Failing seminary for the glory of God?
No worries — Kari and I are not failing seminary 
Instead, the title refers to a good reminder posted a while back at Goingtoseminary.com: "Failing Seminary for the Glory of God ."
I left a comment about the article, and recently Timothy Paul Jones, Assistant Professor of Leadership and Church Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, commented:
I may be wrong, but I do believe that some seminary professors are beginning to glimpse the truth in what you’re saying here—especially with reference to refusing to neglect your family. As a seminary prof, my students probably hear this statement in every class I teach: “What you do for God beyond your home will typically never be greater than what you’re practicing with God within your home. If this class keeps you from being the spiritual leader in your home that you need to be, drop the class and finish later. This seminary has been here 150 years and will probably be here another century or two—but your family, at the stage of life they’re at right now, will not be here forever. Do what they need you to do before you do what I ask you to do.”
Good words.
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Here’s the list of seven given in the full article :
- Transformation, not information
- Give the wrong answer
- Read the important stuff (the Bible)
- Stop listening
- Put your family first
- Ignore your GPA
- Love the Church
And a concluding word from the author, "Just a Guy":
Note: I love seminary and I love my seminary. However, I am willing to do poorly in my classes in order that I might excel in the things listed above. These two things are not mutually exclusive, but I’d argue that focusing on the above will very likely result in lower grades (maybe not failing, but would you be willing to fail in order to do the above?)
What do you think?
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