Dr. Michael Allen, Professor of Systematic Theology, explains why intentional theological formation is essential for the church today. Seminary education equips men and women in Scripture, theology, and prayer, enabling them to serve as faithful and effective witnesses to Christ.
The following is a transcript of the video above.
Why do we need seminary education?
We live in a world that is becoming increasingly complex. We are challenged in various ways. We are no longer resourced in so many respects. It used to be that in many places, someone coming through the education system, someone growing up in America, would be formed in morals, understanding, education, and formation in ways that, at the very least, would be conducive to a Christian witness. Oftentimes, however, we now find that it’s pushed completely to the side, or worse, that it’s challenged from the ground up. And yet the church needs leaders, the church needs servants. The church needs men and women in ordained and unordained roles in a host of spheres, in various contexts, who will bear witness to Christ, be faithful, and be effective. To that end, we need formation. We need the formation of whole and effective Christians. And that means rigorous training. We can’t assume things anymore. We need to pursue the formation of men and women with intentionality and rigor, who will be increasingly marked by faith, hope, and love. That means folks who will be trained in what we believe, the faith that we attest to before others. And so we seek to study the great creeds of the faith, the theology that helps us understand the mind of Christ revealed in Holy sc. We need those who are going to be trained to desire what God longs for us to have, those who will be catechized and shaped by the Lord’s Prayer, the Book of Psalms, and the way the Bible means to shape our hope. And finally, we need those who are being formed to love rightly, to love God above all else, to love their neighbor as themselves, and to love in ways that follow the pattern of Jesus himself. And so we study the Ten Commandments. We study the Great Commandment as taught by Jesus. We study all the myriad ways in which Holy Scripture seeks to shape our love and thus to form us as whole and effective Christians. The Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians.
In Ephesians 4:13, Paul describes the danger of remaining immature and childlike, being tossed to and fro with every wave of false doctrine, human cunning, and every fad or trend. Instead, he longs that we would grow up into Christ, that we would be substantial and whole. He’s not thinking of sinlessness. He’s not thinking of having every gift and skill. He’s thinking of growing up to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. And so, our training is meant to equip. Our training is designed to instruct. Our training is designed to form and mature men and women for service, for leadership, and for the kind of wholeness and effectiveness that Christian leaders need in our day and age.
