Developing a Critical Mind and a Gentle Spirit
As a seminary, Stark’s goal is to equip students not just with biblical knowledge, but with biblical wisdom. We want to teach students how to communicate and apply biblical truths in their lives.
Since I’ve never served in another college seminary environment, I don’t know if this approach is novel. It seems novel to me when I reminisce about my higher education journey and even when I swap stories with those who attended seminary in the 80’s and 90’s. One pastor I know once told me that seminary was the driest and darkest time in his Christian walk. The over-emphasis on critical analysis robbed the joy and simple devotion from his walk with God. We’ve also seen instances where intelligent students excelled academically but then fell into moral failure, revealing a disconnect between their knowledge and character.
The Dilemma of Critical Thinking vs Christlike Spirit
The dilemma of attending Bible college and seminary is that we spend an inordinate amount of time teaching critical thinking. I’ve said it myself. To the untrained ear, the word “critical” sounds like a negative word. It conjures up memories of a parent, teacher, boss, or coach who tells you what’s wrong with you, oftentimes in a loud demeaning tone!
When we say we are teaching critical thinking skills, we mean the ability to discern, discriminate, and distinguish theories, ideas, and concepts. Critical thinking is utilizing the 6-Thinking Hats paradigm. It’s suspending judgment long enough to evaluate all perspectives and angles of a given topic. It’s asking, “Why is this a bad idea?” when you already believe it to be a good idea.
Critical thinking does not come easy or naturally. Someone can be critical (only see the negative), but not necessarily be a critical thinker. You see, critical thinking isn’t taking a certain position (i.e. always negative), but rather a posture to explore all the nuances of a given situation or topic.
There can sometimes be a dilemma in seminary education between developing critical thinking skills while also cultivating gentle, Christlike spirits. Critical thinking is so important – it helps us discern truth, consider multiple perspectives, and test our assumptions. But it can also lead to overly harsh critique or proud knowledge if not paired with humility and grace.
I’ve talked with church leaders who bemoan sending students to “cemetery” (play on words for seminary) because they go off to school and lose the passion for the gospel. The overcorrection to this problem is the devaluing of the educational process and tolerance for pop-culture theology, which leads to heresy.
What is the church to do? Should the church have to decide between good theology or good pastors, right beliefs or right behaviors, bloated heads or shallow spirits, between seminary or church, and between orthodoxy or orthopraxy? Sadly, this dichotomy in the world of seminary and church plays out everytime a pastor search committee gathers to discern who to call.
Cultivating Both Orthodox Beliefs and Orthopraxis
This harmful dichotomy is unnecessary. Instead, I propose we should embrace BOTH a critical mind (reasoned knowledge – Orthodoxy) and a gentle spirit (transformed life – Orthopraxy).
How? It’s as profound as it is simple: Paul says in Philippians 4:4-9 that a gentle spirit is the result of rejoicing, which comes from dwelling on the things of God and practicing the things of God! Did you see it? Thinking about the things of God should lead to practicing the things of God.
Paul offers the Philippians a list of virtues to think about. The list isn’t necessarily spectacular or novel. In all reality, they were quite common in his day as they are in ours. He says in verse eight, “whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy, think about these things.” What makes this list so special is that Paul was putting them on notice as to what makes for worthwhile food for thought. In a world filled with evil, fear, and anxiety, spending a considerable amount of time pondering the things of God from both scripture and nature brings a certain perspective and positive joy to one’s spirit. Hence, your thought life is transformed by studying God’s word and world.
Connecting Thoughts and Actions
But it doesn’t stop with just studying, because Paul has a second assignment. He says in verse nine, “what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things.”
The grammar of this sentence makes it very clear that Paul connects the “thinking of excellent things” with the “doing of excellent things.” He essentially says “You must keep putting into practice” the things I’ve taught you.
Practicing or living out the excellent things of God is where I’ve seen lots of Christians and ministers go off the rails – they might have lots of information, but there has been no transformation. I’d go so far as to say that gathered information about God and scripture is NOT the point of Paul’s writing. Paul makes it clear that reasoned beliefs, or Orthodoxy, always leads to excellent behaviors, or Orthopraxy.
Assessing Transformation in Our Lives
Let me offer you a rubric by which you can assess if your mind is being renewed and transformed by Jesus. Simply take stock of the fruit of your beliefs, your actions. Right belief informs right behavior.
I think it is worth saying that whatever we spend time thinking about, that is what guides our actions. Richard Foster makes this point in The Celebration of Discipline when he writes about the value of studying God’s word and world. He believes disciplined and sustained study of God’s word and world not only encourages positive thoughts with amazing side-effects, it also gives us the mind of Christ on matters that require our greatest energy—our witness to a fearful, anxious, and lost world.
At Stark, our goal is not to fill heads and empty hearts. A filled head might lead to a critical mind, but an empty heart will certainly lead to a critical spirit; that educational outcome is what failure looks like. Instead, I hope we walk the narrow path of developing a critical mind while maintaining a gentle and peaceful spirit.
There is no doubt that peace is in short supply in our culture. If you want to be known as a person who keeps their head when others are losing theirs, then spend significant time thinking and practicing the excellent things of God.
This devotion was written by Dr. Tony Celelli, President of Stark College & Seminary.