“Brethren, if the Lord gives you no zeal for souls, keep to the lapstone or the trowel, but avoid the pulpit.” He further insists, “We must feel that woe is unto us if we preach not the gospel; the word of God must be unto us as a fire in our bones, other-wise, if we undertake the ministry, we shall be unhappy in it, shall be unable to bear the self-denials incident to it, and shall be of little service to those among whom we minister.”

There is no work quite like Ph.D. work. Those who’ve completed the degree know exactly what I’m talking about. You must set aside five or so years of your life to research and write on a topic, ending your labors with a dissertation that makes a unique contribution to your field of study.

The Ph.D. is known as a “terminal degree” because it is the highest degree one can earn, but all who’ve completed one knows it can feel terminal in other ways.

Shockingly, the three letters most associated with the Doctor of Philosophy degree is not Ph.D. They are A.B.D.—all but dissertation. Half of those who undertake the Ph.D. degree never complete it, with most stalling out during the dissertation phase, thus becoming known as A.B.D.[1]

A good friend who’d completed his Ph.D. a few years before I completed mine gave me advice that was, in hindsight, absolutely essential. He told me, “Whatever you do, pick a topic to write your dissertation on that absolutely captivates you; that will animate you day in and day out until you complete your dissertation.”

That was excellent advice. It took me six years to complete my Ph.D. I was serving full-time at Southern Seminary, had served local churches as pastor and interim pastor, and was a husband and the father of five young children. Literally, for years on end, most nights of the week, I put my wife and children to bed at 8 p.m. and worked until 3 a.m. or so completing the project.

That advice is good for those entering doctoral work, but it is even better for those contemplating ministry. Unless you have a singular, overarching passion that will pull you forward in ministry, it may be best not to pursue it. That passion must be for the gospel and the Great Commission.

Spurgeon proves prophetic on this point, saying:

“Brethren, if the Lord gives you no zeal for souls, keep to the lapstone or the trowel, but avoid the pulpit.”[2] He further insists, “We must feel that woe is unto us if we preach not the gospel; the word of God must be unto us as a fire in our bones, other-wise, if we undertake the ministry, we shall be unhappy in it, shall be unable to bear the self-denials incident to it, and shall be of little service to those among whom we minister.”[3]

An Apostolic Pattern

Passion to preach the gospel drove Paul’s entire ministry. He endured hardship, suffering, and eventual martyrdom because of his drive to reach the lost.

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