September 28, 2023 • 10 mins
Paradoxically, seminary and Bible college can be places where your spiritual life can grow cold. But it doesn’t have to be this way. JC Schroeder shares two practices to thrive spiritually while in school.
⏰ Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
1:11 Practice #1
5:36 Practice #2
9:37 Conclusion
📚 Resources
Mathis and Parnell, How to Stay Christian in Seminary
Zacharias and Forrest, Surviving and Thriving in Seminary
-------
📺 Watch on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@bitesizeseminary
💻 Check out www.bitesizeseminary.com for more resources.
📬 Connect with JC:
Website | bitesizeseminary.com
Facebook | Bite Size Seminary Podcast
Twitter | @bitesizesem
YouTube | @bitesizeseminary
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
There are two statements that have saved and
shaped my spiritual life whilein college and seminary.
Let me explain.
A lot of people think thatseminary equals cemetery, or in
other words, seminary, or evenBible college, can be
detrimental to your spirituallife, which, if you think about
(00:20):
it, it sounds paradoxicalbecause you're there to study
about God in the Bible.
But it can be true.
It can be at times detrimentalto your spiritual health.
But it doesn't have to be thisway and it shouldn't be this way
.
There are actions and attitudesthat need to be cultivated in
order for us to maintain ourwalk with the Lord.
(00:43):
Being a student has itschallenges, and I want to offer
some advice from someone who hasbeen on that journey and is
still on that journey.
I've seen some of these thingsin my own life and in my
students' lives as well.
I want to offer two simplestatements that have been super
beneficial to my spiritual lifeand I hope they may be to you as
(01:07):
well.
I'm JC Schroeder and this isBite Size Seminary.
The first piece of advice isdon't make your homework your
quiet time.
The paradox of seminary is thatyou're there to study God's
Word so you can be transformedand can share it with others.
But your heart can grow cold asyou learn big, fancy
(01:30):
theological terms and memorizeGreek paradigms.
There's so much for you tolearn and it's all great,
wonderful, amazing stuff.
But there can be a strongtemptation, or even a
realization or belief that sinceI've been thinking about
spiritual content, then myspiritual life is doing fine.
(01:55):
Let me give an example.
A typical day might besomething like you get up early
because you've got lots to doand you start by reading for a
couple of hours on thehypostatic union of Christ or
the fact that he's both divineand human.
I just had to throw in a fancytheological word there.
Then you go to class.
You're working through theGreek text of the New Testament.
(02:17):
With what kind of genitive isthis?
What kind of participle is this?
Then you go to the library andyou start work on a paper about
effective church plantingstrategies.
Then you go home and it's timeto be with your family, or it's
off to work and by the end ofthe day you're just beat tired
and you're ready for bed.
Now here's where the temptationsets in, or at least where it
(02:40):
sets in in the silly example.
The temptation sets in to countall of that studying of amazing
, wonderful, beautifulinformation that you just
covered.
Spend all that time studyingand you count that as spiritual
time because it's spiritualcontent.
You don't spend time with theLord in prayer, reading
(03:02):
scripture and meditation, but aswonderful as all those
assignments and work is, it's nosubstitute for your own
personal time and engagementwith the Lord.
You still need to pray, youstill need to read scripture,
and you're reading with a viewtowards hearing God speak into
(03:25):
your life.
Don't use your knowledge or yourhomework as a substitute for
your time with the Lord.
Think about this too.
The Pharisees knew so muchabout scripture like probably
way more than I know or theaverage Bible student knows Yet
they were repeatedly rebuked byJesus for not knowing the heart
(03:48):
of scripture and they weren'ttransformed by it.
I think there's a lot thatcould be said of us theology
Bible students that we fall intothat mold of the Pharisees.
Knowledge isn't everything, butour submission to God is Our
(04:09):
relationship with God is.
I want to make one other notehere.
Now, there are exceptions tothis, and this is not a
legalistic rule.
Hopefully it's wise advice, butif you are consistently
choosing your homework over yourspiritual life or over your
other responsibilities as aspouse or a parent, then you
(04:30):
need to think real hard aboutyour priorities, because you may
have short-term success in yourlife and your academics, but
you're setting yourself up forlong-term spiritual and
relational failure.
One of my professors, dr MikeWhitmer, said something in one
of his classes that I'll hope Inever forget.
(04:51):
He said this it might be a sinfor you to get an A in this
class.
In other words, if youprioritize your work and grade
above all else, like yourspiritual life, your family life
, your health, etc.
Then the A becomes a sin.
It's only become an idol.
(05:13):
If you have to choose betweenhealth, family, your spiritual
life and choose between that andall that in good grades, then
choose bad grades and chooseyour spiritual life, choose your
family, choose your health,choose your relationship with
the Lord.
So all that to say.
(05:34):
Don't make your homework yourquiet time.
Now the second piece of adviceis make your homework your quiet
time.
Okay, you caught me.
I am trying to be kind of likecheeky here.
It's like Proverbs 26, 4through 5.
Answer not a fool according tohis folly and answer a fool
(05:54):
according to his folly Right.
Remember that verse, the factthat these two verses and
Proverbs are back-to-back andare Proverbs or general truths.
They highlight that we needwisdom in answering Sometimes
yes, sometimes no, and the samehere in JC's attempt at being
clever, don't make your homeworkyour quiet time for all the
(06:18):
reasons we just talked about,but also do make your homework,
your quiet time, right.
So don't for those otherreasons and do for these reasons
.
We don't want to separate ouracademic, intellectual life from
our spiritual lives.
We are whole people and weshould live as our whole selves.
(06:42):
So, yes, our theology readingor Greek exegesis should aid and
encourage our spiritual health,not crush it.
Think of it this way asstudents, we get to not have to
or are forced to but we get tospend dedicated and concentrated
(07:02):
time about the Lord, his Wordand how to administer.
Those things should naturallyfeed into our worship and
service.
So if you're reading about thehypostatic union of Christ,
there's that word again abouthow he's both divine and human.
Take a break and worship theLord in prayer, or maybe song
(07:24):
for the fact that he took on ahuman nature, became like us to
save us from our sins and tocontinue to minister to us.
Isn't that like just incredibleabout who our God is that he
would do that for me, for you.
So don't get all hung up anddried out with these fancy
(07:45):
theological terms.
Drink in the theological truth.
When I was taking my thirdsemester of Hebrew, we were
reading Jonah, and it was atough semester because Hebrew is
tough Also because my daughterwas just a few months old and we
weren't getting much sleep.
But the Lord used that littleprophetic book to help me to see
(08:07):
the beauty and grace of God andhow much my heart was like
Jonah's.
Reading Jonah in Hebrew didn'tstifle my spiritual life.
It enlivened it.
And this is what it should doIf we look to our academic work
to still hear the voice of Godas we are thinking about
(08:29):
theology and as we are thinkingabout this beautiful text.
Like Jonah, it helped me.
Reading Jonah in Hebrew helpedme to see the intention of the
text to transform the listener,me and many others, away from
stubbornness and tribalismtoward the fear of the Lord and
(08:49):
embodying his heart towardsothers.
So I would strongly encourageyou to make a concerted effort
to integrate what you'relearning in seminary or Bible
college into your walk with theLord and your daily life.
In addition to this, this isnot just a privatized my own
relationship with the Lord, butyour relationship with others.
(09:11):
So take all of that informationthat you're gaining and using
and spread that to others.
Be a part of a church communitywhere you can share what you're
learning.
Be a part of a small group orsomething like that.
Be it an area where you canserve and minister towards
others not always in a upfront,I'm the guy, sort of way, but
(09:34):
you're just there with othersand you're serving in any way
that you can.
I know there's a whole host ofother issues that we could talk
about that are involved withseminary, but these two have
been such a grace in my own lifeand I hope that these two silly
attempts at a pithy proverbialsayings will be a blessing to
(09:55):
your spiritual life as well.
I also want to recommend twobooks for you and if you're in
seminary or Bible college, youprobably like books, like me.
I want to recommend two booksthat for you to consider that I
have found helpful on this topicand have been beneficial to me.
The first is how to StayChristian in Seminary by Mathis
(10:15):
and Parnell, and the second isSurviving and Thriving in
Seminary by Zacharias andForrest.
These are two excellentresources for both spiritual and
some practical concerns as well.
I hope that helps in some wayto you.
I hope that's a blessing.
Thank you so much for your time, and may the Lord continue to
(10:36):
bless you.
Also one other thing I'm goingto go get some ice cream, and
you should too.
That's your permission, okay,bye.
There are two statements that have saved and
shaped my spiritual life whilein college and seminary.
Let me explain.
A lot of people think thatseminary equals cemetery, or in
other words, seminary, or evenBible college, can be
detrimental to your spirituallife, which, if you think about
(00:20):
it, it sounds paradoxicalbecause you're there to study
about God in the Bible.
But it can be true.
It can be at times detrimentalto your spiritual health.
But it doesn't have to be thisway and it shouldn't be this way
.
There are actions and attitudesthat need to be cultivated in
order for us to maintain ourwalk with the Lord.
(00:43):
Being a student has itschallenges, and I want to offer
some advice from someone who hasbeen on that journey and is
still on that journey.
I've seen some of these thingsin my own life and in my
students' lives as well.
I want to offer two simplestatements that have been super
beneficial to my spiritual lifeand I hope they may be to you as
(01:07):
well.
I'm JC Schroeder and this isBite Size Seminary.
The first piece of advice isdon't make your homework your
quiet time.
The paradox of seminary is thatyou're there to study God's
Word so you can be transformedand can share it with others.
But your heart can grow cold asyou learn big, fancy
(01:30):
theological terms and memorizeGreek paradigms.
There's so much for you tolearn and it's all great,
wonderful, amazing stuff.
But there can be a strongtemptation, or even a
realization or belief that sinceI've been thinking about
spiritual content, then myspiritual life is doing fine.
(01:55):
Let me give an example.
A typical day might besomething like you get up early
because you've got lots to doand you start by reading for a
couple of hours on thehypostatic union of Christ or
the fact that he's both divineand human.
I just had to throw in a fancytheological word there.
Then you go to class.
You're working through theGreek text of the New Testament.
(02:17):
With what kind of genitive isthis?
What kind of participle is this?
Then you go to the library andyou start work on a paper about
effective church plantingstrategies.
Then you go home and it's timeto be with your family, or it's
off to work and by the end ofthe day you're just beat tired
and you're ready for bed.
Now here's where the temptationsets in, or at least where it
(02:40):
sets in in the silly example.
The temptation sets in to countall of that studying of amazing
, wonderful, beautifulinformation that you just
covered.
Spend all that time studyingand you count that as spiritual
time because it's spiritualcontent.
You don't spend time with theLord in prayer, reading
(03:02):
scripture and meditation, but aswonderful as all those
assignments and work is, it's nosubstitute for your own
personal time and engagementwith the Lord.
You still need to pray, youstill need to read scripture,
and you're reading with a viewtowards hearing God speak into
(03:25):
your life.
Don't use your knowledge or yourhomework as a substitute for
your time with the Lord.
Think about this too.
The Pharisees knew so muchabout scripture like probably
way more than I know or theaverage Bible student knows Yet
they were repeatedly rebuked byJesus for not knowing the heart
(03:48):
of scripture and they weren'ttransformed by it.
I think there's a lot thatcould be said of us theology
Bible students that we fall intothat mold of the Pharisees.
Knowledge isn't everything, butour submission to God is Our
(04:09):
relationship with God is.
I want to make one other notehere.
Now, there are exceptions tothis, and this is not a
legalistic rule.
Hopefully it's wise advice, butif you are consistently
choosing your homework over yourspiritual life or over your
other responsibilities as aspouse or a parent, then you
(04:30):
need to think real hard aboutyour priorities, because you may
have short-term success in yourlife and your academics, but
you're setting yourself up forlong-term spiritual and
relational failure.
One of my professors, dr MikeWhitmer, said something in one
of his classes that I'll hope Inever forget.
(04:51):
He said this it might be a sinfor you to get an A in this
class.
In other words, if youprioritize your work and grade
above all else, like yourspiritual life, your family life
, your health, etc.
Then the A becomes a sin.
It's only become an idol.
(05:13):
If you have to choose betweenhealth, family, your spiritual
life and choose between that andall that in good grades, then
choose bad grades and chooseyour spiritual life, choose your
family, choose your health,choose your relationship with
the Lord.
So all that to say.
(05:34):
Don't make your homework yourquiet time.
Now the second piece of adviceis make your homework your quiet
time.
Okay, you caught me.
I am trying to be kind of likecheeky here.
It's like Proverbs 26, 4through 5.
Answer not a fool according tohis folly and answer a fool
(05:54):
according to his folly Right.
Remember that verse, the factthat these two verses and
Proverbs are back-to-back andare Proverbs or general truths.
They highlight that we needwisdom in answering Sometimes
yes, sometimes no, and the samehere in JC's attempt at being
clever, don't make your homeworkyour quiet time for all the
(06:18):
reasons we just talked about,but also do make your homework,
your quiet time, right.
So don't for those otherreasons and do for these reasons
.
We don't want to separate ouracademic, intellectual life from
our spiritual lives.
We are whole people and weshould live as our whole selves.
(06:42):
So, yes, our theology readingor Greek exegesis should aid and
encourage our spiritual health,not crush it.
Think of it this way asstudents, we get to not have to
or are forced to but we get tospend dedicated and concentrated
(07:02):
time about the Lord, his Wordand how to administer.
Those things should naturallyfeed into our worship and
service.
So if you're reading about thehypostatic union of Christ,
there's that word again abouthow he's both divine and human.
Take a break and worship theLord in prayer, or maybe song
(07:24):
for the fact that he took on ahuman nature, became like us to
save us from our sins and tocontinue to minister to us.
Isn't that like just incredibleabout who our God is that he
would do that for me, for you.
So don't get all hung up anddried out with these fancy
(07:45):
theological terms.
Drink in the theological truth.
When I was taking my thirdsemester of Hebrew, we were
reading Jonah, and it was atough semester because Hebrew is
tough Also because my daughterwas just a few months old and we
weren't getting much sleep.
But the Lord used that littleprophetic book to help me to see
(08:07):
the beauty and grace of God andhow much my heart was like
Jonah's.
Reading Jonah in Hebrew didn'tstifle my spiritual life.
It enlivened it.
And this is what it should doIf we look to our academic work
to still hear the voice of Godas we are thinking about
(08:29):
theology and as we are thinkingabout this beautiful text.
Like Jonah, it helped me.
Reading Jonah in Hebrew helpedme to see the intention of the
text to transform the listener,me and many others, away from
stubbornness and tribalismtoward the fear of the Lord and
(08:49):
embodying his heart towardsothers.
So I would strongly encourageyou to make a concerted effort
to integrate what you'relearning in seminary or Bible
college into your walk with theLord and your daily life.
In addition to this, this isnot just a privatized my own
relationship with the Lord, butyour relationship with others.
(09:11):
So take all of that informationthat you're gaining and using
and spread that to others.
Be a part of a church communitywhere you can share what you're
learning.
Be a part of a small group orsomething like that.
Be it an area where you canserve and minister towards
others not always in a upfront,I'm the guy, sort of way, but
(09:34):
you're just there with othersand you're serving in any way
that you can.
I know there's a whole host ofother issues that we could talk
about that are involved withseminary, but these two have
been such a grace in my own lifeand I hope that these two silly
attempts at a pithy proverbialsayings will be a blessing to
(09:55):
your spiritual life as well.
I also want to recommend twobooks for you and if you're in
seminary or Bible college, youprobably like books, like me.
I want to recommend two booksthat for you to consider that I
have found helpful on this topicand have been beneficial to me.
The first is how to StayChristian in Seminary by Mathis
(10:15):
and Parnell, and the second isSurviving and Thriving in
Seminary by Zacharias andForrest.
These are two excellentresources for both spiritual and
some practical concerns as well.
I hope that helps in some wayto you.
I hope that's a blessing.
Thank you so much for your time, and may the Lord continue to
(10:36):
bless you.
Also one other thing I'm goingto go get some ice cream, and
you should too.
That's your permission, okay,bye.
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