I recently had a conversation with an engaging young man. He’d once considered attending Heritage but didn’t see how Bible school played into his future business plans.
From time to time, I’ll present some of the reasons I’m convinced Bible School and seminary are a worthy investment of time and money. I gave my first reason in a previous post; here’s a second.
We are commanded to love God with all our minds.
Shortly before He was arrested, Jesus faced a series of challenging questions from Jewish religious leaders (Matthew 22). The Pharisees asked whether it was kosher to pay taxes to Caesar (22:17). The Sadducees laid out a convoluted case study about a lady who’d been married seven times. “Now then,” they asked, “at the resurrection, whose wife will she be?” (22:28).
Finally, an expert in Jewish law inquired, “What is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied with these well-known words: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
We know we are to love God with all our hearts, but what does it mean to love Him with all our minds? If you study Jesus’ responses to the questions He faced that day in the Temple, you’ll get an answer. Loving God with your mind involves:
- using discernment to see through hypocritical questions
“You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?” (22:18)
- using reason to expose erroneous conclusions
“you are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God” (22:29)
- using logic to lead people to new insights
“If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” (22:45)
And most of all…
- using Scripture as the final authority in life and death
“But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (22:32-33)
A Bible school education can help a Christian dig deeper into Scriptures to grow in the knowledge of God. It can assist a student in developing a Christian mind and a biblical worldview. It can shape and sharpen the skills needed to engage in serious theological reflection and answer hostile theological objections.
That’s all part of loving God with your mind.
Rick and Linda Reed 