There is an epidemic sweeping across Western Kentucky University's campus among all Christians. It's called "everyone's-becoming-a-religious-studies-major." Several of my friends have caught it, and I, myself, have even experienced the symptoms. It would be so awesome to just take classes and learn about all the different religions and then graduate and get a job in a huge church that can pay their workers or get paid to work church camps over the summer. Seriously, it would be the life. But I had to tell myself (and now I am telling you) this:
1.Just because you are a Christian does not mean you have to get a degree in Religious Studies.Actually, majoring in religious studies does not make you a better Christian. I know that not everyone feels that way, but by the way some people act, you would think so.
1.Just because you are a Christian does not mean you have to get a degree in Religious Studies.Actually, majoring in religious studies does not make you a better Christian. I know that not everyone feels that way, but by the way some people act, you would think so.
2. Where are you going to get a job? Especially when everyone else has the same degree as you? I know that not everyone who gets a religious studies degree may plan to use it to get a job, but still. Also, how can you justify getting paid to teach Sunday School, go on mission trips, or work church camps? I know that jobs aren't "just about the money" but Jesus put a lot of emphasis about being good stewards.
*Side note: The church needs people with real jobs to support it. There are people who have given their whole life to go on the mission field. We need Christian doctors and lawyers and other professionals to make the big bucks so that they can give them away. There's no shame in that.
3. If all the Christians are working "Christian" jobs then who's going to reach out to schools, doctors offices, and businesses? I believe that God has placed us all in strategic places to win a lost world. If you are good with numbers then by all means be an accountant or a math teacher because someone might not know Jesus at the CPA office or at school. If you like to write, then write a book: Share the Gospel. I'm not upset about this because I'm going to be a teacher and I want everyone to be a teacher or anything like that. If you don't want to teach then please don't teach. I understand that a lot of people, whom I know, in the religious studies department just want to "help people." You can do that in a real job. There are millions of people around the world who just want to see a smiling face when they go to get their teeth cleaned or buy their groceries. You can show God's love anywhere, doing anything and you don't need a degree to prove that you are capable of doing so.
Do you know that everyone doing it wants to get a job "in" religion? One of my friends is doing her degree in Religious Studies, and she is a firm atheist. She's just studying it because it interests her. I'm not sure if it's the same in the US as it is here (UK), but for many jobs, it doesn't really matter what your degree is. It's having a degree that's important. So although yes, a lot of people will study things related to areas they want to work in (although a surprising amount actually end up doing something completely different), some people just study it because they're interested in it.
ReplyDeleteMight not be the case with the people around you, but worth mentioning! I completely agree with you though, that Christians need to be doing all sorts of things, not all gathered working in the church.
Yeah, I probably ought to revise a little, because I think this sounds harsher than I wanted it to (I have that problem). I see your point. There are people who major in religion just because they are interested in studying it. However, I know several people who are getting religious studies degrees and wanting to use those degrees to get jobs in churches, etc. But usually, people here get degrees to get jobs. Unfortunately. It would be awesome if we could all just study whatever we want.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. We need Christians in every profession.
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