By Danny Akin
President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
In my mind, the master of divinity degree is the bare minimum necessary for a life of service in the body of Christ.
Here are three reasons why I believe every student with a heart for ministry should consider the M.Div. program.
1. Biblical and theological training is the bedrock for faithful ministry.
After 45 years in ministry, I still believe the gold standard of seminary education is the M.Div.
The M.Div. is designed to provide the bedrock basics for faithful ministry in the local church and for missions around the world.
The M.Div. will take you deeper in biblical and theological training and equip you to teach and obey the truth of God’s Word — regardless of the challenges and complexities of ministry.
As an M.Div. graduate from one of our six Southern Baptist seminaries, I know firsthand the significance of the training the M.Div. program offers.
The M.Div. was a formative time for me as I learned the theological habits of mind that have rooted me deeply in God’s Word and in the life of the Church.
We must be equipped to articulate, defend and practice the historic doctrines of the Church and lead and counsel others to do the same.
Because that is exactly what the M.Div. equips students to do, I believe everyone who desires to do ministry would be well-served by the M.Div.
2. Practical ministry preparation is invaluable for future leaders.
Although all our graduate degrees offer a wonderful biblical and theological education, the M.Div. allows for unique hands-on, practical training with its missions practicum or church-based internship component.
I am convinced the best theological education takes place in a partnership between the seminary and the local church.
There are some things you can only learn in the refining fires of a local church or the mission field because there you are dealing with real people in real-life settings.
The M.Div. is designed for practitioners with a heart for ministry in the local church — both here in the U.S. and around the world.
Even though ministry leaders have always needed biblically rooted wisdom to lead and counsel others through cultural challenges, our seminary graduates today are entering a particularly volatile time with communities deeply divided over race, gender, politics and a myriad of other issues.
I am convinced that one of the best ways we can prepare our M.Div. students for ministry is by pairing their biblical and theological training with practicums and internships in the field.
There in the field, M.Div. students will learn to speak with truth and grace about what they have learned in the classroom.
There they will learn to have compassion on those who oppose and slander them.
There they will learn to grieve with families beside hospital beds, to preach and teach with a prayerful heart for a particular congregation, and to wrestle with how to evangelize cross-culturally in biblically faithful ways.
As I consider the kind of training our students need to face the challenges of our time, I recommend the M.Div. without hesitation.
3. More training is better than less training.
One of the benefits of the M.Div. is that it entails a longer season of ministry preparation than that of other graduate degrees.
Because the M.Div. allows more time for formation and more sustained interaction with professors, I was able to grow deeply and build lasting relationships with my professors, who modeled biblical fidelity and encouraged me to do likewise.
Unfortunately, many students see a longer season of ministry preparation as less desirable. However, I believe you ought to go as far in ministry preparation as your ability and availability allow.
Does that mean everyone should do an M.Div.? No, but everyone that has the ability and availability to do an M.Div. should do one.
When reflecting on the incredible ministry God gave him, Billy Graham said, “One of my great regrets is that I have not studied enough. I wish I had studied more and preached less.”
It is a weighty responsibility to teach and lead others with gospel clarity, biblical fidelity and doctrinal precision. My concern is that many who accept or pursue positions of leadership may not be ready to do so because they have not been biblically, theologically and ministerially trained.
Though God uses many who have never been trained at seminary, I believe wisdom would counsel that if such training is available to you, you should strongly consider a rigorous season of ministry preparation such as the M.Div. uniquely affords.
One mission: Help people follow Jesus
During Gateway Seminary’s Dec. 10 winter commencement ceremony, president Jeff Iorg charged graduates with a simple responsibility: help people follow Jesus.
“You can take all that we’ve taught you and distill it into that particular mission,” Iorg said.
“Walk out of here today and say, ‘I’m just going to help people follow Jesus.’”
Iorg’s charge to the graduates was based on Luke 2 and focused on Simeon.
“Follow the example of this interesting man,” he said, “to be the kind of person who makes a difference in our world and who God uses to do something consequential and significant.”
Iorg described the characteristics of Simeon which made him useful to God.
- He was a common man and a man of high character who was righteous and devout.
“Ministry leadership is unique in this capacity: character and commitment always precede competency.”
- He anticipated the future promised him.
“People who do something consequential and impactful as leaders, who make a genuine difference, are people thinking about the future — the next decade, not the next 10 days.”
- He was empowered by the Holy Spirit.
“Three different times in three consecutive verses Simeon is described as being a man full of, revealed to and guided by the Holy Spirit,” he said. “You cannot do ministry leadership in your own power.”
Tyler Sanders
Gateway Seminary
I get to do a lot of great things in ministry, but one of my favorites is to travel around the state of Alabama on Sunday mornings encouraging pastors and people in small to midsize churches as I preach the gospel.
Kevin Blackwell
Executive director
Samford University’s Ministry Training Institute
“Use a crisis to rethink priorities, strategy and planning, but don’t be too quick to cut [out] the people who have made you successful in the first place,” said Phil Cooke, a writer, television producer and media consultant.
“We certainly wish we didn’t have to go through this, but we’ve also been presented with an opportunity to move in the direction God wants us to go,” said Josh Pendergrass, pastor of Wadsworth Baptist Church in Autauga County, following tornadoes that hit Alabama Jan. 12. “Our property may have changed, but our purpose remains the same.”
Be a servant, remember your calling, be relevant and keep an eternal perspective.
O.S. Hawkins
Senior adviser, professor and ambassador-at-large
Southwestern Seminary
Social media shapes and spiritually forms you and me just as surely as our quiet time, our reading, our friendships, our leisure time and perhaps as much as our houses of worship. Proceed with caution.
Ken Keathley, professor
Southeastern Seminary
Authentic prayer isn’t about impressing anyone. The prayer God seeks is the prayer of the contrite heart.
As Jesus says, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Albert Mohler Jr.
President, Southern Seminary
Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.
Charles H. Spurgeon
From the Twitterverse
@colemanford
If at all possible, a residential, MDiv education surrounded by pastor-theologians and faithful teachers-mentors with direct and intentional apprenticing in the local church is *the* best ministry preparation.
Here I stand.
@jeremypierre
Historic note: This opening day of Spring Semester 2023 marks the first time I had to tell students that no AI may be used in the writing of any assignment.
It felt like an explanatory flashback scene in some sci-fi apocalypse.
@Chris_Hanna_
“Neither systematic theology nor church history can do the work of the other, but neither can do its own work properly without the other. Historical theology, as it has evolved within the curriculum of this seminary, serves as a link between the two.” —Timothy George
@bartbarber
I spoke with Lacoste — my old Greek professor. I asked how I could be praying for him. At 92 years old, he had one request. He asked me to pray for his ongoing daily efforts to memorize Scripture.
@ColsonCenter
“Becoming a thoughtful Christian means learning to think well and to think Christianly.” —David Dockery, “What Does It Mean to Be a Thoughtful Christian?”
@srharmon
Today my Intro to Christian History & Theology class sang “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded.” It’s not Holy Week, but we were talking about the methods of Christian theology.
Our theological language is always borrowed language — speaking of God in terms or words/images that are not God.
@MattMBarrett
Have you so dressed up Christianity that your Jesus is too refined, sophisticated, cultured, wealthy, political, on brand & churchy to eat a meal with a prostitute, traitor, let alone a murderer like Paul? If your gospel has no grace for a blasphemer, your Jesus is too small.
@jasonkeithallen
Amidst busy schedules and overbooked calendars, healthy leaders prioritize their own growth and development for the sake of the church. …
@dougmunton
We ordained two young men to the ministry last night. I love seeing the next generation on mission for the gospel!
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