How to stay Christian in college? With a new school year beginning, we thought we’d put that question to a number of college grads. We got great responses. Are we right in suggesting that most students turn to the same helps any other adult Christian relies on? Read on, and see. Be sure to read all these contributions, continuing to the end for an earful from one public college alum!
Several things helped me to “stay Christian” in and through college: Growing up I both loved and feared (in a good way) my parents. Because of their godly advice and wisdom about my questions I had concerning life issues, I respected them and yearned to please them and the Lord even more. I stayed very close to them in college and got involved with a great group of friends that got to know my family, as well. Most of these friends really wanted to please the Lord. Accountability through email, phone calls, and Bible Studies with both friends and family was key. God was merciful; He helped me to purpose my heart towards pleasing Him, and He gave me a boyfriend, now my husband, who had the same goal.
Kellie
My dear friend forwarded me your question about staying Christian in college. I smiled as I thought about how I would answer that and figured I’d be a good sport and send in my reply. I am sure you are having a great time reading the many different responses. I would say there were many influences, but there are three things that specifically stand out:
1 – I was given an abundant dose of God’s sovereign grace!!! (I could elaborate on that for hours, but that is the bottom line).
2 – Anticipating my dad’s weekly phone call EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT. I knew he genuinely loved me and wanted to check in, but I know that the real motive was to make sure I went to church that morning =)
3 – Being a part of an amazing accountability group for three and a half years. A dear friend that I met my freshman year invited three of us to join her each week for some accountability and prayer. We met every Tuesday night at 9:00 pm – and it usually lasted at least two hours. Our structure included a list of several questions that we all answered as we went around sharing about our week. I don’t remember the exact wording of all of the questions, but it was close to this: 1 – Have you been in a compromising situation with the opposite sex? 2 – Personal Bible study and prayer? 3 – What is God teaching you? 4 – How is God using you? 5 – Exercise / Eating habits? 6 – Attitude / Thoughts? 7 – How can we encourage and pray for you?
One of the girls got these questions from her pastor and they were so great. (We added question #5 after the famous “freshman fifteen” so quickly greeted us). We were safe to answer them freely and it was not unusual that there were tears and calling each other into account. The deep commitment from all four of us to be there faithfully each week, and our resolve to be transparent made it so beneficial. I was very blessed to attend a Christian college where opportunities for fellowship and Bible study were readily available. Even in that environment, I saw many fellow brothers and sisters stray. Once again, God’s perfect grace covered me and I am so thankful.
Casey
I came to know Christ about a year and a half before going to college, so I had a strong desire to go to a school where I would be strengthened and would have an opportunity to grow in my walk with Christ. The college I attended was a Christian one, requiring a statement of faith. All my classes were faith-based and all my professors were Christians; there were also a large number of required Bible classes which helped me grow in my faith.
Accountability – both from my future in-laws and my brothers in Christ at college – was key, too. We were careful about what we watched, media wise, listened to, and talked about. I think it was important for me to understand where I was at in my relationship with Christ when I chose to go to the college I did; I needed to be grown up in my faith, not thrown into the “fire”, into an environment that might have drawn me away from the Lord. All these things helped me to stay committed to the Lord and grow as a believer.
Eric
Yes, I "stayed Christian in college" and I think the main reason I was able to do that - besides God’s grace, obviously - was because of accountability, first to my family and second, with my roommates and friends.
My family encouraged me in my faith, loved me enough to challenge me spiritually, and held me accountable for my actions and attitudes. I talked to them several times a week so they knew where my heart was at.
My friends and I had an accountability system with each other, too, that helped us stay close to the Lord and pure with our words and actions. I chose friends that were Christians with their actions, not just their words. I was close to these guys, so didn’t want to do something that jeopardized their faith or my testimony. I prayed with my housemates every night and we all had safeguards on our computers (we used x3watch) so that we wouldn’t be tempted to view something and fill our minds with something that was not godly.
And like I said before, the main reason I stayed close to the Lord as a Christian was because of His grace.
Brad
I have something right up your alley….a list of 6 points on "How to Stay a Christian in College". I had been a Christian for only 2 years when I went to SOU in 1992. I was not raised in a Christian home, so I really needed to find ways to keep my focus on God and to grow in my fairly new knowledge of him. Here are ideas from my personal experience.
1. COMMIT TO A CHURCH so you can be fed and have fellowship to encourage you spiritually from the past week and energize you for the coming week.
2. PLUG INTO A CAMPUS/LOCAL CHURCH GROUP to find other Christians to support each another spiritually and keep each other accountable during the week. You can meet for lunches/breaks with your Christian friends.
3. JOIN OR BEGIN A MID-WEEK BIBLE STUDY, PRAYER GROUP, OR FELLOWSHIP TIME. Having a time to get together between Sundays offers a good break to re-focus on God and your Biblical worldview in the midst of the world’s information you are receiving all week. Also, this is a great way to connect with other Christians and can be a safe and fun place to invite new acquaintances to. We joined a couples’ Monday Night Football group of 6. We would meet each Monday at someones’ house who called us that weekend to tell us what food to bring to contribute to a easy meal (tacos, baked potato bar, etc.). Our group grew as we met new couples at church or in the community and invited them to this informal fun night of fellowship. We continued to meet on non-football Mondays and then for years, past graduation and our group grew to 30 people, plus kids. Many of us are still close today.
4. HAVE A
MENTOR (however informally) you can go to with ideas, questions, concerns and to be a soundboard.5. KEEP A MENTAL/SPIRITUAL FILTER ON WHAT YOUR PROFESSORS ARE TEACHING. You are sitting under their authority and information. You are to respect them in their position and it may be easy to let their non-Biblical ideas unconsciously slip into your way of thinking. I did this with a class titled "Media and Femininity". It took me awhile to realize some seemingly innocent, but wrong, ideas had entered my perspective on life. Pray for God to help you with discernment.
6. HAVE DAILY BIBLE DEVOTION TIME. You are receiving mounds of information daily so you must guard your mind with the Word…daily! There are many good devotionals available for college students. I subscribed to a monthly booklet that discussed issues pertaining to that time of my life. Include fellowship time with God during this time and throughout the day…Pray!
Thank you for opening up this question to us.
Karin
I entered college with a strong Christian foundation and encouragement from my parents. As I began classes (at Southern Oregon University) with teachers and subjects that had consistently secular worldviews, I had constant dialogue with my parents on what I was facing. I lived at home while attending college, which helped with the accountability on my parent’s part, but I have seen that similar encouragement can happen with a child attending college away. When I could, I tried to write papers on subjects that reflected my faith. I avoided situations that I knew would put me in a compromising position (parties, etc.) I also developed a friendship with a gal that the Lord placed in my life in the music department at SOU. I was able to witness to her (she thought I was extreme in my “dating” boundaries with my now-husband, and in general she thought I was old-fashioned and too religious), and today she is walking with the Lord, is married to a wonderful Christian man, and doesn’t think I’m crazy anymore. We were in each other’s weddings, and each time I talk with her, I see her growing closer to the Lord. I believe that taking the opportunity to witness in college helped me stay a Christian, knowing that people knew I was a Christian and were watching my example.
Sarah
I have somewhat of a unique perspective on college life because I’ve gone to both a conservative Christian college and to a very liberal state school. Ironically, I found it easier to be a Christian at the state school. While I own my choices in college, because of my experiences, I still harbor some bitterness toward Christian colleges. Yes, there are Christian teachers, praise and worship services, tons of Bible study groups, and other Christian students, but all of that can be very deceiving. Because I believed that my fellow roommates and friends were Christians I didn’t question what we did together. I slipped into a “Christian” crowd that did worldly things, but for some reason it seemed okay, because we were all “Christians”. I have visited a lot of Christian colleges around the country and have found this two-faced Christianity everywhere. This was one of the reasons I decided to finish my schooling at a state school. I walked into class everyday with my sword and shield, prepared for battle. I knew that I was one Christian girl in a world of darkness and I viewed everyone else as non-Christians. I knew that for some of my classmates, I was one of a few Christians that they would come in contact with, so I had to be strong in my faith. Though I had fun, learned a lot, and met a lot of different people, I am disappointed in my behavior in college. I wish that I would have made different choices, had different friends, and not been a two-faced Christian. Since I can’t change the past, I can only hope to share my story with others, so that they might be better prepared for life on a “Christian” campus.
Leanne
The short answer – God’s grace.
The long answer - I attended SOU and by the end of the first semester I was mentally and spiritually drained. It was at that point that I realized that I had forgotten to flex my spiritual muscles. I began every weekday with a 15 minute devotional, started leading a high school group at my church and finally, and most importantly, found a group of my peers and started a Bible study with them. That fellowship helped me remember the fact that, much like Elijah, I was not alone in a spiritual wasteland.
Andrew
I would say that the most influential thing on me was whom I surrounded myself with. I tried to hang out with Christian friends who would keep me accountable for my actions. If I was hanging around non christian groups in my free time I could see myself slipping here and there and finally falling away from the lord. I think it is very important to have people in your DAILY life who you can trust to keep you accountable.
Dale (not Pastor Dale!)
Thanks for thinking of us. I’ll answer for myself and then my husband can give
his input although his might be a little different since he was a committed
Catholic while he was at college. Not that this was bad just different than my experience.I started college already understanding the importance of having a relationship with God so for me the challenge was surrounding myself with friends who also understood this importance. I became involved with every christian ministry on campus to see what they were all about and I also checked out all the different churches in town. As it turned out God blessed me with some close Christian girl friends who through their friendships would hold me accountable to my faith…something needed in college. These few friends are still very close to me today. I ended up being active with Campus Crusade for Christ and went on a couple summer projects.
I think college can be such a strengthening time for your faith since you are no longer under the umbrella of your parent’s faith. As a result your faith is really tested. I have to give God the glory for helping me through these years because he was the one who gave me the desire to stay grounded. I did have my struggles but God always brought me back to Him.
Melanie
cindy and i were talking about this tonight. i went to purdue which is a huge state school in
indiana . I lived at a christian cooperative house. my experience was this. i feel that my faith became my own in college. i came out from the faith of my parents and developed my own. the house i lived at played a big part. it was an interesting mix of denominations and belief systems. 40 guys from all over and only five toilets. it was great to have all of these guys behind you to keep you accountable, but sometimes legalism ruled (read truth). there were also members of the house that leaned the other way (read grace). purdue is about 1 hour from my parents house, but the actual ’leaving the nest’ was one of the best things that happened to my relationship with Christ. more than likely this was due to great preparation from my God fearing parents. one more time, i think it is very important.
Travis