Psalm 116:15.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/aprilweb-only/chuck-colson-dead.html

As Brookside continues to raise up leaders for the church through our particular local church, one of the things this means is that there will be those involved in our congregation who may be asking some of these same questions, and considering further theological education for themselves. With this in mind, then, here’s a synopsis of what I shared with the Grace seniors:

SEMINARY: WHY TO GO (Or at least why I’m glad that I went, with some corresponding “seed questions” for you to think through for yourself.)

• Consider seminary for the learning experience

• The intensity of the learning experience: Unless you’re the exception, “regular life” and “regular ministry” aren’t going to afford you the same intense, focused learning environment you’ll get at a seminary.  Where else besides seminary can you immerse yourself in biblical & theological studies at this level from the sorts of teachers you’ll have at seminary, and/or devote the sort of time you’ll be able to give to careful study with few(er) distractions?

• The exposure of the learning experience: By virtue of the fact that the seminary I attended attracted students from many different denominations and from all around the world, my horizons were broadened in a good way.  The positive results are that (1) I was forced to better understand and explain what I believe, and (2) I gained a greater appreciation for the views of others on secondary matters of the Christian faith – others who love Jesus and read their Bible carefully, but who I still disagree with on certain debatable issues.

• “Seed question” to get you thinking, and see how/if it grows: Knowing that “regular life and ministry” won’t afford you the sort of time you’ll get in seminary for focused, intense study of the Bible, how might taking this sort of intentional time for focused study benefit yourself and your ministry?  When might be the right time for this sort of investment?

• Consider seminary for the relationships you’ll form

• Relationships with the teachers: By learning from my teachers and interacting with a few outside of class, I was able to “rub shoulders” with great men (there were great women teachers too, but I didn’t know them as well) who had great minds, communicated well, and had a rich relationship with Christ.  Seeing their passion for truth and their devotion to the Lord further ignited these passions in me, and made my seminary experience very different than the stereotypical “cemetery” experience I hear about from others.

• Relationships with other students: The friendships that my wife and I formed were invaluable in shaping us, maturing us, encouraging us, and a hundred other benefits.  Surrounding ourselves in close relationship with others who loved Jesus, cared about us, and were pursuing ministry is one of the highlights that I will always treasure about our time at seminary.

• “Seed question to get you thinking, and see how/if it grows: Think through the impact relationships have had on your life thus far.  What might God do in you and through you, if you increased the network of people of people you have positively influencing you through a seminary experience?

SEMINARY: WHY NOT TO GO (Some yellow or red flags that should slow you down, force you to your knees, and prompt you to seek counsel from others)

• Mounds and mounds of undergrad debt (or any other debt), with no plan for how you’ll pay for seminary.

• Those closest to you (e.g. spouse if married, parents, closest Christian friends if unmarried) aren’t on the same page as you about this.

• Your primary motivation for seminary isn’t an investment in future ministry (whatever that ministry looks like) but is simply to delay whatever’s next in your life.

SEMINARY: HOW CAN I DISCERN IF THIS IS SOMETHING I SHOULD CONSIDER?

• Talk to your pastor.

• Talk to other people you respect and who can give you wise counsel.

• Take a class and discern if God is “whetting your appetite” for more of the same.  Your church may have classes that will give you a small taste of a classroom experience (for you Brooksiders, check out our Adult Ed classes), you can take classes online, or a nearby Bible college will have classes you can audit.

• Get online and “get introduced” to the seminaries you’re thinking about.  You can learn a lot (but not everything) from a website.

• Pray.

“For [the Gospel writer] John, nothing could be more disastrous than to consider the cross in isolation from the resurrection, for nothing is more certain in his mind than that the cross is the route Jesus took to return to his Father (14:28-31; 20:17), that the ultimate glorification of the Son with the Father is accomplished through the paradoxical glorification of the cross (12:23-28)” (p. 631).

And just a few pages later, commenting on Jesus greeting his disciples after his resurrection with “Peace be with you” (John 20:19, 21, 26), Carson says the following

“At one level, the greeting Peace be with you! is conventional, representing the Hebrew salom alekem, [accents missing], still in use today.  Indeed, perhaps when the disciples first hear the risen Lord utter it, they thought little of it, being so astonished and overjoyed that linguistic subtleties would elude them.  But the repetition of the greeting (vv. 21, 26) would eventually prompt the reflective amongst them to recall that Jesus before the cross had promised to bequeath to them his peace (14:27; 16:33).  Though a common word, [shalom] was also the embracing term used to denote the unqualified well-being that would characterize the people of God once the eschatological kingdom had dawned.  Jesus’ ‘”Shalom!”‘ on Easter evening is the complement of “it is finished’ on the cross”, for the peace of reconciliation and life from God is now imparted…Not surprisingly it is included, along with ‘grace,’ in the greeting of every epistle of Paul in the NT’ (Beasley-Murray, p. 379)” (p. 647, bold emphasis added).

Commenting on 1 Corinthians 1:8-9, Blomberg writes,

“How can Paul be so thankful and positive [vv. 4-9] about a church rife with divisions and abuses [as the church at Corinth clearly was]…?  Verses 8-9 supply the answer: God’s character provides the guarantee.  He will remain faithful to his promises ultimately to perfect his people, however immature they at times seem to be (vv. 8a, 9).  When he returns, when the age of the fulfillment of all the remaining biblical promises arrives, then believers will be made wholly blameless (v. 8b).  Acquitted of their past sins, they will be fully prepared for the life to come.  Even now, his people are in the process of being remolded, even if it is with fits and starts…” (p. 37).

In an article describing this rally, event organizer David Silverman, president of American Atheists, further clarifies the purpose of this rally: “…the main point of the rally, Silverman says, is not to tweak the faithful. It’s to encourage closeted atheists to take heart.  ’The message is that if you can come out, you can out come out,’ he says. ‘And if you can’t come out, at least you’ll know you’re not alone, and maybe sometime soon you’ll be able to come out of the closet to your family.’”

The sense I get from these sorts of purpose statements is that  ”coming out of the closet” and identifying oneself as an atheist will be liberating for the individual.  Maybe it will be.  Maybe it will liberate this “closet atheist” to finally start living a certain way, unriddled by the guilt they feel has been imposed on them by whatever beliefs about God/believers/religion they’re rejecting (or never believed in in the first place).  Maybe it will be liberating to finally answer the questions they’ve been asking with responses they (for whatever reason) are more satisfied with.

Mabye…but not necessarily.

I’ve spoken with atheists who are still conflicted about morality and struggle to find a basis for ethics.  I’ve spoken with atheists who’ve found (to them) satisfying answers to some questions, only to have new questions introduced they can’t answer (questions related to purpose, beauty, and goodness).

I’m not going to get into any “back-and-forthing,” apologetics-style in this post about atheism versus theism versus Christianity.  The only comment I want to make is this: Before we paint atheists as the next “liberated” group, let’s not ignore the sacrifices they’re making to adopt the secularist worldview.  Even in the hearts & minds of many atheists, there’s a longing for something greater, an awareness of deficiencies in their worldview.

From what I’ve read, no one captures this longing/awareness quite as well as Dana Tierney – herself a de-churched atheist – in an article she wrote a number of years ago for the New York Times:

“…I am unable to believe in God.  Most of the other atheists I know seem to feel freed or proud of their unbelief, as if they’ve cleverly refused to be sold snake oil.  But over the years, I’ve come to feel I’m missing out.  My friends and relatives who rely on God — the real believers, not just the churchgoers — have an expansiveness of spirit.  When they walk along a stream, they don’t just see water falling over rocks; the sight fills them with ecstasy.  They see a realm of hope beyond this world.  I just see a babbling brook.”

May the truth of the Christian message and the “expansiveness” of Christian lives propelled by the gospel echo compellingly & winsomely within these longing hearts.