How to Waste Your Money at Seminary
When future pastors treat seminary like a formality instead of formation, they don’t just lose money—they lose the very thing God called them to become.
The best way to waste your money at seminary has nothing to do with actually going to seminary. In fact, if you’re the type of person who already wants to go, you probably won’t find this article very helpful.
But the truth is, there are countless students who have enrolled—or are currently enrolled—in seminaries who will walk out with little to none of their money’s worth. Why? Because the true value of seminary is not found in the paper handed to you at the end of four years (or more).
Perhaps this reflects an attitude carried over from our broader understanding of higher education—an attitude I can sympathize with. Many students enter college unsure of what they want to do, filling their schedules with irrelevant prerequisites and GPA boosters, just to slap a Bachelor of Arts on their resume at the end. So if we’re talking about wastes of money, undergraduate programs have far outpaced seminaries in that regard.
However, most people don’t go to seminary to “find themselves.” It may not necessarily be pastoral ministry, but most students have a general sense of what they’re pursuing or what they’d like to study.
But this is where some churches have some explaining to do. Because after affirming a young man’s call into ministry, many churches and even pastors have sent those men into seminary only to downplay the experience—as if seminary were simply a box to check on the way to “real ministry.”
Make no mistake: if you are called into the work of ministry, seminary is a means to an end. After all, it’s four years of theology—biblical, systematic, historical, and pastoral—fed through a firehose for the sake of equipping men for service in Christ’s church. If that’s your calling, seminary is indeed a means to an end.
My concern, however, is when that sentiment goes too far. I’ve seen students treat seminary the same way they treated “Intro to Art History” or “Gender Studies” in college. I’ve seen them aim for the bare minimum, just high enough to avoid academic probation. Because for many, seminary isn’t about being equipped to serve the saints—it’s just a formality to get through.
What results, then, is a generation of graduates who rely more on charisma than conviction—more on their relational skills than the insight of the Word. And churches that perpetuate this mindset, simply because they need to quickly fill a youth pastor role, will inevitably lower the standard for qualified ministers. It may seem like a slow decay, but it is certainly a real one.
This, of course, comes back to bite later. I’ve seen men graduate from Reformed seminaries unable to answer the most basic theological questions from their congregation. I’ve even known some who have cheated on Bible exams, because seminary is merely a hoop to jump through, not a time of spiritual formation. And little by little, those called to “guard the good deposit” (2 Timothy 1:14) are rendered weak and spiritually ineffective.
And so my warning and exhortation to those considering seminary is this: if you don’t want to waste your money, don’t treat it like a degree. Treat it like discipleship.
The right seminary will provide you with access to faithful professors, the riches of theological tradition, and the space to think deeply about the things of God. This of course should be paired with the valuable experience of serving in the local church, but both are necessary if you are to be effective in your future ministry.
Don’t coast your way to a diploma. Sit under the Word and learn from your professors as faithful, wise men who have gone before you in the faith. Don’t waste the privilege of being trained for holy work by treating it like a checklist for ministry.
Because when you treat seminary lightly, you’re not just wasting your money—you’re cheapening the call of God on your life.