College is tricky. (The whole world is tricky, for that matter.) It’s so true that the struggle for every believer is how to live in the world and yet not be of the world.”
Susanna Wesley wrote the following description of sin in a letter to her son John 299 years ago when he was heading off to college:
- "Whatever weakens your reason,
- impairs the tenderness of your conscience,
- obscures your sense of God,
- takes off your relish for spiritual things,
- whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind,
- that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself."
College is a place where wickedness is often compressed and temptations are much more accessible. One speaker we heard at a homeschooling conference aptly referred to college as a trip through Babylon. If the academics don't pull a student down, the dorm life often will. Being at college can make you feel like you're swimming against a tsunami of worldliness. As someone has said, "You might be an Olympic swimmer, but swimming in a tsunami is a whole different ballpark."
Thankfully, there IS a way for a believer to survive tsunamis .... and that is to walk on top of them! How? There is a Helper in the universe Who triumphantly walked on water. A believer can have victory when he puts his hand firmly in the hand of the Savior, Who is no stranger to navigating tricky waters, and Who has offered a finished work on our behalf, of atonement through His blood.
Here are three practical suggestions for a believing young adult for navigating the tempting waters of college, so that you can emerge with the good information and training from your college or university while at the same time avoiding the allure of harmful influences on your personal life while there.
One:
Continuously recall your soul to an eternal perspective through daily Bible reading. Place yourself constantly under the Almighty's rule, via the Holy Spirit doing what He does supremely for your good. 2 Timothy 3:16 is the foundation of staying on the path: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness...." Hide His word in your heart, that you might not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11). Therefore, fit in some daily Bible reading, even if it is just ten minutes. Up front, be intentional about how you will arrange for that time and place sometime and somewhere, perhaps by scheduling it between any two classes so that it is part of your fixed routine. If you casually think you'll do it in the morning or last thing at night, chances are it will never happen. Many have tried it and failed. Satan will see to it that you are too socially exhausted or distracted at those particular times to fit it in and a year will go by without cracking the good Book at all. So schedule it between classes...in some hidden empty classroom or library room somewhere.
Two:
Hunt for a Bible-based fellowship—a strong group of believers. If you can't find one, you can always create one. Start up a simple Bible study with several persons. Many young persons of faith have suffered their worst temptations while residing and attending a college (even a supposedly Christian institution). The experience can sap the strongest believer of spiritual vitality. It's exciting but difficult to be far away from what was stabilizing and familiar. It's difficult when you're always seeming to be on the other side of everyone else as regards matters pertaining to personal holiness. It's especially tough when a person needs friendships, and everyone seems to be "looser" than you are. A fellowship can be a great help.
And three:
Crank up your aggression for the Kingdom while you're there at the college or university. Purpose to live on the offensive, instead of only playing defense. Take ground spiritually instead of losing ground through your time there. This is possible in college. Others throughout history have done it, even at places like Oxford (for example C. S. Lewis) and Cambridge (the Wesley brothers...John and Charles).
We know of a fellow who went to college running away from God. But God arranged for him to have a roommate, whom this fellow later described to friends in his conversion testimony, as an apostle Paul. This modern "Apostle Paul" roommate took the campus by storm, having godly conversations out his dorm window, down the hall, and over lunch and dinner. He made a large dent in that campus for eternity.
So, as you go forth, son or daughter, we bless you with an enlarged vocational skill set, along with an enlarged spiritual heart for the Lord.
PS: Keep in mind that if your college experience turns out to be one that you see is going to send you over the brink (like all those pigs on the far side of Galilee), you can leave there ASAP. No education is worth the cost, if the price is to shipwreck your faith in the Lord. To read about the alternatives to the traditional brick and mortar college, and to brace yourself against the very strong likelihood that college will strip you of your faith, your finances, and your fidelity, read Chucking College: Achieving Success Without Corruption. Discover how skipping college altogether may be the best educational decision you ever make. The book is 268 pages, ISBN 0988283557, available in Kindle format from this HomeschoolHowTos.com store. If you wish to order it in print, you will find the softcover book sold inexpensively online at Amazon or used at AbeBooks.com.
