The MFA is the new MBA?

Ben Arment has sparked an interesting discussion on his blog with his statement that “seminary teaches you to answer questions from the Bible that no one is asking” and that he wishes he’d gotten a film degree instead.I’m intrigued because, although I should probably agree wholeheartedly, I’ve been having very different (but somewhat related) thoughts lately.

My Pulpit Ministry class has rekindled my desire to “preach” via other ways than delivering a sermon (granted, it has done so by making me read expositors who argue that the only way to preach is via sermons, but anyway…).  Obviously, for me this is a desire to preach by way of the arts, hence prompting me to launch this blog.

It has also made me question what I want to do once I finish my seminary degree.  I originally started the degree program so I could more effectively (and more renumeratively) engage in pastoral care and counseling.  I’d originally intended to pursue a Psychology/Counseling degree, but after reading Cloud and Townsend’s How People Grow: What the Bible Says About Spiritual Growth I became convinced that I could more effectively counsel if I was grounded in Biblical understanding rather than psychological understanding (NOT that I have anything against psychology — those who do drive me nuts.  But I know I want to counsel in a Christian setting).  Anyway….

As my degree program has progressed, however, I have realized that it’s much more about my own spiritual growth and that God could use it in a number of ways (including, say, starting a theatre company) that have nothing to do with “full-time ministry.”  As a result, I’ve been intrigued at the thought of a lot of people obtaining seminary degrees (or otherwise obtaining a more comprehensive theological understanding and greater spiritual maturity, which a seminary degree can, in fact, facilitate) and then going into completely different disciplines for full-time work.  I suspect it would lead to some interesting results.