Written by Spencer Meisner of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
In Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis writes: “Christ never meant that we were to remain children in intelligence: on the contrary. He told us not only to be ‘as harmless as doves’, but also ‘as wise as serpents’. He wants a child’s heart, but a grown up’s head.”
If that’s true, we can’t easily rule out Bible school or Christian university – is there a better place to gain intelligence on biblical principles?
Imagine you’re a hockey player, say your favourite player is Sidney Crosby, and your dream is to make it to the NHL and to be the best player in the world. You do whatever you can to pattern your career after Crosby. You study his skating, his positioning, how he handles the puck behind the net, how he enters the attacking zone, how he acts in post-game interviews, and every other little detail that makes him a great player.
These things matter to you because you want to Sidney Crosby’s success, you want to be known as someone like him.
Now, imagine you are a Christian. Possibly your ultimate goal in life is probably to be like Jesus Christ, so you model your life after His. You study how He healed the sick, how He interacted with sinners, how He prayed, how He handled temptation, what kind of things He taught, how He led His disciples, and every other powerful detail about Him.
Being like Jesus is more important than being like Sidney Crosby (a fact that I’m still trying to convince myself of).
What better way to aim to be more like Jesus than to study with people who have dedicated their lives to teaching how to do just that?
If at any point in your life you have felt like you craved a Christian community, or you have had questions about the big, confusing world of adulthood that you are in or about to enter, or have desired to be a pastor but don’t exactly know where to start, then I beg you to consider biblical post-secondary education.
I have met very few people (in fact, perhaps no one) who has regretted their time in a Bible school or Christian university. Whether they did a one-year program to better understand their Bible before they went on to be a construction manager, or did a full four-year degree, graduated, and decided they wanted to open a bakery, none of the people I know regretted their decision or time at the institution.
God may call you to serve overseas or locally, but He may also say, “Take a step; I’ll close a door if I need to.” That was what He told me, when I chose to enroll in a Christian school. I encourage you to consider how your faith and walk with God may strengthen when you better understand subjects like philosophy, geography, and psychology, and see how God is at play in all of them. Who knows, you may just love it and become more like Jesus in the process.
