Today I finish the last class of this term. I only have one more class to
go in the completion of my seminary journey. As of Palm Sunday I will be
completely through with my studies for the Masters of Divinity degree and
ready for graduation on May 7th. It’s hard to believe that this journey is nearly
complete. It’s seems like I just started a short time ago. I can vividly
remember the first classes I took. Now, three years later, I’m wrapping up the
last. They say that time flies when you’re having fun. Yet, this journey hasn’t
always been fun. In fact, it’s been hard work. Reading. Group projects.
Papers. Exams. A full-time graduate course load while still trying to pastor
two churches, in the midst of a global pandemic. A seemingly never-ending
challenge that now really is coming to an end. What am I to do now?
I think all graduates ask that question, regardless of what level of
education they are completing – high school, college, or graduate school. We
wonder what life will look like in this new season as we transition from the
world of academia to the “real world.” It surely will be different, but how
exactly? Will all the work we’ve put in over the past several years really
matter when we get beyond the walls of the school?
I can’t help but to ponder how similar these questions should be to our
faith journey as well. If you think about it, every time we finish a Bible study
on a book of Scripture, or complete a sermon series on Sunday morning, it’s
like completing a course of study. We’ve learned something new, and as we
compile it with the other things we have learned over the months and years, we
must ask ourselves – OK, now what am I going to do with what I have
learned? I’ve put in the work (some of it harder than others, I’m sure). What
results will come of it? How can I use what I’ve learned in this great big world
that I live in?
One of the biggest lessons that I have learned in life is how to transition
from head-knowledge to heart-knowledge. In other words, how to take what
I’ve learned about my faith and put it into action, how to move from a mental
recognition to a missional intention. You see, just taking what we learn and
storing it away for a rainy day does nothing for the advancement of the
kingdom. We have to do something with it, lest it do nothing more than
collect dust and cobwebs.
So, how are you using what you have learned in your faith journey?
How have you put that knowledge into action in the world around you? Who
have you shared it with and how?
Always pondering,
Pastor Steve