The Adventure

By the Rev. Dr. Dean O. Wenthe, President

Adventure. The word suggests danger. It also suggests satisfaction. When risks have been taken, when obstacles have been overcome, the adventurer is grateful for the experience.

Whether mountain climbing, racing, or participating in other sports that present danger, the participant is completely engaged. To lose focus, to miss a movement can mean defeat and, in some cases, even death.

Imagine an adventure where there is more at stake than an achievement or record. Imagine an adventure where life now and life forever hangs in the balance.

Moreover, imagine an adventure where the participant is in a position to call others from certain calamity to a free and full life of engagement and exhilaration.

The call into the Holy Ministry is such an adventure. This is true adventure, for it points to the real dangers that threaten human life and presents the One in whom true life can be lived--Jesus Christ.

I invite you to consider the Holy Ministry as the true adventure for your life. Concordia Theological Seminary prepares men for this central contest in all of creation. As St. Paul writes:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

Our world needs adventurers who will engage the real contest and, under God's grace, lead others to victory in Christ.

To study Christ's word; to be formed by the voice of Christ in the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures; to announce Christ's holy sacrifice and victory over sin and death; to baptize in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to place the very body and blood of Christ on the lips of the faithful--here is a life that is a true adventure.

Frequently under the cross, often in loneliness and pain, but nevertheless true . . . true and holy, for this calling is in and for Christ. No one is forced on this adventure. It doesn't lead to boasting and self-assertion. Rather it leads to true life. It leads to a new perspective that is bestowed only in Him.

Consider the Holy Ministry. Consider attending Christ Academy this summer. The community invites you to a true and lifelong adventure. No greater description of what is in store for you could be framed than Paul's baptismal summary:

We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:4)

The Rev. Dr. Dean O. Wenthe is President of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.