Thursday, August 18, 2011

Please Don’t Go To A Bible College!


 
The other day I got a message on Facebook from an old Bible College student of mine, Jeremy.

“Hey ProfeShah (that’s what my students used to call me), do you remember the advice you gave me 5 years ago? It was one of the best words of advice I’ve ever received in my life,” he said.

Shoot, if you know me, you know I don’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning, let alone a piece of advice I gave someone over five years ago. So, being a good shame-based culture person that I am, I faked it and said, “Yes, of course!”

In my Middle Eastern culture, by admitting to not knowing something, you’ve committed two sins: not knowing something and admitting to not knowing something. 

I responded, “I told you to get the heck out of the Bible College and get yourself a degree that you can make a living with”.

To my amazement, he wrote back saying, “Yes, and thank you. I’m an engineer today making a living and taking care of my family.”

I know some of my evangelical friends get upset when they hear me taking such a stance, but I had my reasons, of which the most important was the welfare of my students. It was within the second year of teaching at that college when I noticed a good number of my students were graduating college with $20-30K debt and ending up working behind a counter, asking customers, “Would you like a tall, grande or venti?”

“If that’s going to be the case, you don’t need a four-year college degree to pump syrup in a coffee cup or work as a bank teller,” I used to tell them.

Most of these kids were being trained to be one thing and one thing only: pastors. The problem was that the denomination the college belonged to couldn’t provide enough churches for these graduates to pastor. On the other hand, the available churches were usually 20-30 member churches not able to support the new pastor fulltime, which again, put my students behind the same coffee or bank teller-counter.

Knowing how difficult it is to pastor in general, I knew we (the college) were setting many of my students up for failure. If you haven’t thought about it already, someone has and is ready to write me about it: “Aren’t you taking these kids away from their godly calling to be pastors?” To believe that is to believe the only way to serve God is to stand behind a pulpit, which in and of itself is a false assumption that has been shoved down our throats for many years. I don’t need a pulpit to serve Christ.  

For the first 10 years after starting the first Iranian Christian organization in the United States, I was a civil engineer during the day and a house-church planter at night, driving all over LA County preaching the Gospel to a newly-arrived group of Iranian immigrants. Even if I had wanted them to, these Iranians would have never been able to support my family and me for what I was doing.

For 10 years, it was my engineering degree that put a roof over my family’s head, food on our table and gas in my ‘69 VW Bug.  Maybe even more important, I own my home today – not because of the 30 years I pastored, but because of the 10 years I engineered. My salary as an Iranian pastor would have never been able to purchase my family a house.

It took me 10 years to build a solid enough base of supporters before I was able to leave my engineering job. By then, I was also convinced that was something I was called to do.

Maybe 40-50 years ago, a church of 40 members was able to support her pastor fulltime, but those days are over. Today, to be fully supported, the same pastor needs a church that is four to five times larger than that. That was a reality that most of my students faced. Since, right off the bat, pastoring a large church was out of the question, they needed to have a job that would put a roof over their heads and food on their tables while trying to pastor a small church.  

That is why I encouraged many of my students to get out of the Bible College and first get a degree that would give them a solid base of financial support. Meanwhile, they could do what I did for ten years: serve God where they were.  If they never get into a “fulltime ministry,” they haven't wasted four years of college and thousands of dollars getting an education they never needed. But, if they do, and feel they need more Biblical education, they can always go back to Bible College and get their Biblical degrees with the money they saved from their well-paying jobs.

That’s what I did.

16 comments:

John said...

LOVED your take on this subject, Shah. The entire student loan nightmare is a HORROR… and a RIP-OFF… The government should be ashamed of allowing it. And the Universities should be ashamed at allowing the uncontrolled costs. The education is also INFERIOR to the one we received back in the day, and the cost has escalated more than ten fold.

I would jump to the obvious conclusion and blame teachers unions, among other unions… but I digress.

PAUL was a tent-maker. Luke was a physician. Most of the disciples were fishermen. And apparently most of the early church fathers had other professions…

And when one looks at the difficulties of getting a job today, even with marketable skills… you gave the right advice.

If the hard pressed Government ever decides to tax churches, there will be another change. If the Body of Christ is forced underground into House Fellowships, that will be yet another chan

Unknown said...

What can I say John? You said it all.

Rainie said...

Hi Shah!
I totally agree with you. But not only is having a secular college degree helpful in preparing us to have a relatively lucrative career, but it also helps us broaden our perspective. I finished my college degree in Bachelor of Science in Forestry at the University of the Philippines before I went to the seminary, and I feel that earning a so-called secular degree first gave me a broader understanding of both God's Word and Work. God used my college training so that I could be more effective in ministering to college students and young professionals.

Unknown said...

Hey Rainie, good to hear from you. Just like John, there's nothing I can add to what you said.

Ben said...

Uffdah Shah! Controversial topic, but there's much truth in your statement (I can attest!)

Unknown said...

What's uffdah, Ben?

Peter said...

Shahrokh joon,

What an excellent work. For clearly stating what are the problems and what the truth is. God bless you for protecting so many from disastrous failures.

Unknown said...

Thanks Peter!

Shawn said...

Hi Shah,



I like this post and agree with you that we have far too many people who do not perceive vocational training as part of the mission of God. If the Bible college is only training pastors, then I agree that this is too limiting. At the same time, however, my training as an engineer gave me nothing in terms of missional or biblical preparation.



For what it’s worth, I see the opposite problem here in Kenya, in that the number of untrained missionaries is staggering and it deeply impacts their ability to be effective missionaries. They often try to address issues or problems, which missiological training could have helped them solve, but they lack some real basics for cross-cultural ministry. So I agree that we should not train everyone to be pastors, but I also affirm that those engaging in long term cross-cultural ministry should train for what they plan to do. Most do not, and in many cases those training opportunities around the world are diminishing due foremost to the failure of the church to engage in the mission of God and secondarily due to the missionary communities’ failure to take training seriously.

Unknown said...

Hi Shawn:
Let me make my answers to your comments accordingly:

"I like this post and agree with you that we have far too many people who do not perceive vocational training as part of the mission of God. If the Bible college is only training pastors, then I agree that this is too limiting. At the same time, however, my training as an engineer gave me nothing in terms of missional or biblical preparation."

I never said your engineering degree was supposed to give a missional or biblical preparation. What my engineering degree did for me was to put food on the table and a roof over our heads while I was planting Iranian churches all over LA. I wasn't saying not to go to a Bible college. I was saying, "make sure to get a degree that can support you and your family."

"For what it’s worth, I see the opposite problem here in Kenya, in that the number of untrained missionaries is staggering and it deeply impacts their ability to be effective missionaries. They often try to address issues or problems, which missiological training could have helped them solve, but they lack some real basics for cross-cultural ministry. So I agree that we should not train everyone to be pastors, but I also affirm that those engaging in long term cross-cultural ministry should train for what they plan to do. Most do not, and in many cases those training opportunities around the world are diminishing due foremost to the failure of the church to engage in the mission of God and secondarily due to the missionary communities’ failure to take training seriously."

I couldn't agree with you more. Missiological training is very important for anyone who does the work of an evangelist or a missionary. However, as much as I learned at Fuller, after the first semester, I realized how grateful I was for having my years of missional experiences unlike so many other students who had just gone directly from a Bible college to the seminary. I was able to challenge many of my professors because, whereas they only had the book knowledge, I had the experience. I think in any point of our lives, our level of experience should match our knowledge and the other way around. However, to me, what matters at the end is how many people has a person introduced to Christ.

Jon said...

Great message.

I personally think that NONE should be admitted to Bible school until they are at least 30, have held a meaningful steady job, and preferably have become married with children.

Unknown said...

I so agree with you, Jon. When I was at the seminary, I told all my professors they should never let anyone go there until at least they have 5-10 years of experience working in the field.

Melinda said...

I read your blog about Don't go to a Bible School. I do appreciate your stance and it should definitely be considered by those considering one. I am thankful that I did take the education track because there is still hope that I can take my credits elsewhere. If I wanted to be a teacher, after studying I realized that is not what I want to do.

I am one of those students that did leave Bible School and did not end up becoming a Pastor, Worship Leader or even teacher which was my focus.

What I did get from Bible School that I am glad I did, was developing my understanding of what I believe and why I believe it. I secured my foundation and was able to really soak up wise knowledge from my professors. I can say I still have more to learn and Bible School is not the only way to learn it., but it did teach me a lot for my own faith.

I am now managing two apartment communities in Seattle, still longing to find my niche.

Thank you for your understanding of the crucial spot of where it does lead students like me.

Unknown said...

Melinda,

It so great to hear from you. I am so sorry for replying to you late.

Thank you fro your comments. There are many students with secular degrees in engineering, art or political science who have not found their niche either, so you got nothing to worry about. At least, you have a good job and you don't feel like you missed your calling because you're not pastoring a church, you're not a missionary somewhere in the world, or even worse, being a secretary at a small church, making a minimum wage and considering that a ministry ;-)

I am not against going to a Bible college so you can, as you say, "developing my understanding of what I believe and why I believe it", as long as you have a job that is supporting you and you are not relying on the Bible college degree for that.

Again, it was good hearing from you. I pray that you'll soon find you niche in life. Until then, may the Lord give you all the contentment you need to continue.

David said...

Hello Sir,

I read your article today and wanted to know what you think about how I can help my son.

12 years ago he wanted to go to Bible College and in 2005 he graduated with great grades from Moody Bible in Chicago with a Bible degree – we were so proud of him and were excited to see what things God had in store for him. He got a youth pastor job out of college and worked as a youth pastor for six years in very difficult and low paying situations - in the end he quit and got an inspector job in the port of Houston.

I feel bad now because I should have tried harder to get him to engineering school (in my view his more natural bent), but I didn’t want to get in God’s way with this young man. He is 31 years old now, and last weekend we went camping together and got to talk about his future. He is discouraged, he would like to be in ministry but now needs to support his family. His job is not sustainable for the long term. I told him he needs to get back to school either for a Masters (MDiv or counseling) or back to a more technical/marketable degree.


What do you think?

Sincerely,

Unknown said...

Dear David:

I can’t tell how honored I feel that you, having read my blog, are now asking me for directions for your son. To be honest, at first, I thought this was another email attacking me for going against God’s will by not encouraging young people to go to Bible college.

While I was a pastor, I told my son, Todd, if he ever becomes a pastor, I’ll kill him myself. Although this was said as a joke, I wanted him to know it is God who calls people into ministry and not their moms and dads and I’m glad he listened to me. However, as much as I wanted both my kids to get a degree in something they could make a living off, my son got a degree in Political Science and my daughter in Art History.

My son loves politics. At the age of 20 he ran for the mayor of the city where he was attending school. He lost to the incumbent mayor by only 400 votes. However, after he graduated, he spent the first 3 years selling and renting cars. Eventually, he applied for the Air Force officer’s school and today he is an Air Force captain. Meanwhile, he got his masters degree in Military Intelligence paid by the Air Force.

May I suggest your son gives the military a shot, or go back to school and get a degree in engineering, nursing, or IT related subjects? Why spent another 2 years and God knows how much money to get an MDiv.? What’s he going to do with it? Is there a large church waiting for him to become her pastor? I have one of those degrees. Once the Christian organization I was working for let me go, I couldn’t even get a job as a Wal-Mart greeter. By the way, after seven years, I’m still looking for a job.

Where does it say that we all need Bible degrees before we can serve God. I spent the first 10 years of my ministry—One that I founded, which at the time was the only one in the nation—being a fulltime engineer during the day and a pastor/church planter at night. And when the time came and I was offered a fulltime scholarship to attend Fuller Sem., I got my masters degree. Your son can do the same if he wants to serve the Lord and put food on the table. By the way, I believe not too far from now, most our pastors will be bi-vocational.

I hope I have answered some of your questions. It blesses my heart to see a dad who’s so concerned about his son’s future. However, you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself for not stopping your son to go to the Bible college. I couldn’t stop my son or daughter either. Your son is still too young and he can go back to school and start all over again.

Please let me know if I can be of any further service to you.