14 >> "My parents are worried that I will be wasting my major."

That's a very reasonable concern, considering in many cases they have helped pay for the education.

In all fairness, to do just about anything these days, including being a missionary or a pastor, you need a college education, so nothing has been wasted. Nor does a career jog into missionary work preclude the possibility you will return to your field of study. The current average is about three job changes and several different career paths for individuals in their first ten years in the workforce. Whatever you do, your undergraduate degree will be essential.

The academic part of your education, while very important, is also only one part of your higher education. While in college you also learned how to deal with pressure, how to live independently, how to learn, and, most importantly, how to get along with other people. These benefits of your education will never be lost.

Notice, and this is important, that the Lord never hesitated to call people away from their majors or life work to serve Him full time. For example, Moses, who was raised in Pharaoh's court, listened to God's call and left a prestigious leadership position. Peter "majored" in oceanography, Matthew in tax accounting and Luke in medicine. Jesus never apologized for calling them away from their "majors."

Maybe your parents are really saying, "We don't want you to waste the buying power of your education." That's understandable. But, the way that you waste something is by spending it on something of lesser value. Buying land in Florida with your life's savings, only to find that it is six feet under a lake, is wasting your money.

The most valuable commodity in all the universe is the human soul. "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36). Certainly it is not wasteful to invest something that you have for something of higher value. In a ministry you're investing your education in the changing of people's lives for all eternity. You're purchasing the commodity of highest value. That's no waste. That's a phenomenal investment.

 

<< Back to questions | Next question >>