After some odd 6 years or something of various educations culminating in a 4 year stent at Multnomah Bible College (now Multnomah University), I have graduated. You can only criticize your education if you’ve actually had one, of this I am aware. Yet, I find myself postured post graduation from a traditional, conservative biblical education asking myself what the result has been. Am I more equipped than when I began? Is my spiritual life deeper? Is the formal education I have sought the best avenue toward mature discipleship? More importantly, What is?
I don’t have a clear answer for these questions yet. Yes, I’m certain that growth has taken place in my four years but I also feel the need for a reawakening of a faith that in some senses laid dormant for a time. I began every semester with a vigor for learning and a hunger for Jesus but by the middle of the thing, my desire for learning and my spiritual vitality were deeply compromised. It’s hard to feel like I need to heal from a biblical education. Whatever the reason’s for this, not all which are the fault of an institution, I can at least say that an academic orientation toward equipping for the ministry has had some impact on me.
A Chinese house church leader I heard speak asked (via translator) a room full of college age believers how many had been to a bible college. Many of us raised our hands. He then said that a room full of Chinese pastors would not have had a single raised hand unless the question was about how many in the room had been in prison; in that case, just about every hand would have been in the air. The church in China grows today by 30,000 people a day. I’m sure further learning would be welcomed by many of these pastors, but do they need our kind of education? Do we need theirs? I don’t give the finger to my alma mater but I must ask what my education has not done.
Two questions I’m sorting out:
1. What is the impact of an academic orientation toward equipping?
2. What is Discipleship (It’s essence, form and function)?
I wonder what our thousands of readers would have to say about this.
I should say that I love that I have had the opportunity to think about God carefully. I value God’s intent with our minds; to know Jesus must include our intellect and thoughtful approach to His word. I am grateful for the patience of my professors that have continually poured into me. Still, I am unsure about whether I would recommend that people I know in my church and abroad attend a bible college.
The questions raised here are not localized to biblical education and they are not few. There are so many factors I haven’t yet accounted for. I’m working toward knowing what discipleship is; what it can look like. In the word’s of Paul, “I want to know Christ, and the power of His ressurection.”
I’m open to all the help I can get.
