Theological students are fallible, foolish sinners.
Formal theological studies are a wonderful privilege. Bible college is an invaluable time of preparation for ministry. When I was considering applying for an honours, one of my lecturers told me “you’ll never regret further theological studies.” While I might’ve had some twinges of regret during the two-week Greek intensive that started off my degree, I have to acknowledge he was entirely correct on the whole. My time as a theological student was a great blessing.
People tend to perceive Bible college students as especially holy. But, unfortunately, anyone who has been to Bible college can attest to the fact that we’re fallible, foolish sinners. This article covers 10 mistakes theological students make, most of which I myself am guilty of to greater and lesser degrees. Perhaps you’re considering theological studies. If you do, you will have a far richer experience if you learn, as I did, to avoid these common mistakes.
1. Debating Doctrines, Forgetting Souls
I first studied at the Bible Institute of South Africa, which is non-denominational. The 20 or so students in my class held a smorgasbord of theological views. One encouraged me to speak in tongues; two or three shared my views on baptising infants; and don’t even get me started on our views of the end times!
Today I’d be far more concerned for my classmates’ souls than winning arguments.
Naturally, our doctrinal courses led us to engage with one another, and on many more topics than the three above. I enjoyed the doctrinal debates we got into, and I’d willingly have them again. But all our differences were on secondary matters. Today I’d be far more concerned for my classmates’ souls than on winning the arguments.
My goal was often to have the clearest and most persuasive argument. But to what end? Let me encourage you to learn to love those who differ from you theologically. When you discuss your views, approach others with humility, acknowledging that you might be wrong. We shouldn’t argue people into sharing our theological positions because we want to be right. Rather, we should want them to worship God rightly.
2. Too Little Prayer
Recently a friend of mine, reflecting on his own mistakes during his years of faithful ministry, said that we are slow to prayer because we’re naturally self-reliant. Of course, I prayed during my theological studies. But I’d be a liar if I said I prayed enough. As Jesus’ brother points out, we do not have because we do not ask (James 4:2-3). It is not that God is obligated to answer us when we pray. Rather God is often pleased to bless us through our faithful dependence on him in prayer.
We are slow to prayer because we’re naturally self-reliant.
I should have prayed more for myself, and for my classmates. The psalmist says, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18). Oh, how I presumed upon God’s grace! How could I expect to gain deeper understanding of God’s word and the truths therein without asking him more often to open my eyes by his Spirit? In the same vein, I should have prayed that God would strengthen our faith, preserve us from temptation, and enable us to run the race and reach the finish line, for his glory.
3. Not Enough Devotional Time
I spent hours reading my Bible as a theological student. I grew even more familiar with it than I had been before. At Bible college, one would hope so! I enjoyed our courses working through each book. I even memorised several portions of scripture for my coursework. But as Christians who believe the Bible is the word of God, we spend far too little time in it. Though I spent many profitable hours in God’s word for the sake of my studies, I didn’t spend enough time simply enjoying what God had revealed about himself in his word.
I didn’t spend enough time simply enjoying God’s word.
I’m not saying that I didn’t spend any devotional time reading God’s word; or that my studies weren’t good for my faith. My faith certainly grew. I consider one of the main benefits of my Masters on covenant theology to be the deeper appreciation that I have for God’s grace and mercy through his Son, Jesus Christ. But the Bible is like a dragon-mound of spiritual treasure. Though quite conscious of the poverty of my soul, I simply neglected to take in the wonders of God’s goodness and spent too little time gathering up the riches he had laid out for me.
I wish I was more familiar with my Bible and my God, and I could have deepened my relationship with him sooner.
4. Avoiding More Varied Ministry Contexts
I served at three churches over the four years of my full-time theological studies. One was the church I grew up in; another was nearby; and the third I later ended up serving my initial two-year training period in. I loved my time in these churches and I’m grateful to God for the opportunities I had. Still, I wish that I’d been able to serve in churches that had less resources and that were completely different culturally to those that I later ended up serving in.
I wish I’d been able to serve in more varied churches. It would have been good for me.
I didn’t really have transport to serve at other churches. But once you’re in full-time ministry, you realise that church-hopping, even simply once a year, isn’t all that feasible. It’s not so easy to serve God’s people in different places. You tend to serve in one general kind of context. That’s normal and natural, but your student years allow you to do practical training and to serve God’s people in a number of different ministry contexts that ordinarily you might never experience. I wish I’d been able to serve God’s people in more varied churches. It would have been good for me; and, I hope, good for them.
5. Not Seeking Enough Input
Like many other theological students, I served as a “student placement,” volunteering my service in a number of different ministries. I was involved in youth groups, running sound desks, leading services, and preaching, amongst other things. And I certainly learnt from this experience and benefited from the termly reports that I needed to hand in at college.
I wish that I’d asked for more input from the ministry leaders over me.
I do wish, however, that I had asked for more input from the pastors and ministry leaders over me. I would have learned from their wisdom, gained valuable feedback, and likely would have had more clarity when I began full-time ministry as to which areas I was best gifted in and most passionate about.
6. Thanklessness for Opportunities
Conrad Mbewe gives the statistic that 97% of African pastors do not have the luxury of formal theological training. If that’s overstating the case, it’s certainly not far from the truth. I am incredibly privileged to have had the opportunity to study God’s word in-person. and to have world-class Bible scholars helping me to grow in theological maturity.
Let us praise the Lord for his provision and kindness.
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus healed 10 lepers (Luke 17:11-19). But only one returned to praise Christ. I suspect that many of us who have been given the privilege of formal theological training have not returned to thank our good and gracious God for his blessings. Let us, like the one leper who returned to thank God, praise the Lord for his provision and kindness.
7. Not Keeping Better Notes
If any of my classmates read this article, they’ll laugh at me for putting this mistake down. To be fair, I kept copious notes throughout my studies. After I finished my Honours degree, I even scanned in all my handwritten notes as PDF files for future reference.
I have forgotten more theological training than some pastors have received.
In all honestly, though, I wish I’d kept neater notes and filed them better. I have forgotten more theological training than some pastors have received. That’s not a boast. It’s a squandered opportunity. I have often wanted to recall a lecturer or classmate’s insight on a particular passage when preparing a sermon, to find that book that was recommended but the title is just out of memory, and to recall which pivotal historical moment had a particular impact. If you are presently a theological student, do your best to keep your notes in a format which you can return to again and again and reference during your future ministry.
8. Being too Prideful to Quit
During my undergraduate studies, I decided that I would do the (optional) additional course on Greek. I enjoy languages and had done reasonably well in the initial course. However, the second course was much harder, and optional for good reason! We had a yearly review when the lecturers would interview us to see how we were doing spiritually and academically. This review was usually mid-way through the final semester of the year.
In humility, just don’t take on more than you can bear.
It just so happened that my Greek lecturer was one of the two faculty members conducting my interview that year. I’ll never forget his words: “Matthew, I want to be a blessing to you. Drop the course.” He wasn’t being harsh. Remember, this was an optional course for extra credit; and I really wasn’t doing very well. In hindsight, I should have withdrawn from the course and focused on my other (required) courses. But I was simply too proud to do so. I failed the course and got an F on my transcript.
The lesson here isn’t to go and withdraw from the courses you find difficult. Rather, in humility, just don’t take on more than you can bear. As a theological student no one is going to overburden you with wicked tasks. Instead, your church will ask you to serve in yet another sorely needed ministry; you’ll be tempted by extra credit courses and assignments; and you’ll think about the prizes to be handed out at the end of the year to diligent students. Don’t be foolish. Be humble and honest about your limitations and work to be faithful according to your abilities.
9. Neglecting My Lecturers’ Wisdom
I sat in the back row to make up for the number of questions I asked during class. But for all the questions I asked in class, I could have asked far more outside of it. I wish I’d gotten more insight on my assignments; spoken to my lecturers in the break about their thinking; and generally availed myself of their wisdom.
I should’ve sought their insight more.
Now that I’m lecturing my own students, I realise how much I want them to do well. I urge them to seek my help in order to understand things better and to improve their marks. My lecturers had the same desire. I should’ve sought their wisdom and insight more.
In the same vein, I didn’t seek their wisdom to learn from my mistakes. On several occasions I received poor marks for my work. I’m unsure whether it was an overactive sense of humility or an underactive sense of curiosity, but I really wish I’d followed up and asked what I did wrong each time. Most of the time I shrugged and thought, “I’ll work a bit harder on the next assignment,” and just carried on. Looking back, I should’ve asked how I could’ve improved. So I missed many lessons from my failures.
10. Little Fellowship With Other Students
At registration day for my MTh, one piece of advice stuck out to me: postgraduate studies can be lonely. You spend very little time in class and it’s easy to neglect chapel, fellowship group, and spending time with other students. But let me tell you a secret: undergrad is the same.
You’ll be an encouragement and blessing to them as much as they are to you.
To continue with the postgrad theme, though, I completed my dissertation part-time and essentially by distance. I came to college once a month to renew my library books and to meet my supervisor. The fact that I was serving in full-time ministry made it tricky to spend time with fellow students and to participate in on-campus activities. But if you do have the opportunity and are on campus, if you can spend time with your classmates, do it.
You’ll be an encouragement and blessing to them as much as they are to you. Furthermore, the friendships you form at college will serve you well as you enter full-time ministry. I deeply appreciate the friends I made when I was a theological student. If I were to go back in time, I’d try and spend as much time as possible with my fellow students. Don’t neglect the opportunity to encourage one another in your studies and in your Christian walk.
Summing Up
Hopefully, you can see that theological studies are an opportunity for great blessing. They’re a real gift from God. But it’s easy to make a million mistakes while at college, and by humbly and gratefully following God through your studies, and avoiding at least these few mistakes, you’ll benefit far more from them, and be better equipped to serve Christ and his church.
