I'm going to Seminary for lots of bad reasons. I have good reasons too and now I'm trying to live a life of putting aside the bad ones, really pursuing the good ones, and being open to surprises. It's been a strange journey to get me to this point. I think what I've realized is that I actually do have certain life goals: 1) To fall deeper in love with Christ and 2) help Christians understand Christianity better (namely by allowing them to fall more madly in love with Christ too). In light of that, I've decided to come up with some career goals that are quite similar to my life goals (makes the list easier to remember). That's why I'm going to seminary. I'm taking steps to be a pastor of a church. I'm at Covenant Theological Seminary because what I want is to say with Paul, "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" and I have become convinced that Covenant is an institution that is committed to not only knowing about Christ but just actually KNOWING Christ. More than anything the best way to combat all of the bad reasons I have for going to seminary is to encounter and embrace Jesus. I want to be in a place surrounded by the people who wrote to me in a letter saying, "The education of our students is far more than a merely academic exercise--it is our ministry to you and to those whom you will serve in Christ's Church. Our goal is to walk with you--not only through your seminary years, but also well beyond--so that, by God's grace and for His glory, you may faithfully fulfill the ministry to which He is calling you." I'm so excited.
I'm (still) learning to be more open with people and offering of myself. This blog is a step in that direction (like a band-aid on a missing limb).