By: Nika Spaulding
Imagine the quintessential newly enrolled seminary student on her way to orientation–organized, neatly dressed, Bible-informed, and steely-eyed toward her future. I met those students during my first week at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) and probably borrowed their pencils. They pursued theological education; I stumbled into it. While some students come to DTS with Bible college degrees conversant in justification and sanctification, I knew the stages of mitosis and meiosis. My Bachelor’s in Zoology did inform my understanding of animal breeding in Genesis 30 but did little for my systematic theology courses. I also had to google “What is systematic theology?” I came to seminary because I had questions and figured I would drop out when I found the answers.
During orientation, professors proffered their wisdom on how to thrive in school. I vaguely remember the advice about dating, speed reading, and flossing…or was it flourishing? Either way, I vividly remember hearing about Dr. Wallace who took his interns worldwide to photograph New Testament manuscripts. I thought to myself, what an incredible opportunity for some motivated nerds.
After orientation, I chatted with some other first-year students and discovered that this Dr. Wallace fella garnered rock star status at the seminary. I tucked this information away and thought nothing of it until the next semester–Fall of 2010. Steely-eyed seminarians enrolled in classes based on the professors’ sections. I chose classes based on convenience–avoiding early mornings and Friday afternoons. Perhaps more than any textbook or lecture, enrolling in courses that semester taught me a lesson in providence.
Dr. Wallace taught Greek on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:30 pm. I failed to notice the “H” on the enrollment form which stood for “Honors Greek,” and stumbled into a course that would change the trajectory of my entire life. During the summer before classes, a few friends who had decided to change sections called to encourage me to follow suit. War stories from past students started making their rounds, and they wanted to spare me the tribulation. I took that personally. While I might not have my binders organized or clothes ironed, the name Nika means victory in Greek. And, I intended to learn a little more Greek from the rock star.
On the first day, Dr. Wallace asked the class to raise our hands if we had taken Greek before. Every single student but one had an arm raised to the heavens. I looked around the room with both of my arms folded on the desk and then noticed Dr. Wallace looking directly at me. I will never forget this moment. He looked me square in the eyes and said, “You are behind. You can do this, but this class will require discipline, lots of studying, and hard work. I believe you can do it, but you need to get after it right now.” I wanted to run through a wall. I floated out of class that first day and committed right then and there to be a straight-A student in Greek. Maybe my name gave him a clue on how to get the best out of me, but Dr. Wallace spent the next two years encouraging me like a coach would an athlete. I worked harder in his classes than any of my entire life.
After two years of acing Honors Greek, Dr. Wallace invited me to apply for his internship. My jaw hit the floor–the jock had morphed into the motivated nerd. After acceptance into the program, I thought this internship would help me know and love the Bible even more. It did something better.
During the first week at the CSNTM offices, Dr. Wallace had lunch with all of the interns. On the first floor of the Hope Center over a warm Mediterranean sandwich, my paradigm for viewing the Bible changed forever. His words feel as fresh today as they did then:
I love the Bible. I have spent my entire life dedicated to knowing, teaching, and preserving the Scriptures. But, and I want you all to never forget this, the center of my faith is not a book, it is a person. Jesus must be the center of your faith.
I was stunned. The man who wrote the literal Grammar book on New Testament Greek and spent his summers cramped in dark closets pouring over ancient manuscripts wanted to discuss Jesus first. Before manuscripts, anarthrous nouns, and palimpsests, Jesus came first. Dr. Wallace went on to tell us about the importance of the Scriptures and how they testify about God. But, this shift in priority sent seismic waves through my life’s purpose.
I came to seminary because I had questions about the Bible and theology, and I left with even more questions than answers. I also left having encountered a God far more loving, far more just, and far more beautiful than I could have ever fathomed. At first, I thought I wanted to spend the rest of my life studying the Scriptures, but Dr. Wallace’s mentorship taught me that I actually wanted to spend the rest of my life helping others encounter the God of the Scriptures. The center of our faith is a Trinitarian God of love, grace, and goodness. The Bible does a beautiful job testifying about that God.
After my internship year, I went on three expeditions with the Center. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from DTS, and am a thesis away from my DMin at Northern Seminary. I stumbled into seminary, but am now walking purposefully toward knowing as much as I can about the Word of God so that I can introduce others to the God of the Word.
I recently launched the first of what will be a series of booklets called “Theology in 10.” They are 10 pages long—the average reading attention span of most American adults. I condense 1000s of pages of theology into 10 accessible, clear, and compelling pages on each subject. Unsurprisingly, my first one focuses on the center of our faith: the Trinity. My particular gift in life is to make the complex simple. The Center is full of geniuses–past and present. I like to think of myself as a theological Robin Hood. I rob their plentiful brains and make their riches available to the masses. For $7 at my website www.nikaspaulding.com you can enjoy the bounty, too.
If you had told the disheveled first-year seminarian that a decade later she would spend her days studying the Bible and theology to make it accessible to others, she might have laughed. Yet after years of studying under Dr. Wallace and working with CSNTM, I am compelled to share what God gave me to others. Launching this project is just one of the small ways CSNTM has impacted the world through its interns and patrons. “Thank you” feels inadequate, but I thank God in my every remembrance of the Center. And, I thank God that Dr. Wallace’s Greek class just happened to be at 1:30 in the afternoon.