How will I feed more sheep? The short answer is that I am a student at Princeton Theological Seminary, and I am responding to God’s call to feed more sheep by training for ministry and eventually serving as a leader in a church, probably a youth leader.
But the truth is, if I look back at the past few years of my life, I shouldn’t be in any position to serve at a church. Just seven years ago, as a Rutgers College student, I didn’t even believe in God at all. I was an atheist. Like a hardcore, Christian people are delusional, atheist.
So if you told me seven years ago, “You’re going to seminary!” I would have probably laughed in your face. But it’s funny how things work out. At my time in college, I became really close friends with a devout Christian. He was open about his faith, and we would talk about it – not drilling it down my throat, but also not trying to hide it.
Maybe even more importantly, he was a good friend when I needed it; during my third year, I struggled through relationship problems and other issues, and he, and other Christian friends I had, listened to me and supported me. Though I had done everything I could to reject serving God, these children of God served me.
Eventually, I started attending my friend’s church, Outreach Red Bank, and I came to faith and grew as a Christian. And as time went on, my life continued to follow this pattern: I became able to serve only because people served me first.
- At the church, I spend three years as a leader at the high school group, and I had leadership roles during worship and in the service ministry, but only because of the church leaders who went through the Bible and theology with me, who discipled me, and took time out to help me.
- At my previous job at a newspaper, I was able to move up in the company and contribute my skills in editing and writing stories, but only because I had a great boss who believed in my work and testified to his bosses on my behalf.
- And then there’s my wife; any serving, any feeding of sheep I can do, is only because she has supported me: in encouraging me, in teaching me, and in so many other ways I can’t even count.
When I think about all the people that have served me first in my life, I am convinced that they are true witnesses to the God who served us first, who, while we were enemies of God, humbled himself as a servant and died in our place, taking on our sin and brokenness on Himself so that we could serve and love others.
So, to the mission question: I will feed more sheep by training at seminary and going into ministry. But I know I can only do that because God fed me first.
April 3, 2026
