2 TIMOTHY
2:15 Study to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth.
If you have
decided to read this, you are either a product of a bible school or you are
contemplating on attending one. Or, you may have heard one or more people speak
against Bible Schools that you are regretting you attended one. Or, you are no
longer interested in attending one as you planned to. If you find yourself in
any of the above categories, I truly understand you. Before going to the Bible
School, I also had to fight the many “School of Thoughts” about Bible School. After
Bible School, the only thing I regret most is not going to Bible School
earlier. I will never regret any second of the 18months (approximately five
hundred and forty-eight days) spent at the Anagkazo Bible and Ministry Training
Centre.
For those
who are a product of the numerous Bible Schools around the world and maybe
regretting taking such a step, you should never have been there in the first
place. Your situation can be compared to a young man or woman who attended
medical school only because his/her father’s heart desire was for him/her to be
a medical doctor and not an actor as he/she desires. You are only regretting
you attended Bible School because you did not go there with divine inspiration
or agenda; you either went because your Pastor asked you to or it was the only
option you had to get a reputable certificate after failing High School or
some other reason you only are aware of.
Who told you
that Bible School is useless? Who told you that Bible Schools cannot make you
anybody – both physically and spiritually? Who told you that you have wasted
your years in Bible school? Who told you? If it was a preacher, make sure
he/she doesn’t have a Bible School before you take his/her word for it. All the
preachers who one way or the other talk “against” attending Bible School or
Bible Schools, in general, have Bible Schools. A few are products of Bible
Schools, and the most who claim not to be “products of Bible Schools” are one
way or the other spiritually connected to a product of a Bible School as
Spiritual Sons/Daughters or mentees. In short, one way or the other, every
preacher is directly or indirectly a product of a Bible School.
If you
doubt, I dare you to take one preacher you have heard speak “against” Bible
School and try to find his/her spiritual father or mentor. You will surely
trace him/her to a Bible School product he/she is tirelessly trying to imitate.
In Ghana, almost every preacher wants to have the Spiritual Father of the land,
Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, as a Spiritual Father/Mentor. Archbishop
Nick is a product of Archbishop Benson Idahosa’s Bible School. Archbishop
Benson Idahosa is also a product of Gordon Lindsay’s Bible School. I am
mentioning these two big names because every man or woman of God in Ghana,
Nigeria and around the globe one way or the other looks up to them. What we
keep forgetting is this: Whoever they were or are - spiritually - can
minutely/largely be traced to one or more secrets learned from Bible School.
THE MAJOR QUESTION: If all
preachers are a product of a Bible School - directly or indirectly, why then do they speak “against”
Bible School?
Before I touch on that, let me ask you some questions. Like me,
do you still think that you could have been taught certain things in high
school or tertiary school yet your tutors failed to because they were either
using an obsolete curriculum or were just not fit to? Or, do you mostly think
that the curriculum used in High Schools and Tertiary institutions are so
outdated that they are in no way helping build students for the market they are
being trained for? Or, do you mostly think of building a school better equipped
than the last schools you attended? If you answered “yes” to any of the above,
then you are thinking like the many preachers speaking “against” Bible School.
There is no
man or woman of God against Bible School. This is true because those we claim
to speak “against” Bible School either have Bible Schools in their ministries
or are thinking of starting one any time soon. Like you, many preachers think,
feel and most often know that most of the Bible Schools are producing machines
instead of Spirit-filled/led preachers. Like you, many preachers are not
satisfied with the way some products from Bible Schools are turning out. Like
you, many preachers feel the need for a reformation and as such feel the need
to attack the problem. Preachers speak “against” Bible School not because
they are against them; they most often preach against some of the procedures
being used to run the system, not the general idea.
“To be
against the idea of “Bible School” is to be against the teaching and learning
of the Bible, the very WORD of God, the Word of Truth, the Son of God, Jesus
Christ. FYI, our churches are a type of Bible School.”
NB: Please,
this is in no way a “shade” or “jab” against our spiritual heads or fathers,
this is to encourage the young man/woman who has a strong desire to attend Bible School but is
contemplating because of the somewhat “bad” image
painted by most preachers during preaching. Feel free to follow the series as I
share my journey in Bible School.
