Schmidt introduced the spring chapel theme, "Strengthen Your Stakes," taken from Isaiah 54:2: "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide; do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes."
"The theme of strengthening stakes forces us to ask some critical questions," Schmidt said--"How do we emphasize substance, not appearance; character, not technique; relationship with God, not role?"
The pressure for church leaders today is to become "a mile wide and an inch deep," he said, challenging MBBS to retain depth in its program of training. "I have worked hard to follow counsel I received early in my ministry: 'Be concerned with the depth of our ministry and let God take care of the breadth.'"
Mark Noll points out in The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, that in 1888, becoming a pastor required three years of training while a doctor required one year, Schmidt said.
"It seems to me we've reversed that," he said. "What are the consequences?"
Schmidt had recently attended a one-day seminar on time management, where the importance of personal renewal was emphasized. He related the analogy of Stephen Covey, who asks, "What happens to a lumberjack's productivity if he never stops to sharpen the saw?"
"The challenge of seminary, and church and leadership is how can we balance church-based education, character formation and loving God with all our heart, soul and mind," Schmidt said.
Schmidt also read I Timothy 4:7, "Training yourself to be godly," and I Corinthians 9:25-26, on running for the prize.
Four metaphors summarized his challenge:
MBBS also gave a tribute to Al Dueck for the publication last fall of his book, From Jerusalem to Athens, and to Linda Bowman, executive administrator, for completing her degree in business administration and accounting at California State University-Fresno.
Kent Gaston