A revival and reformation is greatly needed in our churches. We all agree to that. The problem of how to bring about this revival is one upon which many of our ministers and leaders have been thinking and studying. Recently two incidents came to my attention that indicate to me that the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary is to be one of many instruments for effecting this revival.
Before a revival can take place in the church, it must take place in the heart of the preacher. Some time ago I was talking with a well-educated young woman in one of our churches. She spoke of her pastor, and made this statement: "Pastor________ is certainly a different man since he attended the Seminary. He seems so much more earnest and consecrated than before. His sermons, too, are infinitely more interesting and spiritual." This is the finest tribute to the Seminary that I have ever heard.
Very few of our lay members realize the drain on a preacher who continuously gives from his spiritual experience and knowledge. Every sermon, every prayer meeting, every counseling interview, every board meeting, draws upon his spiritual resources. Unless he is careful to preserve unbroken and undisturbed a special period for study and meditation, before long this constant drain leaves his spiritual reservoir nearly dry. From my own experience in district work, I know how extremely difficult it is to preserve this study time unbroken. Just the same, to fail to do so is to commit spiritual suicide. Spiritual weakness and death will result just as surely as physical weakness and death would follow if a person would allow himself to be "so busy the past two weeks that I haven't once had time to eat!"
When a minister has the opportunity, after a busy program of evangelism or district and pastoral work,- to go to the Seminary for a period of study, what an oasis it is in his experience! There he has time to study, and to read the books he has been wanting to read—or others just as good that he is required to read! There he enjoys fellowship with other workers, and with his Lord; and he has opportunity to discuss matters that interest him or problems related to his work, with teachers and fellow workers of similar experience who face like problems. There a special time is set aside for prayer and for building one's own devotional life. Then, when his period of study at the Seminary is over, he goes back to his work not only wiser, but with his spiritual resources renewed and his intellectual horizons expanded.
I know that this happens to others, and I have experienced it myself. After a period of mission service during the war, undergoing experiences of frustration and of unsettlement that left me nervously exhausted, a period of study at the Seminary while on furlough virtually reopened to me the fountains of the great depths of God's spiritual resources. The opportunities of acquaintance with other workers, and particularly with the leaders at our General Conference headquarters, inspired new confidence in the soon triumph of our message. My studies gave me deeper insight into Bible truth, and with new humility and devotion I was able to enter again into a spiritual work for the Lord.
"We Had a Real Revival"
A few weeks ago I chanced to meet a worker whom I had known years ago. This minister had previously labored for some years as a district leader and pastor in the homeland, and had now completed a full term of service in the mission field. Upon returning to the homeland for furlough, he enrolled at the Seminary. In our conversation I learned that once before he had attended the Seminary for a quarter. I asked him how he was enjoying his studies. "Very much," he replied, "though I am just getting started at it. But I well recall that when I attended the Seminary years ago, and then returned to my district of churches, we had a real revival." How fitting that last remark seemed! This minister was able, immediately after this period of study at the Seminary, to bring to his churches what he called "a real revival." His study and associations had brought him new plans, which he was eager to try, and, with opportunity to review his past activities and campaigns in the district, he had analyzed his shortcomings of approach and was desirous to try again and to avoid the previous errors. With new courage and aggressiveness, he was ready to venture out in holding evangelistic efforts and revival services. He had zealously and energetically launched into the work in his district, and God had blessed his churches with a genuine revival.
The major contribution our Seminary is designed to make to the denomination is the preparation and training of good Adventist preachers. This means real soul-winning preachers—men with a zeal for souls, who know how to proceed in the best way to win these souls. Every class taught in the Seminary must be beamed and focused toward this major objective, whether the class be in archeology, church history, prophetic interpretation, or Biblical languages. The whole program—the classwork, the reading, the spiritual exercises—purposes to build up in the minister such a reservoir of information, spiritual strength, and studious attitude that when he gets back into his church or his evangelistic campaign, the Holy Spirit can and will use him to bring revival and reformation to God's remnant people under his charge.
Contrary to the thinking of some, true education makes men more effective, more zealous soul winners. The great Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century sprang from the studies and labors of men who were teachers and students in the ministerial training schools of that time. Properly conducted, our own Seminary will make men wiser, more godly, more zealous, more aggressive in the work of winning souls to communion and service in the Advent message. This result will be observed more and more in the few years that lie ahead. The closing work of God on earth demands the best men with the best training possible.