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Danny Akin reminds students to ‘be doers of the Word’
Harper McKay, SEBTS
January 23, 2017
2 MIN READ TIME

Danny Akin reminds students to ‘be doers of the Word’

Danny Akin reminds students to ‘be doers of the Word’
Harper McKay, SEBTS
January 23, 2017

Faculty and staff of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) and The College at Southeastern welcomed students to a new spring semester at the Jan. 19 convocation service. President Danny Akin delivered the convocation address, speaking from Matthew 7 about obedience to God’s Word.

SEBTS photo

“It is not enough just to hear the Word, just to study the Word,” said Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, to students at the convocation service Jan. 19. “If all you are is a collector of knowledge, you are a fool.”

“Every one of us in this room today has a source of authority that shapes our worldview,” said Akin, adding that these sources of authority come from four main categories, including reason, experience, tradition and revelation.

“Revelation is that which affirms that I think the way I think because God’s word says so,” he said. “This is the only reliable source of authority and the only place we gain knowledge and wisdom.”

Akin offered his definition of wisdom as the ability to look at life as God sees life and then to respond accordingly.

Turning to the familiar parable of the house on the sand in Matthew 7, Akin warned against amassing knowledge of God’s word without applying it to one’s life.

“It is not enough just to hear the Word, just to study the Word,” he said. “If all you are is a collector of knowledge, you are a fool.”

Fitting for the beginning of a semester, Akin told students to keep in mind they could earn all the degrees in seminary and still be far away from God.

“On the surface initially, there doesn’t seem to be any difference between the two men who built the houses,” he said. “What then is the difference? Their foundation and obedience to the word.”

In his final encouragements, Akin added, “I plead with you my brothers and sisters, as you enter into your studies, don’t just be a hearer of the word. Be a hearer and a doer, and let the Lord bless you in your work.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Harper McKay is a news and information specialist at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.)