My father’s job was so hard to pronounce as a grade schooler that I usually told my friends he was a “scientist who worked on drugs—the good kind you take as medicine.” In actuality, he was a toxicologist at Abbott Laboratories, testing and approving pharmaceuticals. With a lab full of technicians, my dad carefully examined whether a potential cure for a disease was safe for humans to take. One of his lab’s largest contributions to human health—and the one he was most proud of—was a treatment for premature babies’ underdeveloped lungs. His team’s rigorous experimentation and careful evaluation were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and became a lifesaving remedy for countless babies.
The difference between a life-saving medicine and a toxic chemical can sometimes be very small—often depending on the dose. Therefore, toxicologists must devote years to testing treatments to determine if, when, and how a drug should be taken. Otherwise, a remedy can become toxic—even deadly.
The apostle Paul shows that raising up spiritual leaders requires no less testing and approval than bringing a safe medicine to market—but with much higher stakes. We see a glimpse of Paul’s careful process in Philippians 2:20–22:
“For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.”
The Greek word for “proven worth” signifies “the experience of going through a test with special reference to the result.”[1] Timothy’s close, mentored gospel work with Paul forged him into a trusted pastor and proved his fitness for ministry. Therefore, Paul could send him to Philippi with the church’s full trust.
As Bethlehem Theological Seminary’s Director of Pastoral Apprenticeship, I am deeply committed to following in my father’s footsteps in testing and approving—but instead of medicine, we do so with men called to shepherd Christ’s church. Accordingly, we aim to provide meaningful, hands-on, supervised ministry and deeper mentoring relationships for each of our seminarians. The Bible gives no other pattern for forming pastors than older, godly men who provide fatherly mentorship in the deeply personal context of shared life and ministry. Only when our apprentices have been proven in this way can we, in good conscience, send them out to pastor Christ’s precious, blood-bought bride.
We were delighted this week to host many of the pastors who walk alongside our seminarians and to hear their eagerness to continue leaning in with us before sending them out. One of our fourth-year apprentices shared his desire to remain with the local church he was assigned to because of the loving, fatherly care they provided throughout his studies. I shared with our partnering pastors that the reason I left the beloved church I had pastored for 12 years to take this position was the impact my mentor, Chuck Steddom, had on me when I was an M.Div. student here. God’s work in me through him was immeasurable. I long for this to be the experience of every seminarian. By God’s grace, I am seeing it happen time and again in the men who spend four years with us.
Toph Majors, Th.M. ’23
Director of Pastoral Apprenticeship & Adjunct Instructor of Biblical Studies
[1] BDAG, 256a; H. Haarbeck, “δοκιμή,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3:809–10; cited in Joseph H. Hellerman, Philippians, ed. Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament(Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2015), 150.