College. That lovely place where we learn; where we make new friends; where we stretch our boundaries and our limits; where we find out about the world and what’s really out there …
… and where we lose our faith.
Even in (some might say, especially at) Christian colleges. I’m sure other people have done this type of thing before, and I’m not claiming this is either an exhaustive list nor a perfect list, but these ten points reflect my experience. They are intentionally ordered, with the most decisive paths to loss of faith at the bottom. Want to lose your faith in college? Then…
10. Mistake truth for intellectualism.
This should be obvious. Just because someone is smart does not mean they are right. Just because someone has been gifted by God with proficient intellectual capacities does not mean they use them for God’s glory and honor. The Apostle Paul was one the most brilliant men, yet when it came to the gospel of Jesus Christ, he says: “I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:12). He also notes that “the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness,’ and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile’” (1 Cor. 3:19-20). Though brilliant men may craft brilliant arguments, in the end there is only one source for truth: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).
9. Accept anything your professor says.
Your professor is there to help you learn. Your professor knows much more than you do on the subject matter of the course. And nine times and of ten, your professor truly desires to benefit you and not deceive you. Your professor truly wants your educational well-being. But despite professor’s good intentions, this does not mean professors are always correct. To blindly follow only the words of one professor is to isolate yourself and endanger your spiritual growth. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
8. Accept nothing your professor says.
There is the story of the pine tree and the oak tree. The oak tree was tall, strong, and its trunk was straight. The pine tree was short, squat, and its trunk was curved. When the storm came, the oak tree stood tall and strong. But since it could not bend, there were only two options: stand or fall. And it fell. The pine tree bent over double with the wind, allowing itself to be played with it and pushed around wherever the wind pleased. But when the storm was over, the pine tree was standing, and the oak tree wasn’t. If you assume that everything your professor says is a lie spewed out of the mouth of the devil himself, you will break. That fact is that anyone will speak the truth at least some of the time if not most of the time. False doctrines and philosophies rarely come without a lot of good truth mixed in. Accept the true, throw out the false. Easier said than done, I know.
7. Count your grade more important than your witness.
The fact of the matter is: In term papers and semester projects, more often than not, students are set up to only parrot back to the professor what the professor wants to hear. Most professors say: “Your grade is not affected by whether or not you agree with me,” and that’s a good thing. But unfortunately, the battle is often already lost by the structure the professor has set up around the project.
Let me give an example. I had a professor who, all semester long, set up a dichotomy: a certain economic worldview was “good”, and the other economic worldview was “bad”. At the end of the semester, rather than having us write a paper comparing the pros and cons of the two world views, he had us write a paper about the pros and cons of certain issues inherent to the “good” worldview. My paper arguing against the acceptance the “good” worldview was dubbed “off-topic” and assigned a bad grade. But in order to have even been “on-topic”, I would have needed to assume his worldview, something which I felt was morally wrong to do.
And professors are good at this. They are able to set up false dichotomies, they are able to focus on the wrong problems and answer the wrong questions. They dictate the structure and the system in which you have to work, and sometimes, this may mean a bad grade for you if you reject their structure.
6. Think that what is said is … what is said.
What is said is not what is said. What is said is what is not said. This ties in somewhat with point 7. It may be more true that we define our theology by what we don’t focus on than that we define our theology by what we do focus on. What a college doesn’t say about Jesus says a bucket-load more about its nature than what is does say about peace on earth and equality between religions. What a college doesn’t say about the Bible says so much more than what it does say about fighting oppression, whether real or perceived, of minorities. What a college doesn’t say about human sinfulness says a universe more than all the spouting off it does do on the potential of human or human-made fields or systems to accomplish human greatness and achievement. It is not so much about what is expressed, but what is suppressed. Romans 1:18 says: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”
5. Assume college is 'real' life.
The message is not so much spoken as it is implied: “You kids have lived eighteen years of your life in sheltered isolation. You’ve only heard the very narrow worldviews of your parents and perhaps your church. You’ve assumed your little high-school click was where it was at. But now––now you have to face reality. Now you have to accept that truth is not that simple. Now you have to come to face with the fact that, in the real world, the Bible is untenable, conservatism equals bigotry, and pluralism is king. Welcome to the real world.” It makes a great impression on young kids. Except for one small, tiny, insignificant little fact.
College is not real life.
In fact, it could be argued, college is about the furthest thing from real life we can find. We are told it’s all about us: it’s all about our education; it’s all about our growth; it’s all about our happiness. We are removed from our parents’ authority and placed under the authority of our peers. We are given our own rooms and, if we must share them with another person, we are quickly consoled that, should we have the slightest “personality difference” that “cannot be resolved” with our roommate; well, we can get us a “new one.” Additionally, the philosophies taught are not “real life” philosophies. Our professors are paid to draw on air––it’s their job to “stretch” students, to “make them think”, perhaps even to confuse them with logical conundrums and statistics that have no bearing or meaning so that they lose all hope of ever coming to grips with the truth. Professors are paid to play academic games in the classroom. Quite frankly, there are philosophies and theologies that are entertained in college only because they are allowed to exist: they go far beyond the bounds of common sense and would never be entertained in the actual “real world.”
Assume college is real life and you will find it just as easy to assume your faith is fake.
4. Stress.
You might notice that as we go down this list, my points get less ideological and more practical. Why is that? Because we are more affected by this body that we inhabit than we’d like to admit. We like to think that our capacity to wrestle with great truths and to sustain a level of faith and hope and trust in God is not affected by what we do with our bodies, but in fact it is greatly affected by it. The Bible is not silent on the issue of how the body affects our thinking, but rather has much to say about our bodies and how we use them.
Trying not to stress at college is like trying not to get wet on a ride in a waterpark. College is a breeding ground for stress. There is so much to stress about I’d stress myself out trying to list it. Lack of sleep and exercise, both of which seduce the college student, also contribute to the problem. In this inundation, it is hard to accept that stress and worry are a moral problem. But in fact the Bible affirms that they are: Jesus said: “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). One of the major causes of stress is pride––a stubborn insistence on being able to control the things around us. Rather, Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” If we lose our peace in God, we can lose our faith. Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
3. Lust.
If the weather is nice, and you are at the average college campus in America (including Christian colleges), you will be cordially introduced to Skin. Skin will pass you on the sidewalk. Skin will accompany you on your way to class. Skin will wear bright colors to catch your eye. You might hold the door open for Skin to enter. Skin will walk right in front of your desk, and if you look down, Skin will be sitting in the seat beside you––if you look to the front of the classroom, you may even find that Skin is your teacher, and if you seek refuge out the window, Skin will be sitting (or worse, laying) out on the quad. Your eyes will either need to play twister, or you will need to walk around hanging your head like the bum you know you are. Such is the ubiquitous friendliness (or aggressive dominance?) of Skin.
Lust really doesn’t need to be defined or explained. We all know what it is and we all know it is wrong both to do it actively (Job 31:1; Proverbs 6:25; Matthew 5:28) and seek it passively (1 Timothy 2:9). Both sexes, in varying ways, find the temptation to do it, and both sexes, in varying ways, find the temptation to be its object. Going further down its destructive path, we find that colleges are a hotbed for sexual promiscuity and immorality of all kinds. I would imagine it is far truer than many are willing to admit that they lost their faith, not because some logical argument crushed them, not because some suffering disillusioned them, but because their body subdued them.
So don’t do it. Save your faith.
2. Stop reading your Bible.
I intentionally used the word “reading” here instead of “studying” or “examining”. When you go to college, especially a Christian college, and especially if your major is Bible/religion oriented, there can become a great temptation to studying the Bible analytically, or intellectually, or academically. This is not wrong, but it should not be the only way we use our Bible. Sadly, it is easy for many to spend so much time intellectually studying the Bible, they have no time to gain life from it. John Wesley said: “I want to know one thing, the way to heaven: how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very end he came from heaven. He has written it down in a book! Oh, give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be: ‘A man of one book.’”
We must not use our understanding as a lamp to reading the Bible, the Bible must be our lamp (Psalm 199:105). It is our daily bread (Matthew 4:4). It should not depart from our mouths (Joshua 1:8). It is sharp and pierces the thoughts of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). And it is all inspired (or expired) by God (2 Timothy 3:16).
Stop reading your Bible, and stop living.
1. Stop praying.
This last one is so obvious it needs very little commentary. Prayer gives strength and guidance. It is said that Martin Luther had so much to do one day that he decided to spend the first three hours of it in prayer. C. S. Lewis noted: “In worship, God imparts Himself to us.” Oswald Chambers agreed: “Prayer is the exercise of drawing on the grace of God.” Ephesians 6:18 urges us: “Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.” We read in 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18: “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Christian, pray.
Sometimes the most simple statements prove to be the most wise, as is the case with the little children’s song:
Read your Bible.
Pray every day.
And you’ll grow, grow, grow.
Neglect your Bible.
Forget to pray.
And you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink.
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