I can remember sitting in the chapel and attending new student orientation. I sat there with four hundred of my new classmates as we excitedly and eagerly soaked in the material that the Academic Dean was telling us. As he spoke he went over the various ins-and-outs of seminary life and then, at the time, he made a curious statement: “If you’ve come to seminary with spiritual problems, don’t expect that they’ll get better. In fact, they will probably get worse.” At the time, I was surprised to hear this, but as I continued my education, and as I’ve reflected upon that counsel over the years since, I’ve concluded that it is sound advice.
My initial impression of seminary was, it’s a place to study the Bible, I need the Bible, if I have problems, why would seminary make my situation worse? Isn’t studying the Bible a good thing? Won’t it help me with my problems? It all depends on what type of problems you have. If you’re doing ok spiritually, have no major issues, then, yes, going to seminary can be a very good thing. If, however, you’re struggling with major problems—significant moral failings—alcoholism, drug abuse, marital infidelity, dishonesty, thievery, etc.—then seminary will likely make things worse. How so?
Seminary can be a pressure cooker. If you’re a full-time student then you’ll have a lot of work on your plate. You’ll have thousands of pages to read for the semester, papers to write, notes to study, classes to attend, and exams to take. In addition to this, you’ll have your other family responsibilities, and perhaps a job to boot. As difficult as this can be, if you’re life isn’t in decent order, seminary can add more pressure and you will only make things worse. If you’re dishonest, then you’ll be tempted to lie even more when it comes time to take your exam or report how much of the assigned reading you’ve truly completed. If life stressed you out and drives you to take the edge off with alcohol, then seminary will only be more fuel for the fire.
Given these factors, perhaps now you know why seminaries require character references. Seminaries want to ensure that students have godly character, not only because they want their students to represent Christ and the institution well, but so they have some hope that the student won’t crumble under the pressure. Don’t’ get me wrong—thousands of people attend and graduate seminary each year. Seminary isn’t elite military training where instructors purposefully try to wash you out, but on the other hand, seminary can be challenging if you have big spiritual problems.
Seminaries aren’t indifferent about people’s problems—its not that they have a “stay away if you’ve got issues policy.” Rather, I suspect that most admissions personnel and faculty want to ensure that a person who has problems gets proper pastoral care, attends to the means of grace, and orders their life before coming to seminary. We recognize that these are important things, and as much as seminary can be a blessing, the seminary is not the church. People with big spiritual problems need Christ, the church, and the means of grace; they do not need 3,000 pages of reading and an assignment to write a twenty-page paper. As beneficial, therefore, as a seminary education can be, make sure that you have your priorities straight. Seek Christ and the means of grace for your spiritual ailments—only he can remedy your problems.