Evangelicals do not need more pastor-politicians. As the social pressures against historic Christianity increase, pastors and ministers will need a deeper doctrinal foundation, one that enables them to effectively catechize and instruct congregations embedded in a neo-pagan West.

A great many in my tribe are currently preoccupied with speculation about the next four to eight years. That is understandable. Still, we evangelicals do seem particularly susceptible to shortsightedness. We’re often good at sprints, but rather poor when it comes to marathons.

Today, American culture is rife with acrimony and some of the most bitter polemics imaginable. Both the far right and the far left now operate on a vision of political engagement shaped by secularity, by which everything is politicized and all that seems to matter is politics. We have heard the siren song of the culture wars, which tell us that the answer to cultural deterioration is to fight harder against the trends of the day through public policy advocacy, political mobilization, or economic pressure.

To be blunt, we do not need more pastor-politicians. The Church can ill afford to surrender its prophetic witness, nor should it evade declaring the whole counsel of God. Fundamental questions of theological anthropology, human flourishing, and love of neighbor compel Christians in every generation to courageously and winsomely bear witness to the truth. From the eternal realities of sin and judgment and the dignity of all human life from conception to natural death, to the care of the poor, the stewardship of God’s creation, and the rightful ordering of human sexuality—the truths of our faith will necessarily reverberate in the political realm. Still, we must remember that the Church’s role is different from the state’s. Pastors should be more concerned with forming consciences than with passing legislation.

Christian nationalism—whether from the right or the left—represents a Faustian bargain. It may offer a quick fix of power, reassurance, or apparent victory, but the devil always comes to collect. In the end, what is surrendered is infinitely more costly. We must not turn our churches into social clubs that simply echo secular culture, to be sure, but neither should we ever allow access to political power or some short-lived sense of electoral victory to cloud our ethical and moral witness.

Seminaries can and must help the Church resist both of these temptations. If seminaries equip their students with the resources necessary to interpret the times—and help them learn to identify the underlying theological dynamics at play in these cultural skirmishes—when they are pastors, those graduates will be able to teach their congregants to do the same.

More Theology, Not Less

As Glenn Miller recounts in his history of American theological education—Piety and Profession: American Protestant Theological Education, 1870-1970—thanks to professionalization of American clergy in the twentieth century, clergy are now expected to demonstrate appropriate credentials to legitimize their qualifications. It is no coincidence that the Master of Divinity was fashioned in the context of post–World War II America. This degree provided institutions and students with a rather defined course of study that would be commensurate with other professional degree programs in higher education (whether in business or law) complete with the accreditation of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), which was founded in 1918. This curriculum brought with it, in turn, the need for faculty in the necessary fields, along with their own advanced credentials, earned through some form of specialized doctoral program.

All of this worked rather well throughout much of the twentieth century. Seminary students could expect to graduate with some basic proficiency in the biblical languages, Christian theology, Church history, pastoral care, and homiletics. While the categories have evolved, the M.Div. has remained relatively unchanged. Some institutions have shortened the overall length of the program or rearranged some of the curricular elements. But the M.Div. is still the M.Div.

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