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Seminary – was it worth it?

by Lon on June 19, 2008


(Photo by ambery)

Before I begin, I need to say that I’ve never been a fan of any schooling system I’ve ever been a part of.

- In high school, I was a 90s student but on academic probation for missing too many classes.

- I scraped by university, passionless for my engineering degree, and was probably in the bottom five of my graduating class.

- I wasn’t at the very bottom of the barrel because after my third year I had decided to go to seminary, and realized they didn’t just let you in by grace.  I had to work my butt off in my final year just to raise my overall mark to a C+

So here’s the bottom line now that I’m done seminary

- 27 classes – not all of my choosing

- over a thousand hours in class

- at least two thousand hours spent reading and writing papers

- 440 hours of supervised ministry experience for the internship requirements

- $30,000 on tuition and books

- I left a corporate job I loved – Where I worked from home most of the time, had opportunities to travel, and interacted with people every single day.

- I made 60-70k+ a year depending on bonuses/commission – it’s been two years now so that’s $140,000… gone.  I don’t even want to think about what might have been over the course of a lifetime.

So was it worth it?

Is each lecture really worth $80 to (for the most part) passively listen to?  Is it worth the drive and the time away from family?  Is it worth the stress and uncertainty placed upon loved ones?

Could over a hundred thousand dollars be given elsewhere, that could have produced far greater kingdom impact?  Could I have used all that time to better engage the world rather than other seminarians?

There was a lot of assigned reading, but I probably read more and learned more from personal readings than class readings.  Could I have learned and grown to where I am today, without seminary?

I guess the other question is, would I have?

I really don’t know if I would have done something nobler with my time or money.  If you’re at a stage where you’re deeply engaging God, the Scriptures, His people, His mission, and His calling in your life, my goodness, don’t go to seminary.

At least I wouldn’t.  Not with where I am today.

Note that I am indebted and incredibly thankful that I had the opportunity to be in a seminary.  Who on earth has the luxury to sit around and contemplate the things of God?

I still feel like a noobie follower of Jesus, but I got an idea of where I’m going and where to go for help and what I need to get there.  But seminary, at least in its traditional sense, is definitely not a requirement on the journey going forward.

Seminary’s will always have their place.  Go if you feel God’s calling you in that direction (but realize it’s only a structure/form/place of learning, and typically God calls us to deeper things than that).

When I get some time I’ll probably compile a list of books, articles, experiences, resources that I think could just about replace the traditional seminary.

With all that being said, a price just cannot be placed upon time and space to grow, friendship, an environment that fosters learning, divine encounters, and wisdom from local prophets.

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And so I handed in my resignation letter…

by Lon on July 12, 2006

It’s been four years since I graduated and began working at IBM and it’s been 4 years since I’ve known that this is the summer I’ll be leaving it all behind. Much praying and planning has went into this journey. I recently extended my thirty year plan into a sixty year plan… just in case I live that long.

I’ve never had a doubt that this is what God wanted me to do, though I’ve got to say, that a twinge of nervousness has crept up on my recently. With this next step I’ll be leaving the common and familiar for the seldom and unfamiliar. I’ll be trading a steady and solid income for unknown periods of debt. Most of all, I’ll be giving up a job I love and daring to live a life of love.

One of my managers was relieved it wasn’t due to any type of job dissatisfaction. “Well, I can’t compete with God”, he exclaimed. It turned out my other manager was on staff with Willow Creek earlier in his career. We ended up talking for a couple hours about life, discipline, and vision. It’s interesting how as I’ve talked to others about this, what I’m hearing is that I’m “one of those people” who actually try to do something different; something they love in this life.

I’ve got a lot that I want to do in my life, but the truth is, after looking at my life from a sixty year perspective, I was starting to draw blanks on what else I might want to do. Most of us over estimate what we can do in a year, and drastically underestimate what we can do in ten or twenty years. The way I see it, with the pace of life as it is these days, we have the opportunity to live multiple life times, having different and worthwhile careers and passions during our time on earth. I know plenty of people who have things they want to do in life, but the reality is, they’re just wish lists. Real dreams must be attempted.

I’m leaving this career, and taking the next step towards my dream of unleashing hope in others because I must. My heart demands it. And anything less would be a violation of who I’m called to be.

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