More Than A Seminary Motto

Over the next few posts I will be sharing my thoughts on "kata christon." As previously indicated the Greek phrase means "according to Christ" and it is the Toronto Baptist Seminary motto taken from Colossians 2:8.

However careful analysis reveals that it is far more than a seminary motto and is more accurately described as a way of thinking and living that should characterize all Christians. It is succinct but far from simple. And although it is just two words in the original language its implications are far reaching.

In the end I hope that all who call themselves Christians will be encouraged to think and live in a way that is consistent with Jesus Christ as he is revealed in the pages of holy scripture so stay tuned...

"Kata Christon"

Tomorrow evening at the Toronto Baptist Seminary Convocation I will speak about the seminary motto "kata christon" which means "according to Christ." It is taken from Colossians 2:8 and expresses our commitment at TBS to think, teach and live in accordance with Jesus Christ and his gospel as it is recorded in the Bible.

Although our motto is comprised of only two words in Greek, it is full of significance when it comes to the seminary and the Christian life and so it is appropriate to consider its meaning and entailments at the beginning of the school year.

English versions of the Bible translate Colossians 2:8 in different ways in an attempt to bring out the meaning of the original text.

For instance, the ESV reads: "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of this world, and not according to Christ."

The TNIV reads: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ."

The NLT reads: "Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ."

I will focus on three implications of the text which properly understood will get at the heart of Paul's instruction: (1) We must be on our guard because danger lurks in the realm of ideas, (2) We must learn to identify and to respect what we are up against, (3) We must commit ourselves to think, teach and live according to Christ as the ultimate revelation of God, the Savior of his people, and the Lord of all.

If you are in the Greater Toronto Area plan to come and worship with us tomorrow at 6:30 PM.

2009 TBS Convocation

Toronto Baptist Seminary Convocation will be taking place this Sunday evening September 27th at 6:30 PM at Jarvis Street Baptist Church in Toronto. Everyone is welcome to attend as we seek God's blessing at the start of the academic year. If you are unable to attend please pray for the faculty, staff and students of the seminary as we seek to serve the Lord this year.

First Things

In my last few post I have been reflecting on theological education. Obviously I think it is valuable, not only because I am involved in it, but because we need well trained people to serve the Lord Jesus in these days. Now I want to balance what I have been writing by saying that theological education does not guarantee success or faithfulness when it comes to Christian ministry. What we need more than anything else are people who are committed to Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit and who are students of the Bible. If these criteria are not met no amount of education will compensate for their absence. Education without a basic commitment to the biblical Christ will only lead people further from what is true and important over time.

I realize that to interpret scripture properly we need some knowledge of the historical background, the nature of the text itself, and the basic structure of the Bible. A good theological education can help the student in all three areas. But the student could also learn these things from prayerfully reading the Bible himself and by comparing scripture with scripture as well as with what other believers have written and the church has taught. In the long run those who are most useful are self-disciplined and diligent. They recognize how little they know and they embrace learning as a life long pursuit. And they do all this relying on the help of the Holy Spirit. There is a spiritual dimension to our studies that must not be missed or downplayed. Ultimately we need God's help if we are to have the grace, strength and wisdom necessary to serve him effectively in this world. If he does not help us our labor is in vain.

Remaining Current

Theological education can also help pastors and church leaders stay current. It is easy to get into a rut and become mired in time. One of the keys to long term usefulness is freshness. Those who will continue to speak to others as time goes on must remain abreast of new developments in the world and in the church. If they do not, they will find themselves speaking to a diminishing group of people and their effectiveness will wane.

There are many things that a church leader can do to remain current and I am not suggesting that formal theological education is a cure-all. But if someone is receiving a good theological education they will interact with current as well as ancient issues. The real key is the development of strategies that will enable them to keep on learning when they leave school and go out into the field. Hopefully they will see the value of reading journals, blogs, and books (to name a few) that chronicle what is going on in the theological world.

Today there is no shortage of information if one is disciplined and wise enough to take advantage of it. Apple's iTunes U, for example, is full of high quality lectures on a wide variety of subjects. When I travel back and forth to Toronto in the car or on the train I regularly listen to lectures of all sorts that broaden my understanding of the world around me and help me to reflect on the scriptures.

While everyone has their favorite preacher or teacher, no one should listen to one person, or a small group of people, exclusively. It is important to hear what others have to say and to hear firsthand the views of those that we may not agree with in order to represent them properly and to handle the scriptures more precisely. Hopefully good theological training will be the start of a lifetime of learning that will make us useful all our days.

Mentoring and Theological Education

Mentoring has become an increasing important part of theological education today. While there has always been a need for character development, the biblical illiteracy of our society, the lack of solid biblical instruction in many churches and para-church structures, and the hectic pace of family life, make mentoring necessary today.

This is further complicated by the fact that students can enter into master's level theological programs from undergraduate degrees in the arts or science without ever having read through the Bible from beginning to end.

In this context it is important that students interact with those who are more experienced in the faith and have a chance to discuss basic aspects of Christian thought and living. In my experience, these mentoring type situations are invaluable. They provide an opportunity to work on personal development issues that if left uncorrected can be problematic when it comes to local church ministry.

Many people who put themselves forward as ministerial candidates have no idea what ministry involves. Pulpit search committees often contact the school at which I teach looking for people whom we can recommend given the ministerial experience of the faculty. We work hard to prepare students for real life ministry and we will only recommend those we feel are ready for such a challenge. Our aim is to have our students hit the ground running.

While theological institutions are far from perfect they can play an important role when it comes to putting people in churches who know what to expect and who are prepared to serve Christ as best they can.

Theological Education and Biblical Exposition

Returning to theological education, another benefit is that it enables preachers and teachers to move forward in their understanding of God's word. With the passage of time they can become stale and repetitious. Ministerial experience does not necessarily mean progress in the faith. In fact, time can mire people in theological positions that desperately need to be revised. It is as if the repetition of their own teaching makes the them increasely blind and deaf to the weaknesses of their own positions.

Unfortunately not even the regular, systematic exposition of the scriptures will protect us from "vain repetition." It is possible to preach through a book of the Bible and only see those themes that are near to our hearts. This results in the same message being preached from different texts week after week. As important as that message might be the constant repetition is tedious and the imbalance is hard to bear.

When we dig deeply into the scriptures we can discern different emphases even when the biblical writers are discussing the same theme. Picking up these emphases and explaining and applying them within the context of the overall argument will add variety and richness to the exposition. This keeps people engaged and encourages them to come to the Bible in search of truths that will help them navigate the complexities of life.

Of course, it is possible to do this without formal theological education if one is purposeful and disciplined in their study of the Bible. But not everyone has the time or the personality to do this without help. Furthermore there is the danger that individual study isolated from the body of Christ will result in idiosyncratic interpretations that could have been avoided had there been feedback along the way. Few, if any, are able to get at the riches of God's word without the help of their contemporaries as well as the help of those who have gone before.

The discipline of listening to and interacting with lectures, writing papers and book reports, and taking exams helps direct our thinking and keeps us from making the same mistakes over again. It can be the difference between proclaiming the truth in a way that is insipid and repetitious, and proclaiming the truth in a way that is fresh, insightful and clear.

To be continued...

TBS Faculty/Student Retreat

I've just returned from the TBS faculty/student retreat. I thoroughly enjoyed the ministry of Lawson Murray from the Scripture Gift Mission. His messages were challenging as he encouraged us to think about the present Canadian situation and what can be done to reach people for Jesus Christ. I will report on his addresses in upcoming posts so stay tuned. All in all it was a great way to kick off the new academic year and I am looking forward to working out the implications of the truths we considered together.

Thinking About Theological Education

Another school year has begun at TBS and everyone here is looking forward to getting down to work. And yet as we get underway I have concerns that theological education is not as valued as it should be in Canada. In my experience too many people think that the Bible is simple to understand and that Christian ministry is a combination of public relations skills and the gift of gab. But in reality nothing could be further from the truth.

The Bible is a profoundly simple and simply profound collection of books. The basic message of the Bible is discernible with the help of the Holy Spirit, but the complete riches of God's revelation will not be fully known in this lifetime no matter how much we study his word. Theological training helps us get at those riches and unearth them to whatever extent we can in this life. The plethora of interpretations reveal that this is a task which should be taken seriously. The Bible can be used to prove anything -- and unfortunately has been -- but that does not mean that its true meaning is impossible to discern. We can, with God's help, think his thoughts after him if we proceed with humility and grace and we are ready to be guided and corrected by all that the Bible has to say on any given subject.

To be continued...

Unadorned Truth

I heard an interview this morning on the problem of people misrepresenting themselves when applying for a job. Apparently some like to make themselves sound more important and qualified than they really are so they can get their foot in the door. They do this by exaggerating their past experiences and responsibilities and by describing what they do in most exalted terms. In fact, if a potential employer were to take what they say about themselves too seriously they would be amazed that the world continues to function at all without them on the job! In one sense truth-telling has always been a problem, but people who study these things say it is getting worse.

As I listened I thought of some of the introductions I have heard in churches and at conferences. Wow, talk about hot air! And then there are the ministry reports complete with PowerPoint slides that claim one success after another when in fact little has changed. It is not that what is said is a complete fabrication as much as it is exaggerated or spun so as to appear in the best possible light when there is another more realistic side to the story.

There is something to be said for simplicity of speech, for "letting our 'yes' be 'yes' and our 'no' be 'no!'" We are all prone to stretch the truth, or as one of my children once said, "massage the truth." We don't like it when politicians "spin" the facts to support their position and yet we often do the same.

From a Christian standpoint history is moving forward to the day when God will assess everything as it truly is and not as we would like it to be. The knowledge of such a day should motivate us to forget the spin and to speak the truth, unadorned. Ah, what a breath of fresh air that would be!

And so, Daniel prospered

Returning to Daniel a final time it is worth noting in the words of Isaiah that "no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you" (Isaiah 54:17). The subsequent actions of King Darius were swift and brutal. The men who had falsely accused Daniel along with their wives and children were thrown to the lions. Before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. According to Herodotus, this is how they did things in the Persian Empire. While we may instinctively recoil in the face of such brutality, it does remind us that those who oppose the kingdom or reign of God are in big trouble, no matter who they are. Eventually destruction awaits them.

Fortunately the story of Daniel in the lions' den does not end here. In the end God is extolled by King Darius. All are commanded to fear and reverence the God of Daniel and in this way we are reminded of the importance of living for him. As a result of his encounter with God, Darius speaks of him as the living God who endures forever. His kingdom will not be destroyed and his dominion will never end. He rescues and saves. He performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.

This is the testimony of a pagan monarch. It reveals the degree to which a human being can know God. As with Nebuchadnezzar there is no evidence that Darius knew God in a saving way, but what he says about God is true nonetheless, maybe more true than he knew. It also reminds us that God is gracious and does not leave himself without a witness. He is not removed from the world of men but he interacts with it and his interactions leave men without excuse (cf. Romans 1:18-32).

The chapter ends with a reference to Daniel prospering during "the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian," or as some believe it should be translated, "the reign of Darius, that is the reign of Cyrus." Whatever the textual questions Daniel is portrayed as a "blessed man" along the lines of Psalm 1. And so he prospers even in a foreign land far from his homeland. God was with him and in the end that makes all the difference.

TBS Convocation 2009

This is an early announcement regarding the Fall 2009 Convocation Exercises of Toronto Baptist Seminary. Everyone is welcome to join with us to celebrate the start of a new school year on Sunday, September 27th at 6:30 PM at Jarvis Street Baptist Church in Toronto.

We are looking forward to a good year together and we are excited about the possibilities. Once again the Lord has brought us students from many different countries, backgrounds, and with a variety of ministry goals. The final touches are being put on the renovated student residences and we are thrilled with all that has taken place thus far.

Please keep us in your prayers and ask God to supply our needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus. The need for quality theological education is great here in this country and around the world. By God's grace we are striving to be one of those places where students can come and study the word of God with the ultimate goal of sharing it with others wherever the Lord leads them.

We are working hard to provide quality training so that churches and Christian leaders and parents will feel confident entrusting their people and children to us. We are striving to do all in our power to produce graduates who love the Lord, his people and a world that needs to know that truth and power of the Christian gospel.

We cannot do this alone. We need the support and prayers of God's people and we invite you to stand with us in this endeavor in whatever way the Lord leads you.