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JUST An Opinion 

Academia and Christendom let's not miss the boat.

It is easy to sit back and criticize a minister or people in the church to make one’s self feel good or important. That is not what I strive to do here, but rather make an observation or to point our a flaw. This flaw being a melding of academic traditions in to the American church and mission boards. God need all types of people in his service. The layman is the strong right arm of God. The educated pastor is the person that steers the congregation away from faults teaching. I will start by telling a story. In my youth after a high school and throughout my collage and early adult years I truly felt that the Lord was calling me to the mission field of some type. During three years at community collage I trained in the industrial arts.

(Diesel and Automotive mechanics, welding and machining ) I thought that missionaries would need technical people to fix vehicles and equipment to support their work. These people have spent there time learning the Bible and how to teach it. They probably did not take many mechanics classes.

After completing my studies I started contacting missions organization and missionaries that came to my local church. The response I got from the people in the field was great and they told me there was a great need for technical people on the mission field. On the other hand the missions organizations more or less laughed at me. I was told to go back to school and take at least two years of Bible if not more and then they might look at me. "No options, no interest, no way." This was all the organizations that I talked to. Pretty discouraging. But I kept hearing the need was great.

I would have taken the courses via correspondence had there been any interest in my skills.

I also had to get a job and support my self in the mean time. I would imagine showing a movie about Jesus is hard to do when the generator is broken and there is no one to fix it. All I wanted to do is repair and serve in this fashion.

I also was helping a family that was affiliated with a mission board. The board said they would be with them indefinitely. The Husband was a tradesman as my self and was taking courses via mail and teaching his technical skills to youth and men in the village they served . They let him go. After two years of hard work they let him go because he had not got all of his classes done. They did not care that had worked 16_18 hr days for two years, learned a language and did many civil projects in that area of service.

In America and Europe we have professional collage trained people for everything.

There is nothing wrong with this as in most cases it works well. You don’t want to go to a doctor that has only a high school diploma and a two year medical certificate.

Where this love affair with academics becomes a problem in Christendom is when we lose perspective. We start to worship ourselves and become proud because of education. For instance churches are requiring classes to teach Sunday school or to hold church office.

Walk on to any collage campus there is a distinct pecking order, from the "nothing pre Bachelors " to the PHD . On collage campuses this is normal but this" look at me pride" does not work in the service of God in the work of missions or in the local church.

It is purely a sinful work of the devil.

I must state that a person that’s primary job is to lead a church should be well trained in the Bible . I am not denying that. But keep lay people from doing work in the church because he or she has not completed an academic class is wrong and counter productive to spread of the word.

I have seen churches adopt programs like this recently. I am also not saying the content of these classes are not well and good but it creates this academic higher arcky in the church. You end up with many groups of people looking down on each other. Some times It can start with a minister that has bought in to his on academic achievement and his head is swelled with pride. He looks down on the whole congregation as they don’t have the minister’s education. Then if you have layers of people that have taken various levels of training classes the high level people look down on the low level people and the poor layperson that has not taken classes can only look up to every one else. With all this looking down on the next person going on how are we going to have time to go and spread the gospel? If a non Christian come in would they want to be amongst you?

Lets not miss the boat by ensnaring our selves with the same boastful entanglements of academia. The lay people in the church are the churches hands and feet. Lets all not try to be an eye or a ear because we think it is more desirable. As lay people devour Gods word, pray continually for the fire of reformation and take a Bible class the more we know the better equipped we are.

Another common problem is there are no get rich quick schemes in Christendom.

There are no thin thighs in 30 days or magic ovens. Reformation in history has only come as a result of much consolidated prayer and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. We can not take the journals of great reformation preachers and look at them as a secret formula for reformation or church growth. There is a book in Christian book stores that is somewhat based on the journals of John Wesley. The author is propagating the idea of asking people to leave the church based on a lack of performance and attendance of church function. What is next? "You must go as you were a dollar short on your tithe this month." Sound ridiculous but it could happen. I am glad God does not give up on us that easy. We all on our own deserve damnation. It is only through FREE gift of salvation that we are saved from Hell’s fire. This is a quick way to empty out your church.

I work a job that takes a lot of my time to pay my bills and feed my wife and my self.

I strive to make it to church and Sunday school as often as I can. I get home late each evening and this makes it hard to go to things during the week. If someone needs help I help them. If something needs done I do It.

If a church is going to ask people to leave due to poor attendance than I guess

I will be the first on the list to be asked. I don’t think it is right. I don’t think it Biblical.

Some body will give continence on the day of judgment for it.

So are we going to get rid of every one that works a job?

The only one allowed in church are retired people with time to go to all church functions and activities.

These writings of John Wesley were a result of a reformation that was happening and are not a formula or a treasure map for reformation. I we adopt policies of removing people from our church we will have plenty of empty seat And no one to do the work of the harvest.