However, the advanced theological degree keeps your resume from immediately going into the trash can.

I was curious if that woman who complained was invited to the reception or not? ~ Jeff

No, she wasn’t. But, she ended up going anyway. It was difficult to police who came, because it was in the same building and stuff was going on. So, this is what ensued.

She hasn’t explicitly told me she’s leaving, but she likely will. I’ll meet with her sometime in the next two weeks and steer her to another church. She has very definite personal preferences, and I’m weary of trying to address every concern she has about everything. It isn’t spiritually healthy for her to be eternally frustrated. I’ll try to explain why there was nothing evil about the wedding and reception from the scripture, but if I continue to encounter resistance I’ll do what I can to help her find a place that’s a better fit for her.

Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.

Just don’t buy it. You all are welcome to your opinions, and so am I. I will leave it at that

Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

I have never done a wedding like that on a Sunday morning. But, we have done a few memorial services on Sunday evenings for families of dear saints who went home to the Lord. Don’t have to worry about the dancing, booze, or DJ’s that way ;-)

No alcohol was at our reception! We ARE Baptists, after all …

Truth be told, the couple lost their venue due to COVID, after the date had been set for a Sunday. So, in a pinch we agreed to do it at the church. Difficulties with decorating in conjunction with a normal service made us just make the wedding BE the service. A lot of wrinkles.

But, the overarching puzzle for me is a strange unwillingness amongst some (older) Baptists to have fun. We must pretend to be stiff and proper when we worship, but we can be normal and ordinary people when we leave the building. It’s a strange, joyless way to live the faith.

Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.

and I agree that it is too bad that there wasn’t a more overwhelming “look how we are getting to help this couple” attitude of joy and celebration. My guess is that you are seen as a threat, a danger, because of challenging accepted and expected normalcies that became close to sacrosanct through the years. But, God helps us to love the variety of sheep we encounter.

I agree. I’ll honestly try to keep her. But, I fear it’s a lost cause. I have to battle my cynicism here. I wish I had the kind of love and joy for people that all the books talk about. I do have that with some people; the one’s who aren’t hyper-critical. I feel bad about it. But, to be honest, part of me would be happy if this member left.

In a desperate attempt to wrench this thread back to the topic, these are the kinds of things a seminary can’t really “prepare” you for. Academics and theory are different than reality, sometimes. But, I think it would be a really good representative example in a practical theology course, or to bring a “why does this matter” aspect to an ecclesiology class.

Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.

I have encountered different times where I realized that seminary could not address such situations. I do get what Paul is emphasizing with his practical thoughts, and I could add that if the seminary would run with the ideas, coupled with how Bert suggested a workshop or even a “pot luck” where you could speak to men and wives about some things, it would work. I had the privilege of growing up in a pastor’s home, and tried my hardest in the flesh to not be in the pastorate. God had different ideas. I watched my dad handle business meetings, balance time and make time for me and my siblings, watched him serve the Lord’s table and do baptisms. I had no idea how much I had learned from him just by watching. I also had the advantage of a 1 year internship at a larger mid-western church in Grand Rapids, where I learned a ton of practical stuff. Since that time, I have been in one church since 1993 and now we do internships also. Pay it forward. It takes time, effort, intentionality, commitment, vision, just about whatever you want to say, but it is worth it. That is how you teach about finances, legal issues, visiting, ministering to parents when their baby has died at birth, crying out to God on New Year’s Eve for that newborn to make it while your family is home celebrating the holidays, learning to prepare a church for a business meeting, etc. This is the stuff of using the Word in people’s lives in real time. All I can say is, sometimes I wish I could take the wisdom and maturity of now and go back and start over. But, that’s not how it works.

Regardless if Don thinks requiring an advanced theological is “academic snobbery,” I’ve found that those men who lack an advanced theological degree lack substance and depth in their preaching. At best, they deliver what anyone could read in a MacArthur commentary. Why? Because they can’t interact with the original languages and exegetical commentaries. Their preaching is based on someone else’s observations about the text instead of their own. That’s okay for Sunday school-level teaching. That’s not okay if you want good expositional preaching.

In the words of Martin Luther,

[Martin Luther] Since it becomes Christians then to make good use of the Holy Scriptures as their one and only book and it is a sin and a shame not to know our own book or to understand the speech and words of our God, it is a still greater sin and loss that we do not study languages, especially in these days when God is offering and giving us men and books and every facility and inducement to this study, and desires his Bible to be an open book.

Ad fontes, Brothers!

Academic snobbery?

I presume this was directed at me so I am curious: How is expecting a basic level of exegetical, theological, and homiletical skills for a pastor “academic snobbery”?

I wonder if one of the problems in churches and pastors (particularly in fundamentalism) is that we have exchanged good intentions with good skills. We have assumed that some mystical “call” to ministry is a substitute for the ability to teach (which includes knowing and presenting). And if God has called someone, we better not tell him no. And churches have suffered because of it.

The biblical qualifications include “able to teach” and “able to refute” and that requires the skills and knowledge that should come from seminary. If you can get it elsewhere, then fine. But that’s my original point: “the degree is not absolutely necessary, but the skills and the knowledge are. It is possible to get that apart from seminary, but more difficult, IMO.”

Perhaps the bigger question, or at least a big question is, Why do we want to push men into ministry who have not demonstrated the discipline and the skills necessary to meet the biblical qualifications?

I am against the notion that there is a minimum standard required. You guys look down your long noses at guys who have less academic ability and, it appears, would send them out to do something else.

fortunately, God still uses uneducated men who are nonetheless “apt to teach” whether they use the best grammar, or can read Greek, or not.

Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3