My wife and I just moved back to the USA after serving overseas for the past two decades. We would love to work at a church (not as preaching pastors, but in other pastoral roles), but we’re not qualified.
My wife studied Japanese in university, and has not had the opportunity to study the Bible in a classroom setting (she doesn’t do online very well). In her country, she graduated from college, but didn’t complete a bachelor’s.
I’m a graduate of a small, two-year Bible College. I have a diploma, not a degree. We’ve been missionaries for over 20 years.
Now we’re back in the States, and a couple of pastors would “love” to use us, but we don’t have any degrees. And they are “encouraging” us to get a degree.
So here’s my rant: I have done exactly what God has commanded me to do. Getting a degree is not part of what He told me to do. In a few years, we will return to the field. What we desire to do — what He is leading us to do — requires no degree.
So many people put an emphasis on degrees…which can be good — but it doesn’t mean perfection. I’m all for getting whatever training you need. If that means a degree, get it. If it means taking certain courses/classses, take them. In the professional world, if that means learning a vocation such as welding, trucking, or HVAC, get that training. If it means going to university, and law or medical school to become an engineer, a doctor, or a lawyer, by all means go.
But for the church, does every minister need a degree? No! Not by a long shot.
Should a minister always be studying and learning? Yes. Definitely.
There are a lot of things I’ve learned on the field that I never would’ve learned sitting in a classroom. Because of that experience, I have something to offer to those preparing to go to the field. Something very practical.
The Church needs to stop looking at the degrees behind a man’s name, and look at the man. Is the man qualified? Does the man fear God and walk with God? Is the man filled with the Holy Spirit? Does the man know the Bible and live the Bible? Does the man encourage and build others up? Does the man live up to the standards of the Bible, such as those given in 1 Timothy and Titus? Does the man pray? (The same can be said for women leaders, but I’m the one doing the ranting here.)
It’s my understanding that when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Azusa Street, many people were sent out as missionaries, evangelists, and preachers. The two qualifications they looked for were: Is the person filled with the Spirit? Did God call them?
Granted, a lot of mistakes were made. Some of those people should never have been sent out.
But they also did a whole lot of good in the world, and Pentecostalism became the fastest growing segment of the Protestant Church.
For years, it seems that some in the Pentecostal Church looked down on anyone that went to seminary. That changed in later years, and there are now many great Pentecostal colleges and Bible schools.
Please understand me: Education is a good thing. Being trained is a necessary thing (we’ve seen the damage caused by those who have not been trained). But education is not the most necessary thing.
Is your church in need of good help (maybe not a senior pastor, but someone to head up the prayer ministry or missions department)? Then consider someone that doesn’t have a degree, but does have the experience — and the calling and the anointing to fulfill those roles.
What we need are more men qualified by the Holy Spirit, not universities.
Update:
On December 15, 2023, Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center posted an article titled “An Observation and Warning from 1973: Nine Trends in Pentecostal Churches” referencing an article written in the Pentecostal Evangel in 1973. In the original article, British Pentecostal Theologian, Percy Brewster, wrote:
Another very dangerous trend is to substitute education for the call of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, or to attempt to use human psychology as a substitute for prayer and the anointing of the Spirit.
I felt that it fit in with what I was trying to say in this post.