Pertanyaan: 366. Berapa lama kita sudah memiliki pelayanan yang terlatih?
Alkitab memberitahu kita bahwa bahkan pada zaman Samuel ada sekolah para nabi, di mana orang-orang dilatih untuk fungsi tinggi pengajaran moral dan spiritual. Para imam dan orang-orang Lewi dilatih dalam pengetahuan tentang hukum keagamaan dan upacara-upacara. Dalam sejarah Yahudi kemudian, ada dua belas institusi besar untuk mendidik imam, guru, dan orang-orang tua. Yesus sendiri menghabiskan sebagian besar pelayanannya dalam mengajar dan melatih murid-murid-Nya. Kita membaca dalam Kisah Para Rasul bahwa para rasul meniru contohnya dengan secara pribadi mengajar murid-murid yang lebih muda. Yohanes menghabiskan tahun-tahun terakhirnya mengajar di Efesus, mempersiapkan pemuda-pemuda untuk pelayanan, dan Markus melakukan hal yang sama di Aleksandria. Sekolah-sekolah pelatihan Kristen awal didirikan di Kaisarea, Antiokhia, Laodikia, Nikomedia, Athena, Edessa, Seleukia, Kartago, dan di Mesopotamia, dan ada banyak institusi kecil lainnya dari kelas yang sama. Dengan demikian, semua bukti menunjukkan bahwa bahkan sejak zaman purba, mereka yang ditunjuk untuk menyampaikan pesan Allah kepada hati manusia telah dipisahkan, dikuduskan, dan dipersiapkan dengan baik. Hal ini berlaku hingga saat ini. Pelayanan yang terlatih dan terdidik sangat penting bagi kemajuan agama, sama seperti pelatihan dan persiapan diperlukan dalam profesi lainnya. Para rasul, meskipun mereka tidak memiliki apa-apa lagi, mengikuti kursus pelatihan pribadi selama beberapa tahun dengan Guru Agung mereka sebelum mereka dikirim dalam misi penuh mereka. Memang benar bahwa banyak orang awam yang telah bertobat, dan juga wanita, telah melakukan dan sedang melakukan pekerjaan mulia dalam menyelamatkan jiwa, tetapi mereka adalah pengecualian dan fakta bahwa pekerjaan mereka diakui dan diberkati oleh Allah bukanlah argumen yang valid melawan pelayanan yang terlatih, melainkan sebaliknya. Dengan pelatihan yang tepat, mereka mungkin telah mencapai lebih banyak lagi.
Question: 366. How Long Have We Had a Trained Ministry?
The Bible informs us that even in the days of Samuel there were "schools of the prophets," in which men were trained for the high function of moral and spiritual teaching. The priests and Levites were trained in the knowledge of the ecclesiastical law and the ceremonies, In later Jewish history, twelve great institutions for educating priests, teachers and elders existed. Jesus himself passed a considerable portion of his ministry in instructing and training his disciples. We read in Acts that the apostles imitated his example in personally instructing the younger disciples. John spent his later years teaching at Ephesus, qualifying youths for the ministry, and Mark did likewise at Alexandria. Early Christian training schools were established in Cesarea, Antioch, Laodicea, Nicomedia, Athens, Edessa, Seleucia, Carthage and in Mesopotamia and there were many minor institutions of the same class. Thus all the evidence goes to show that even from the earliest days, those who were designed to convey God's message to the hearts of men were set apart, consecrated, and fitly prepared. It is so today. A trained and educated ministry is essential to the advancement of religion just as training and preparation are needed in other vocations. The apostles, even if they had nothing more, had a course of several years' personal training with the great Master as their teacher before they were sent out on their full mission. It is true that many converted laymen, and women, too, have done and are doing noble work in soul saving, but they are exceptional and the fact that their labors are owned and blessed of God is not a valid argument against a trained ministry, but rather the reverse. With due training they might have accomplished even more.
