Five words from a new teacher

As I am formally installed as a theological college lecturer I make the following observations that express how I approach this post.

1. Regret.
Left to my will, I would have remained a pastor in Singapore to the end of my days. This was the calling that I learned to love and in a setting that gave me great joy. Thus I come to the teacher’s post with a measure of regret at that which was, but which is now no more. I do not come because I chose this post, but because God placed me here.

2. Thanks.
There is a lifetime of experiences, opportunities and especially people that lie behind this appointment. Each has contributed a part of the whole, like the threads of a tapestry. The greatest debt is due to the people who have provoked, stretched, tested and disagreed with me: friends, colleagues, fellow Christians. But most of all it is family that have given me space and support in the twists and turns of life. Chief among these is my wife Glenda who is remarkably patient and generous towards me.

3. Integration.
I will teach at two ends of the spectrum within PTC: the department of Christian thought and the department of ministry and practice. This suits my nature well. It also sits well with a distinctly Biblical and reformed world view. To paraphrase Kant: theology without action is empty and action without theology is blind. In that sense I seek to teach within the PTC vision to foster integration between the different classes within the college and between the classroom and the ministry actions of students and graduates.

4. Responsibility.
It is a great privilege to be a teacher in a theological college. But also a great responsibility to the students, to the college and to the Church that owns it. Before and beyond that is a sense of responsibility to the Lord of the church, his gospel and his mission. I thus pledge myself to strive for faithfulness to him in all my teaching and actions in this post.

5. Commitment.
I said above (point 1) that I come to the post against my will and with a measure of regret. However, I acknowledge the clear and evident will of God that has marked me for this post and brought me here. And so I join my Lord and pray: ‘your will not mine be done’. Because I recognise that it is God’s will that brings me to this post I give myself to it in a very positive way and pledge my energy, hard work, enthusiasm and indeed love for this post.

(Response delivered at my setting apart as the lecturer in ministry and practice at Presbyterian Theological Centre Burwood on 9 February 2011.)