IS SEMINARY NECESSARY

If the first seminary didn't come into existence until 1563, it does make me wonder how pastors were being trained before that.

And if the church survived (and spread across the globe) for 1500 years without seminaries, are they really necessary now?

I loved my time at Asbury Theological Seminary back in the late 90s, but I'd have to think real hard to list things I learned there that turned out to be indispensable to any ministry I've been involved in since. 

Though I suppose my seminary classes may have been slightly more useful to my ministry work than my college education classes were for my teaching of high school English. (But that's a pretty low bar.)

Not only that, but I also don't feel like I was ever forced to wrestle through any of the big issues of theology personally. 

And I certainly didn't learn much about human nature there - or all the things that can go wrong within the walls of a church.

Two of my best friends from my Asbury days are no longer involved in full-time ministry. They both got burned by churches pretty badly. I have to wonder if they had been better informed about human psychology, if they might have been better equipped to weather the storms. 

HISTORICAL ANGLE

Apparently, my dissertation will require a chapter focused on my topic's historical angle. And each chapter should be 25 to 35 pages in length. 

To be frank, this prospect is not super exciting to me.

I am not even sure how much information will be available on the only historical aspect I really want to explore.

Since my project involves the teaching skills a pastor should have, I am somewhat interested in knowing how early in church history any sort of official training of church leadership began. When were the first seminaries established? What was done to train leaders before the advent of seminaries? 

I just did a little googling and - if the internet can be trusted - the first seminary didn't come about until the Reformation era, specifically in 1563. Before that, education of leaders took place in the local church, and especially in the larger cathedrals.

I'm not exactly sure where to start looking for information on what was happening in the early centuries of the church, before there were such things as cathedrals, but we shall see. 

SMALL DISSERTATION MILESTONE

I passed a small dissertation milestone last night. 

When the first draft of my prospectus was rejected, one major weakness - according to my advisor - was the "Theological Reflection". It was not "robust" enough. 

And even though I knew first drafts were almost never approved, I must admit that it stung a bit to "fail". 

I have spun my wheels for about two years, intimidated by the thought of revising my prospectus, especially the Theological Reflection.

Those years weren't wasted, though. They turned out to be useful in giving me time to ponder my project and deepen both my interests and my convictions. 

Last night, motivated by a deadline in my surprise class, I completed an entirely revamped Theological Reflection. 

It felt good to complete it - like I can move forward again. 

Now I wait to see how my advisor responds... while I work on the next assignment.

TEACHERS ARE HELD TO ACCOUNT BY GOD

Here are some tough words from the prophet Hosea (Chapter 4) to the "children of Israel" AND, in particular, Israel's priests: 

1 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
 and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
4 Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest. 
5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother. [Meaning Israel]
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.

The priests are meant to function as the intermediaries between God and humanity. When they lose interest in the knowledge of God, the results are catastrophic. 

With nobody offering to teach the people about the knowledge of God, the people's faithfulness and love begin to fail and they descend into debauchery of all sorts. 

Those in leadership among God's people, Old Testament and New, are held to account for their own attention to the Lord and their ability to pass along truth to God's people. 

A teacher does not need to be a FALSE teacher to be blameworthy in God's sight.

Gulp!

MORE THAN HEARING

How did I forget this one? 

Tonight I need to add to my list of practices which are basic to effective teaching:

In your lessons, whenever possible, find opportunities to involve senses beyond hearing.

The more senses which are engaged, the greater the students' engagement will be. And, thus, the stickier the lesson.

Include visuals at the very least. We all loved "show and tell" in kindergarten and, if you think about it, the fun part - the interesting part - was the "showing". 

(In fact, if you forgot to bring your object, you wisely asked for your turn to be postponed. You knew instinctively that just talking about it wasn't going to cut it.)

They may be rarer, but there are also opportunities from the pulpit to employ touch or smell or taste. 

This morning I was preaching on Luke 1:1-17, which relates the story of Zechariah performing his priestly duty of burning incense in the temple when he is visited by Gabriel and told to expect the birth of a boy to be named John. 

A little bit of research revealed that getting a turn at burning the incense - the smoke of which represented the prayers of the people rising to God - was a once-in-a-lifetime honor. 

So I picked up some strawberry scented incense at Walmart and lit four sticks at the top of my sermon as I was giving the background of Luke's story.

The smoke curled upwards as I read the passage and soon the smell permeated the sanctuary. 

It would be impossible to gauge how much that small gesture brought the story to life for everyone in the pews this morning. 

But whatever it added, I know it was worth the $1.22 and the extra few minutes it took to make it happen. 

CLARITY

Paul's final reference to teaching in Colossians is found in chapter 4 where he asks the congregation to pray for him as he "speaks".

His prayer request is twofold: First, that God would present opportunities, and second, that when those doors opened, Paul would be prepared to make "the mystery of Christ" "clear": 

2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

So it seems the final lesson on effective teaching in this letter is that it does not just happen by opening one's mouth. 

The goal of effective teaching is clarity, and prayer is the facilitator.

MULTIPLYING TEACHERS

The "renewal in knowledge in the image of the Creator" Paul places at the center of Colossians is also at the center of a chiasm, bookended by a list of things to be PUT OFF (e.g. sexual immorality and covetousness) in verses 5-9 and a list of things to be PUT ON in verses 12-15:

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Up until now, the focus of the letter has been on what the Colossians already know and what Paul can add to their previous learning. Now he makes it clear that the next step is for the Colossians themselves to become teachers:

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 

The ultimate test of whether a student has learned the material is not multiple choice, true or false, or short answer questions. 

The proof of learning is when the student can effectively transmit the material to others. 

Our modern churches give everyone weekly opportunities to "sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs", but how often are church members challenged to teach each other?

In my experience, most adult believers don't feel comfortable teaching spiritual truths to the children of the congregation, much less their peers. 

What are the chances the author of Hebrews give the same admonition to modern believers as he gave to his original audience:

11 About this (Jesus as high priest) we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.