Called, Competent and Committed (part 2)

In the first post I considered the importance of a calling in terms of determining ordaining a person for ministry.  The next issue to consider in terms of ordination is whether that person is competent.

Competent is defined as having the skill or ability to do something well.  A competent mechanic can correctly fix my car.  A competent musician can play pleasing and recognizable music on their instrument.

To a great degree, our education model is focused on imparting information and ‘teaching to the test’.  If a student can reproduce the information on an exam they pass.  But have they truly understood?  Can they retain that knowledge and make it work for them in practical situations?  Are they competent?  

This has found its way into ministry education.  Let’s face it, there are plenty of ministers who are ‘book smart’, meaning they got good grades by passing exams.  When it comes to life and ministry skill, however, they are lacking because they were not evaluated in a ‘real world’ setting on their ability to use the information correctly or effectively.  I believe education is important and I highly value my own seminary experience; yet I must wonder how well the current system does at determining competency.  To remediate this, many Bible colleges and seminaries now include some form of on-site practicum.

 

Even so, as mentioned in the first post, it is still often the framed paper on the wall, reflecting a particular level of education, rather than the quality of training which carries weight.  Why do we consider someone who completed a four-year post graduate program at a prominent institution more qualified for ordination than someone who has invested the same time being mentored and learning one-to-one in a local church setting?  Some aspects of ministry certainly benefit from a traditional educational setting (studying the original Biblical languages with skilled linguists comes to mind), but much can and should be learned within the local church.

Let’s go back to the passage in Mark 3:13-15: “And [Jesus] went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.  And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”

The original disciples were ‘ordained’ by Jesus for the work of the Gospel ministry (see also John 15:16), but the condition by which they were set apart for this work had nothing to do with traditional ideas of education.  In fact when the Jewish authorities encountered the disciples “and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished.” (Acts 4:13)  In this sense ‘uneducated’ means that they had no formal training in the schools of the scribes or rabbis.  Yet they possessed an amazing ability, a competency, which amazed the authorities.  Where did this come from?  The Jewish leaders “recognized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

Jesus called those He wanted “that they might be with Him”.  This was the training program for the disciples.  It wasn’t about being sent away to schools or seminaries; it was about real world training in the presence of a master, the Master.  It was about mentoring and practical teaching.  It was learning how to understand and handle the Word of God in everyday situations.  It was about being given opportunity to go out (see Luke 9:1-2; 10:1).  It was about being allowed to ‘fail’ (Matthew 17:19-20).  They disciples became competent through experience, not education.

An exam does not reveal if a man is fit to be a deacon or elder.  A grade for a one semester course cannot measure if one is truly “a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15).  Academic institutions are not places where character is formed or nurtured.

I am convinced that competency is best formed, observed and evaluated in a local church community.  Training for ministry at the local level more readily fits the Biblical model and could be more effective in preparing people for ordination than sending them away for education.   

In the next post I will discuss commitment.

*Scripture taken from the English Standard Bible.  Copyright © 2000, 2001 by Crossway Bibles, A Division of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, USA.