Home » 10 Things You Can Do with a Bible and Theology Degree

10 Things You Can Do with a Bible and Theology Degree

Published May 20, 2019 in CSU Christian College Blog 

  1. Youth Pastor
  2.  Assistant Pastor
  3.  Children’s Ministry Director
  4.  Church Director
  5.  Sunday School/Small Group Teacher
  6.  Missionary
  7.  Writer/Editor
  8.  Hospital Chaplain
  9.  Military Chaplain
  10.  Prison Chaplain

A bachelor’s degree in Bible and theology is powerful. It prepares you to make an impact on the world in ways that closely align with the mission God has given us all through His word.

As Christians, there is nothing more exciting than that!

Often referred to as simply a “Bible degree” or “theology degree,” the purpose of these courses is to take a deep dive into the scriptures.

THERE’S MORE TO DISCOVER IN THE WORD

Even if you have read the Bible from cover to cover, there is more to discover. The original Hebrew and Greek and the cultural contexts in which those words were written reveal greater depth than our modern English translations.

And with your deeper understanding, you’ll be better equipped to communicate from a biblical foundation. That’s where the application to vocation – your future career – comes in.

This list is just a taste of what you’ll be able to do with a degree in Bible and theology.

1. Youth Pastor

You have a heart for young people. Maybe your teenage years were rough, or you saw your friends go through some hard times. Maybe you simply feel called to love on this age group. Or, maybe someone cared about you enough to make a difference in your life when you were in youth group.

A deeper understanding of the Bible gives you new language to describe God’s will for our lives. Like the Apostle Paul writing to young Timothy, you will be better equipped to give teens the courage to follow Jesus and learn to lead in His name.

2. Children’s Ministry Director

Maybe your gifts are more geared toward younger children. You love to laugh, play and sing with the little ones. And you understand that this is how children learn.

Reaching people for Christ when they are young is an important calling. In fact, a recent study states “nearly half of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their savior do so before reaching the age of 13 (43%), and that two out of three born again Christians (64%) made that commitment to Christ before their 18th birthday.” There’s a great need for people who are passionate about children’s ministry to be biblically equipped to serve them effectively.

You will learn more about how God sees children than you ever realized when you read the Bible on your own. The Word reveals His heart, from His wrath at cultures who sacrificed children to idols to Jesus’s insistence his disciples let the children come to him. Understanding His heart will transform yours, and in turn, influence young people for Christ.

3. Associate Pastor

A theology degree teaches you how to think critically about who the Bible says God is compared with how the world talks about God.

Start on your path to becoming a pastor with a foundational theology degree at the bachelor level. You can gain experience in church leadership, and you’ll be prepared for further seminary study that will lead to an effective senior pastoral ministry.

A theology degree teaches you how to think critically about who the Bible says God is compared with how the world talks about God. It gives you the foundation you need to clearly communicate biblical truth, which gives us as Christians a reason to hope.

4. Church Director

If your gifts are more inclined toward organizing people and processes, or managing information, you could serve a church more behind the scenes as a director. Finances, programs, staff all need to be organized so people know what they’re doing and the church can be excellent stewards of their resources.

Where does understanding the Bible come in? It’s your deep understanding of biblical ethics and Christian empathy that will set you apart. Churches and Christian organizations don’t just need smart people. They need people whose values align with their mission.

5. Missionary

Speaking of mission, might yours involve leading people to Christ outside of a traditional church setting? You may be called to go to a far-off place to invest yourself in a community there, or you may become a missionary in your home town.

With your Bible degree, the example set by prophets like Elijah and Isaiah, missionaries like Paul and Silas, and church leaders since Christianity began will be deeply ingrained in you. You will have an intimate knowledge of the trials they faced. You will be encouraged by all they accomplished.

6. Sunday School/Small Group Teacher

If teaching is your passion, you’ll also be better equipped to teach in a Sunday school or other church setting. But applying your Bible and theology degree in a teaching role doesn’t have to stop at the doors of the church.

Your calling may not be to work for a church or ministry organization at all. While you will need a teaching degree to work in a public school, you may want to pursue a teaching role at a private school. Or, you may intend to homeschool your own children at some point.

The best school teachers, both public and private, have a servant’s heart. This profession takes more than knowledge. It takes passion and love. A Bible and theology degree gives you the foundation you need to communicate that passion in ways that will speak volumes to students as well as a school administrator.

7. Writer/Editor

Do you love to write about your faith? To ask challenging questions and propose answers? There is far more for you to do than write papers as part of your coursework. The world needs your gift for writing.

A Bible degree will set you apart from graduates with only an English degree. You will have specialized knowledge in your subject area that will signal to any Christian publisher – of magazines, books, websites, anything – that you’re serious about serving the Lord in your work.

8. Hospital Chaplain

Your knowledge of the scriptures might be the only thing that stands between hope and despair for someone facing death or for a family who may lose a loved one.

Do you imagine yourself sitting with people in the midst of their fear? A hospital chaplain tends to the spirit while the medical staff tends to the body. If you or a loved one has ever had a health crisis, you know how desperate everyone in the situation can feel.

Your knowledge of the scriptures might be the only thing that stands between hope and despair for someone facing death or for a family who may lose a loved one. A heart and mind that knows God’s Word intimately will give you the strength you need to listen and to speak words of encouragement.

9. Military Chaplain

If you have ever served in the military, or if you know someone who has, you understand better than anyone the unique fears and stressors of active duty. Perhaps it will be your duty to minister to those who have seen first-hand just how fallen our world is.

It takes a deep and abiding hope in the power of Jesus Christ to believe service men and women can have peace in the midst of war. This is vital work in the face of a distressing rise in deaths of active-duty personnel by suicide. Your understanding of God’s word will be the rock on which you can stand.

10. Prison Chaplain

You will not likely recite Jesus’s parable about caring for the prisoner in Matthew 25; you will simply know it because you will be living it.

Do you see yourself offering hope to the most hopeless in our society? In your mind’s eye, are you listening intently to a man, woman or juvenile as he or she expresses their deepest regrets? Or their frustration about being treated unjustly? Or even their questions about what lies beyond the death penalty?

You likely won’t be thinking about your Bible and theology degree in these moments. Instead, everything you learned will flow from the heart. You will not likely recite Jesus’s parable about caring for the prisoner in Matthew 25; you will simply know it because you will be living it.

11. (Bonus) Anything, Really

Don’t think your options are limited to work in the church or in Christian ministries with a Bible and theology degree. Biblical principles are universally applicable. Learning the Bible is the best way to be equipped for life.

It doesn’t matter what you do so much as how you do it. That’s what a deep dive into the Scriptures will teach you.

OPEN DOORS WITH A BIBLE AND THEOLOGY DEGREE FROM CSU

The world needs your passion and your willingness to serve. You need to be equipped to go out and do the work God is calling you to do.

Here at Clarks Summit University, we want to equip you for whatever God has in store for you any way we can. That’s why we offer a variety of degrees on campus as well as online, including a wide selection of minors to customize your Bible and theology degree toward your specific career goals. Some programs offer credit toward a Master of Divinity degree from Baptist Bible Seminary.

Whatever door you choose, a Bible and theology degree will help you open it. Contact us today to get started.

 

 

SearchCategories
Archives Related Posts
Left Menu Icon