The End is Just a Means to an End

So, this is it? I finished my last exam of my last class of my last semester of my last year of seminary. It is finished. To be honest, it was kind of anticlimactic. You’d like to hear sirens, bells, or whistles go off…but no such luck. I turned in my final and shook the Registrar’s hand. He whispered, “Congratulations.” I whispered back, “Thank you.” There you go. I’m done. I milled about the school for a little while, not really wanting to acknowledge that it was over.

I’m really going to miss that place. RTS has been really good to me. I’ve come to love the professors, administrators, and staff. I love the library. I love the bookstore. I love hanging out with all the other students. And I’ve done well there. I’ve received grades that far exceed my acquisition of knowledge (maybe I shouldn’t admit this until after graduation). I’ve been given great leadership opportunities. I’ve made connections with some of the brightest minds in the Church. But now it’s over.

I was walking toward the door to leave…and I couldn’t do it. I made a detour into the bookstore. I didn’t need to go into the bookstore, but I had to delay my walking out the door and finalizing the end of my student days at RTS.

Going into seminary I knew that it is a means and not an end. Seminary is path to be trod and not a destination. But I got comfortable there. Life was pretty good there. Why would I want to leave?

I’m struggling with the reality that the dominant metaphor of life is a pilgrimage. We are all pilgrims on a journey. In John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, the protagonist, Christian, is relieved of his burden of sin early in the book. The vast majority of the book is not about Christian’s need for forgiveness of sin. It is about Christian’s journey through this world to the world which is to come. While it would be easier for him to stop and live in one of the many places along the way, those are not his final destination. Those stops will never satisfy.

The vast majority of our lives is not about the removal of our sin. Don’t misunderstand, that is crucial and without it none of the other stuff happens. But the vast majority of our lives is a pilgrimage to the Holy City. We live in what is called the “Already and Not Yet.” We are already citizens of that city. We are already in Christ. We are already fully justified in Christ and adopted by the Father. But we are not yet in that city. We do not yet see things are they are. We look through a mirror darkly. We are not yet free of this body of sin. We are not yet glorified with new bodies. We do not yet have every tear wiped away by Jesus himself. We are already and not yet.

Kim and I came to seminary because we believe that the LORD has gifted and called me to shepherd his flock by pastoring in the local church. To stop at seminary because it is comfortable, because it is nice, because we’re happy is to miss the whole point. Similarly, to stop in my Christian life once I’ve experienced the forgiveness of sin is to miss the whole point. Yes, Jesus came to die for your sins…but there is so much more! There is a pilgrimage to be made. There is a greater goal than your personal happiness and well-being. There is the greatness of our God and His kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven! This is not the end.