Loyalty to God encouraged at spring commencement

In his commission to the graduating class of 2016 at Southwestern Seminary’s Fort Worth campus, May 6, Southwestern President Paige Patterson challenged the 208 college, master’s and doctoral graduates to live a life of loyal commitment to God in an age where people “have lost their moral compass.” Preaching from 2 Chronicles 16:7-10, Patterson charged those stepping out into the world not to be swayed by cultural and political circumstances but to fix their eyes on the Creator God and live a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ.

“The lugubrious prognostications of the prophets of doom that will fill your life will tell you that God is no longer able to triumph in the things of this life,” Patterson said. “But I want you to remember King Asa. I want you to remember that he succumbed to those sirens of doom. … [But] there is no circumstance in your life and ministry that you will not conquer if you trust God.”

Warning against the choice of King Asa, who turned his eyes away from God and relied instead on the Syrian army, Patterson told the graduates not to seek answers from the powers of the world. “Don’t rely on the armies of Syria,” he said. “There is no nation that will not disappoint you, and there is no national politics that will not make you weep from time to time. But our commitment cannot be to those. Our commitment must ultimately be to the Lord God.”

Giving the example of the prophet Hanani, who delivered God’s prophecy against King Asa and was imprisoned as a result, Patterson proceeded to explain that those who choose the life of ministry may be ignored and shunned by the world. Nevertheless, Patterson reminded the audience that the source of their strength comes not from worldly approval but from God alone.

“It will not mean anything at all for the nations to dislike you and speak evil of you,” Patterson said. “It will not be a thing in this world for the Lord God, because He is the Creator of heaven and earth.”

In conclusion, Patterson noted that difficulty, sorrow, misrepresentation, abuse and perhaps even imprisonment and death await those who enter the ministry. Quoting 2 Chronicles 16:9, he said, “But I can promise you that in the midst of all that, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth looking for that man, that woman, who is loyal to God. I want to challenge you today: be that man; be that woman.”

Among the recipients of this charge were Rúgero Salcedo Cárcamo and Zaida Z. Rodado Salcedo, parents of Ph.D. student Efrain Salcedo, who graduated with their Master of Theological Studies degrees. Fifty years ago, Rúgero and Zaida had studied at the Baptist seminary in Colombia under the tutorship of missionaries who graduated from Southwestern. Now, after retiring from 45 years of their own ministry, the Salcedos are proud graduates of the institution that trained their teachers.

“What Southwestern passed down to those missionaries, they passed to my parents, and I think I am also a product of that. And it has now come full circle, and my parents are receiving degrees here at Southwestern themselves,” says Efrain Salcedo. “It is a wonderful experience all around. They enjoyed the professors, classes and students.”

A day after the Fort Worth graduation, the J. Dalton Havard School for Theological Studies in Houston held its commencement ceremony. The Houston campus saw one student graduate with a bachelor’s in biblical studies and eight students graduate with master’s degrees.