pastors

Seminaries. I’ve heard many churchmen say just how necessary seminaries are to the health of God’s church. There are two problems with this idea: 1) history doesn’t support this, 2) neither does the Bible.

This article won’t focus on the problems with seminaries (though they are many). Neither will we look at much history, except to note that some of the more notable Christians in the last 500 years weren’t trained in seminaries (and yes, seminaries existed back then, though they didn’t go by that name).

One such man wrote the most popular Christian book in history (other than the Bible). His name was John Bunyan and he wrote the book Pilgrim’s Progress. Bunyan was a pastor with no seminary training.

One of the most famous Bible commentaries over the last three centuries was written by Matthew Henry. Henry was also a pastor who did not go to seminary. The man known as the “Prince of Preachers” is Charles H. Spurgeon (a pastor as well); again, no seminary training.

While this shows that a seminary education isn’t required to make an impact for God’s kingdom, our main arguments about any subject ought to come from the Bible. It is to the Bible we now turn.

First, we must note that God did not establish seminaries to train the “Bible-teachers” in OT Israel (the priests). Furthermore, Jesus didn’t start a seminary either, and neither did the apostles. Why not? They knew about the universities of the pagans, and yet they didn’t copy that model of education. Instead, they employed another method for educating church leaders. This method of education is found all throughout Scripture; it’s basically a mentor/apprentice method of training.

In Deuteronomy 6:6-7, this type of education is employed by parents when teaching their children. Parents are to teach by verbal instruction, but the children will also be observing the parent’s life as they “sit in their house, walk by the way, lie down, and rise up.”

Jesus also used this method for teaching His disciples. He lived life with them for three years. During that time, He gave them verbal instruction, but they also got to observe the way He lived, the way He acted, and how He behaved in different situations. This is basically how pastors are to be trained as well.

A student will be like his teacher (Luke 6:40). The best way to become a good pastor is to observe and follow the example of a good pastor. A seminary isn’t a church, and even if the seminary professor is, or was, a pastor (and they’re usually not), he can’t model how to be a pastor in the classroom. He can only do that in a church setting.

But would following the Bible really thoroughly equip a man to be a pastor? Paul, in 2 Tim. 3:16-17, answers “yes.” Here’s how a man could be “thoroughly equipped” for the good work of pastoring:

First, if a boy was raised in a Christian home, his parents (especially his father) would be teaching him the Bible (see Gen. 18:19; Deut. 6:7; Eph. 6:4; and many others). If this boy were a true Christian, he would also be reading the Bible on his own.

If, in addition to this, our hypothetical young man was in a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church (and a godly family should be), he would be learning good, solid theology from the pulpit for decades. The young man I’ve described so far would already know more than many seminary-trained pastors by the time he was twenty!

But this would not be the extent of his training. For a man to be a pastor, he must have shown that he can lead a family (1 Tim. 3:1 + 4; Titus 1:5-6; note: the words bishop, overseer, and elder are all names for a pastor). Leading a family would give him experience in handling the conflicts that are sure to come up in any church he may pastor.

Furthermore, in teaching his own children, he will be gaining experience in communicating deep theology in a way that’s easy to understand.

When his pastoral training did begin, he would already have experience in leading a group of Christians (his family), and he would have spent decades studying and learning the Bible, theology, and church history. Then, he would be taught how to preach and to shepherd the flock through a mentor/apprentice relationship by another church leader (see 2 Tim. 2:2). This man would be thoroughly trained! This type of training would equip him far more than four years of seminary lectures could.

At this point one may ask, “but where is a man going to learn Greek, Hebrew, church history, etc., if his own church doesn’t have anyone who knows those things?” Here’s where the rest of Christ’s body can come in and help. If a man needs some training that his church cannot give him, there are likely other churches in his area with men who are knowledgeable on these subjects. He can go to them for training in those subjects.

So, the church of today must ask and answer these questions: Are we smarter than Jesus? If He didn’t use the seminary model to train church leaders, why do we think we must? Jesus certainly could have used the seminary model, but He didn’t. He has a better way, and He has shared this way with us in His word.

If we ignore Jesus’ way of training pastors, they will be ill-equipped for their task. If pastors aren’t equipped, the church will be weak. If the church is weak, our society will fall apart. We have ignored Jesus’ way of doing things, pastors are ill-equipped, the church is weak, and society is in shambles. Coincidence? You be the judge.