learning to talk right
I think the title is a loose translation of something hauerwas said once. (Incidentally, Will Willimon has a blog: willimon.blogspot.com.) Anyway, doing some reading today I was chided a bit by the Spirit in a way that I have been speaking....well, sinfully. On the one hand, I must weigh the spirits, because the moment of conviction is often the result of introspection and a bad lunch, rather than the Spirit. (cf. Paul and idols in 1 Cor. 8 and 10. On the one hand, eating food offered to idols is pointless as there is no *being* behind the idol (8:4). On the other hand, sacrifices to idols are sacrifices to demons (10:20). So, are there demons in idols? I think Paul wants to say both yes and no with a straight face. Just a hint into demonology. So, listening to the voice that is not God may be a bad lunch--and somehow, thereby, demonic... Anyway...) The Spirit chided me in why I am studying, and why I went to seminary.
People ask, "Why did you go to seminary?" I usually respond, "Recommendation of profs, denominational funding, want to teach and do a PhD, yaddi, yaddi, yadda..." This is not Christian. I should have gone to seminary because I love to learn. In doing PhD study, my goal cannot be teaching--I may never teach vocationally, and I should always teach regardless of degree completion--but because the study itself is envigorating, a gift from God as a means of becoming like his Son. If the sacrifice of study is to the god of vocational teaching, then I have mistaken the Creator for creation.
People ask, "Why did you go to seminary?" I usually respond, "Recommendation of profs, denominational funding, want to teach and do a PhD, yaddi, yaddi, yadda..." This is not Christian. I should have gone to seminary because I love to learn. In doing PhD study, my goal cannot be teaching--I may never teach vocationally, and I should always teach regardless of degree completion--but because the study itself is envigorating, a gift from God as a means of becoming like his Son. If the sacrifice of study is to the god of vocational teaching, then I have mistaken the Creator for creation.
posted by Aaron Perry at
4:10 PM
5 Comments:
i was encouraged by this post AP. thanks for sharing.
AP,
I appreciate you sharing your honest struggles in this space and I think you are wise to "test the spirits", to discern the source of conviction. I won't presume to do that for you, but I wonder about your conclusion in the final paragraph.
Why would it be "not Christian" to go to seminary because you want to teach at the college or seminary level? We often need to obtain skills or gain credentials in order to do some of what God has called us to do. A Christian who felt called by God to be a doctor might not love going to medical school but knows that medical school is a sacrifice he or she needs to make in order to reach that calling.
Maybe I am missing your point (very possible even under normal conditions, but I am also on three kinds of perscription drugs right now), but why is it you think one should only go to seminary for the love of learning? I certainly think that makes seminary more enjoyable, but not sure why something being enjoyable makes it more Christian?
Ultimately, our primary calling is to God, with vocational calling being secondary. Certainly I don't think we should make vocational teaching a god, and if that is your point, I agree. But going to seminary in order to fulfill a vocational calling to teach, when kept in perspective as a secondary calling, would be a very Christian thing to do, it seems to me.
Vicaden is strong by the way.I have more to say, but I'm too groggy to say it.
Keep your eyes on Christ,
John
Hey John...without delving into something that would take a lot of time, the levels of why we do things are a good chunk of this post getting worked out. The Kingdom of God and my vocation therein is not about me or what God wants me to do, but about God. It must start there. So, I think we're on the same page for a good deal.
It looks to me like the Supervillian Hauerwasia has knocked you back with his Introspection Ray. Which is designed to kill faith by getting your gaze of the Author of your election and back on to your works. We need Luther Man and the Calvinator (collectively, Team Reformation) to come save the day!
Turn on the Sola Signal!
Holy Fide, Luther Man!
lol...actually, the gaze that made me focus on myself was the original one that made me answer why i went to seminary! if learning is the sole goal--and by this gracious means becoming like the Son--then the gaze is constantly back to him, in both content and attitude.
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