I Go to Bible College, and I Struggle with My Faith
You grew up going to church and a Christian school all of your elementary, middle, and high school days. You were involved in summer camps, Bible clubs, Vacation Bible Schools, mission’s trips, and even volunteered at a local food shelter. You loved serving and being involved in ministry in whatever way you possibly could. You memorized verses after verses as a child. Many of the other students looked up to you as a natural-born Christian leader. You loved being on a worship team singing at church as well as volunteering in nursery and children’s church. Your family taught you the importance of reading Scripture and having family devotions every night. You were always pushed to do your very best in school. You have come so far in your Christian walk and now comes a new decision: college.
Where do you go? What major do you study? Should I go to a Christian or secular school? How much is it going to cost? Is it even worth my time and money? These and many more questions are ones which every high school senior encounters.
You continue praying and seeking out advice over what decision to make. You weigh out your options with your pros and cons list. After months of praying you make a decision.
You are going to a Bible college.
You cannot wait to tell your friends. You believe God is going to stretch and grow you in ways which you could hardly wait for. You’ve been preparing yourself mentally, academically, emotionally, and spiritually.
The day finally arrives, and you are about to leave for school. You set your room up, meet your roommate, attend the freshman orientation, and the next day you begin your classes. You are eager to learn and grow. A few weeks and months go by, and you feel yourself slowing drawing away from God. “How could this be? How can I be headed away from God while attending a Bible college? I simply do not understand.”
Unfortunately this is not uncommon for many students who attend a Bible college. The truth of the matter is they have grown up being surrounded by Christians all their lives and sometimes even forced to go to church, and never once had to think about putting their faith into action. Now they are away from their parents and allowed to make decisions on their own based on what they believe. It is a scary place to be at for the first time in your life because you no longer have the accountability which you always had. You are now an adult without parental supervision. So now what?
Most people have the perception that everyone who attends a Bible college must be a hard-core, Bible-filled, know everything about God, and is on fire for Him all the time kind of person. I hate to break it to you but that is typically the complete opposite. Not everyone who attends a Bible college is even a Christian. Even for the majority who are they still struggle with putting Biblical principles into their lives every day. We have this misconceived notion that if you do not know very much about the Bible then you must not be a very good Christian. To be quite honest, I have had these thoughts many times throughout my life, especially at college. To help you possibly relate in some way, let me explain my story in order to lend some encouragement with this attitude of ‘I have to be this superstar of a Christian’ perspective.
For starters, the beginning story is basically what I have grown up doing and being a part of. I enjoyed every part about growing up in a Christian home. I then had to make a decision about college. Though I have had very different experiences each year, I am grateful to God for each one of them. During these past four years, however, I have struggled constantly with my faith. I went to college thinking everyone was going to be on fire for God and want to have Bible studies all the time. Well, was I wrong! Now I am not saying those people did not exist, but it was much more challenging than I had expected. Though I found myself getting involved in small ways every year either in prayer groups, leadership positions, mission’s trips, etc. I still never seemed to be where I thought I should be in my walk with the Lord. I figured since I have taken so many Bible classes and been under great Christian leadership these past few years, I should know so much about the Bible. Reality check? I do not. There is so much I simply do not understand. I get confused and frustrated. I compare myself with other Christians who seem to ‘get it.’ I often wonder if there is something wrong with my brain or way of thinking. These thoughts of, “I wish I could know more Bible verses. I wish I could know all these stories which people are talking about. I wish I could know what God is saying in this Old Testament passage. I wish. I wish. I wish.” The list can keep going on and on. The reality of it is there will always be more to learn. As John Piper puts it, “There will always be more of God to enjoy.” We can never stop learning, but we can keep pushing ourselves and surrounding ourselves with people who point us closer to knowing Him.
Now do not be discouraged. You may be thinking, “Wow, I hope I do not have that mindset when I am at a Bible college.” And you may not encounter these struggles. But you should be prepared if it does happen. According to Rainer Research, about 70% of American youth drop out of church between the ages of 18 and 22. You may think how or why does that happen. I believe a big part of it has to do with the fact that even children were being raised in a Christian home, they never actually had to put their faith into action and pray through what and why they believe what they do. Their parents may have forced them to go to church and was never really encouraged to strengthen their personal relationship with the Lord.
Another big factor goes to the environment in which we live. Social Media is the popular trend. As Stanley Clark puts it, “Daily media reports present clear evidence that humans can be powerfully swayed by their social and natural environment.” Teens are highly influenced by social media. They are replacing their devotional time with a snapchat picture of themselves. They replace Sunday morning worship service with receiving 100+ likes on their Instagram photo taken at a coffee shop that morning. Their posts on Facebook reveal themselves to having everything together. God is taken out of the picture. Even the conversations at a Bible school are geared more towards the latest movie and fashion trends instead of how God has been moving in the life of an unbeliever.
We have been replacing God with our own basic wants and desires. We become easily stressed and caught up in all of the day-to-day assignments that we do not seem to even make time for God anymore. I admit, I have had many times where I placed my studies and my stresses first before God. I get too caught up in becoming this ultimate Christian that I forget to even strengthen my relationship I have with Christ. How are you ever going to expect to know more about God if you do not make Him the top priority in your life? Ashley Tripp writes an article on why students lose their faith in college and she adds four helpful encouragements for those who are seeking a deeper relationship with Christ while living at a Christian college:
1. Get Plugged Into a Ministry
2. Take on a Leadership Role
3. Attend a Summer Project
4. Make it a Priority
As Stanley Clark puts it, everyone has a choice. You have the choice whether to read your Bible or snapchat your best friend. You have the choice to place your identity in Christ or the number of likes you attain on an Instagram post. You have the choice whether to put your full trust and faith in God with your future or look to your grades as your sense of direction in life. We make choices every day and those choices impact not only you but also the people whom you surround yourself with, whether you realize it or not.
Every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you- the part that chooses- into something a little different than what it was before. Taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature.
C.S. Lewis
Sources:
Clark, Stanley. Christian Perspectives on Sociology. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1982.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/november/27.40.html
https://www.cru.org/communities/campus/why-students-lose-faith-in-college.html
Piper, John. When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight For Joy. Crossway, 2013.
