Pastoral Credentials???

Anyone been to seminary who would now consider it a waste of time?

 

I think the elders/overseers of the church should be educated. But I don't equate a seminary or Bible college degree with education.

I've known some Bible college or seminary graduates to teach bizaar things. Some Bible colleges in particular indoctrinate students in the denominations particular doctrines, rather than teaching them to reason deeply and apply scripture.

If we look in the Bible, who 'educated' the elders who pastored the local churches? The apostles educated them by teacing them the Gospel. Paul tells how he spent a lot of time with the elders of Ephesus. II Timothy 2:2 tells of the education method we should be following in the church. Timothy was to take what he had learned, and commit it to faithful men, who would be able to teach others.

Education needs to be taking place in the church. Leaders need to teach other leaders. Congregations of believers need to dig deeply in the word, and not simply listen to a couple of verses and a dozen illustrations to fill up time. Children need to learn the whole Bible, not just a memory verse before making a sling shot.

The Bible college/seminary model has caused a lot of trouble when taken overseas. Often, the people in the village church who are good candidates for eldership, biblically, are overlooked in favor of the young person who went to Bible college. Some parents send their naughty kids to Bible college to straighten them out. They can graduate, with a degree but without meeting up to the biblical qualifications for eldership, and still be put in charge of their spiritual elders.

Knowledge of the word of God and being able to contradict those who speak against it is a requirement for eldership, but the list of requirements focuses on a lot of other lifestyle requirements like ruling one's house well, keeping one's children in line, and developing overall good character.

Churches should be teaching youths and young men how to be good husbands and fathers and rule their house well, and a deep knowledge of the word of God. Then, when they mature enough, many of them will be Biblically qualified church overseers. We don't see the 'professional pastor system' in scripture, where one becomes a pastor by going through some kind of preacher-vocational school. It is healthy for the church to have elders who have worked in regular jobs like the people in the congregation. If we have the occasional scholar of religion (as Paul was) in ministry, that can be a good thing, too.

Peter and John were considered to be unlearned men. By Roman Empire standards, they were probably considered well-educated since they could read. Jews had a high standard of education, teaching their children to read the Torah. By Jewish standards, Peter and John were not the higher educated Jews. They hadn't gone for advanced training in the Law recognized by the Jewish elite. Their Rabbi hadn't gone to any of the 'seminaries' of the day. He must have been an Enigma to them, too. He hadn't gone through their educational system but knew all the material better than they did, and was able to put them to shame when He argued with them.

Pastors need to be educated in the things of God. But we also have to keep in mind that some churches are in villages and communities in which none of the members are well-educated by secular standards. The Biblical pattern is for elders to be raised up from within their own church. The requirement to have highly educated preachers who went to school can hinder the development of a local church, causing dependancy on foreignors or members of other ethnic groups who are more educated, or else creating an unbiblical system of church eldership in which young people are sent away to be elders over their true physical and spiritual elders.

Btw, I live in Indonesia, so I am looking at this from a different perspective.

 

No Bob, a pastor having a degree is not legalism, man requiring it of someone prior to allowing them to pastor is legalism. It is extra-Biblical and not necessary.

One of my best friends was a youth pastor at a SBC who was not degreed. He felt called to the ministry, and due to his obvious gifting as was apparent to our former pastor (now retired after 40 years at that church) he was given the job of youth pastor.

He lead many, many young people to Christ, grew his youth group, most importantly brought baby Christians to a lifelong process of maturity, started an abstinence and anti-abortion program in the public schools here, and was in turn given the boot by our former church, led by the new pastor and deacond body because he didn't have a seminary degree and they "just couldn't justify paying someone $65,000 per year if they don't have a degree."

Bob, according to you, that was the right choice because he did not have a degree. Yet, God used him mightily. There are tons and tons of other examples of this very thing, non-degreed ministers and pastors who were used mightily by God. I probably wasn't clear enough in my original post that I do think education is important, that it allows us to gain in knowledge and understanding. However, there are a few degreed, senior pastors of churches I've membered at that had no business even in the ministry.

Also, give me some insight to the Calvary Chapel. I've been to numerous services here in the Springs and have never heard anything contrary to what the Bible teaches. Thanks.

 

Men are called into the ministry by God and by God alone. Beyond the basic call to the ministry which is of God, there are those that are suited to be pastors. There are no scriptural requirements for formal education to be a preacher or to be a pastor. But, that is really not the point, is it?

The important issue here is the motivation the man of God has to be fully equipped for the work whereunto God has called him. Even Paul, who was already well educated, had to learn more so that his ministry could be more effective. When he first stood, he could only preach Jesus. Some might say that is sufficient, and there is certainly nothing wrong with boldly preaching Jesus. But after his seclusion and the years he spent being taught by the Holy Spirit, he returned to Damascus and proved that Jesus was the very Christ! No one can argue that Paul was better equipped after his stint in the wilderness than he was immediately after he was saved.

The point is that although going to seminary does not make you a preacher and never replaces the need for the man of God to follow the Holy Spirit in his ministry, going to seminary will, hopefully, enable the man of God to preach and minister more effectively. A man might get the same knowledge through years of informal, private study, but homeschooling can hardly meet the caliber of teaching that is offered through a focused, vertically integrated, formal course of study within the same time frame offered by a seminary or Bible college.