When I transitioned last year out of pastoral ministry and into teaching on the college and seminary level at Pensacola Christian College and Pensacola Theological Seminary, several (not many) of my colleagues were disappointed, not that I was leaving the pastorate, but that I was “sacrificing” my talents by going to a Christian liberal arts college rather than to a Bible school that was founded exclusively for training people for vocational Christian service.  I have no personal ax to grind with institutions that are solely founded to train ministers.  Indeed, I have taught at some of these schools, both in an adjunct and full-time capacity, and I have had the privilege to sit on both the voting and advisory boards of others.   I praise God for every institution that is committed to train the next generation of pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and Christian school teachers.  That all having been said, however, being involved in Christian liberal arts education is no compromise.

 

All of Life Is Sacred

Historical honesty would force us to admit that it is not God’s will for every single believer to be involved in vocational Christian ministry.  God has guided some very Spirit-sensitive young people into what is commonly called “secular” work.  God leads some people to be doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, businessmen, and accountants.  When these young people follow the direction of God into their respective vocations, they understand that they ultimately work for the Lord (cf. Ephesians 6:5-8).  I have the privilege every day of training people who will serve God through local church ministry and training those who will serve God in vocations outside the local church.  These secular professions are no less sacred.  Indeed, such service to others is an act of worship to God.

 

One’s Worldview Is Serious

 A pastor once told me that he believed no person should go off to a Christian liberal arts college to study for a so-called secular vocation.  Such prospective students should rather stay home at their home church and be educated at a local community college.  While I am not minimizing the value of one’s local church, I do have reservations about education that is not grounded in a Biblical worldview.  Healthcare professionals, business executives, and indeed all Christian workers will be forced to make ethical and moral decisions daily.  Education that is diametrically opposed to Biblical truth creates confusion regarding morality.  A Christian liberal arts education can train Christians to believe and act like Christians in the marketplace.  One’s worldview is serious.

 

Hearts Should Be Sensitive

 While it is not God’s will for everyone to enter vocational Christian service, each believer should be sensitive to God’s leading.  Through the years, numerous students have matriculated at Christian liberal arts colleges only to change their majors later because God spoke to them about vocational ministry.  Many of today’s pastors started as business majors, but God spoke to them through a church service, a chapel, or a Bible class.  These future ministers would have been lost had they chosen a non-Christian institution for their higher education.  Indeed, a mission agency that is dear to my heart reports that PCC has sent them more missionaries than many Bible colleges that were founded for that purpose.  God gives me the privilege every week to speak to the sensitive hearts of students who desire to know and do the will of God.

 

Well-Rounded Christians Are Special

 PCC has many outstanding career academicians along with other Bible teachers who have a combined 350 years of ministerial experience.  In addition to this combination of theological educators, God has surrounded us with brilliant Christian minds in other disciplines.  Thus, our graduates know the Bible, but they also have a wide and varied education from some of the best in the business.  Our graduating ministerial students can speak and converse on a variety of subjects that will help them connect and communicate with others they desire to lead to the Lord.

There is much to commend Bible institutes, schools, and colleges around the world.  They serve a vital and necessary function.  The same, however, can and should be said about the Christian liberal arts college that is committed to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture.  Students who matriculate in these institutions have in no way compromised.  They have rather positioned themselves to impact a world for Christ.