wfn.org | TCN Editorial: Theological education in the age of Mammon

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>2976 Edition

>March 9~15, 2009

Editorial: Theological education in the age of Mammon

>Translated by Lydia Ma

March is typically the time when flowers bloom and nature reflects  God’s glory and generosity through vibrant colors and sounds. In  contrast, many people living in the cities feel depressed, hopeless, and  stuck in the recent financial crisis because they cannot see the light  at the end of the tunnel.

Addressing the financial crisis seems inevitable under current  circumstances when discussing church mission and vision. Many churches  must focus on cost-saving strategies in their ministries nowadays as  church leaders strive to be responsible stewards. In spite of this  financial storm, local church leaders feel they must not only watch  their church’s finances, but also ensure that it prospers under  their watch.

Because of these concerns, it is inevitable that offerings local  churches make to other Christian organizations will be affected and  seminaries are usually one of the first organizations to experience a  decrease in offerings because those who financially support theological  education rarely see an immediate return on their  “investment”. Christians who financially support seminaries  must treat it instead as a “long-term investment” because it  will require some time before “profits” materialize.

March also happens to be the time when Presbyterian churches in Taiwan  make an offering for Tainan Theological College and Seminary (TTCS). For  TTCS students and faculty, it is a time to practice casting their cares  to God and not worrying about tomorrow. However, many at TTCS cannot  help feeling more nervous this year than ever before as they observe  this Mammon-obsessed generation. Though devout Christians say they serve  God and not Mammon, many cannot deny feeling scared and worried when  faced with an impeding deficit. Getting rid of the power and control  money has on us, and overcoming our reliance on money is indeed a  challenging journey.

In the spring of 1948, TTCS students and faculty returned to the  seminary after it had been closed for eight years and declared it would  resume operations though its premises were desolate and in need of  repair. From a commercial or administrative perspective, the situation  was far from ideal because churches in England that had sponsored TTCS  could no longer support the seminary and Taiwan’s economic  structure was unstable. Without any source of financial support, was  there any hope in reviving the seminary?

However, God used these dire circumstances to show His rich and  wonderful ways. Though the situation seemed impossible to humans,  everything was possible with God and the foolishness and inadequacy of  humans merely accentuated the power of God. TTCS re-opened for classes  despite the desolate state of the buildings and went on to celebrate its  80th anniversary in 1957 with the dedication of two new buildings,  namely a chapel and a schoolhouse.

God truly blessed and provided for the seminary and local churches  became more active when they saw these miracles. Many youths began  devoting their time to missions, training classes, and other church  movements. They also began equipping themselves for church planting  ministries in rural areas. In response to these church movements, TTCS  designed new classes to train a new generation of youth.

Throughout the past few decades, TTCS has experienced periods of  national hyperinflation, rampant fraud by con artists, government  persecution, church conflict, and more. None of these challenges toppled  TTCS because God never gave up on us and never abandoned us. It was  God’s will to re-open TTCS and He continually gave it hope and  satisfied its needs with His presence.

As we count God’s blessings, which are as numerous as springtime  flowers, how can we bow before Mammon so easily once again? Why do we  worry so much about tomorrow’s material needs and even make it our  primary concern? Let us trust God for He will provide!

It is my prayer that those who work in seminaries as administrators and  teachers can receive a double portion of vision and courage from God  during these trying times so that they may lay aside their worries and  dependence on money and material resources. I pray that once these  shackles are loosened, they may run the race ahead of them with courage  and guided and strengthened by their vision and mission.

>******************

Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local languages.

You may translate and re-use the articles if you acknowledge the source  as "Taiwan Church News" and list the names of the reporter and writer.
Visit our web site: http://www.pctpress.org (Chinese)

>http://enews.pctpress.org/ (English)

Please direct all comments and questions to: enews@pctpress.org

If links are not working or you prefer e-news as plain text attachments,  please let us know. Thank you!

>******************