Christian Colleges

I love my school.

And with that said, I can say that I am obviously biased as I write this article. Recently, Relevant Magazine published a story called “3 Reasons Why Christians Should Consider a Christian College.” The article made some great points about what Christian colleges offer over public education, and I liked it. What shocked me were the comments that followed.

One commenter said, “Christian universities offer nothing special besides a continued life perspective that encourages students to live life surrounded by walls (often walls of self-righteousness), always on the outside looking in.”

Another posted, “How long will we continue to isolate ourselves from the world? Go to a normal college and make an impact. Lord knows our world’s ‘secular’ colleges need it.”

Does this sound like anyone we might know at our own school?

I get that Christian colleges are not for everyone. But to question the relevancy of Christian colleges in today’s society is just ridiculous. So obviously, I find a few errors in what was said.

First of all, Christian universities offer an education that is hard to match. I am not sure of the experiences the first commenter had, but as a Christian student attending a Christian college, I can own readily to the experience I’ve had. I have no complaints about the education I’ve received: my classroom sizes have been small enough to personally know the professor in each of my classes, and I feel as if my voice has been heard and treated with respect.

I don’t have to worry about my peers pressuring me into doing something I am uncomfortable with. I don’t have to explain away my faith to those who don’t get it yet. It offers me an education rooted in spiritual practices and values that I hope to have the rest of my life. I want to live my life differently than the rest of the world. God created the earth to be a perfect place, and then we humans messed it up. But I get to have an education in an environment that rejects the ways of the fallen world. And I believe this will give me an advantage when I finally break out of the “OC bubble” and enter “the real world.”

Also, Christian universities DO impact the world, and they do it without submitting to the pressures of today’s society. God calls his people to resist being conformed to the patterns of this world. Instead, he calls us to be his chosen ones, a “peculiar people.” While Christians attending a “normal” college would certainly make an impact, there is also a need for Christians at Christian colleges.

Christian universities do not isolate their students from the rest of society, but rather gather and encourage disciples for Christ that can break into the professional world and spread the gospel. The first disciples had training—why shouldn’t Christian college students? I’ve seen plenty of adults who never had that strong Christian foundation reinforced during their college years—now they are married with kids, questioning some of the Bible’s basic principles. It’s a tragedy. And a fact that proves people need Christian colleges—both Christians themselves and those still searching.

What I have written are observations I’ve made while attending both Lone Star College and Oklahoma Christian. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule. Your college experience is what you get out of it, and whom you surround yourself with. People who are not Christians can be the most genuinely good people. And Christians can fall horribly short of the example Christ put before us.

I’m not saying this school is perfect, but I’d like to see a school that is. You may not love this school the way I do. You may not even love it at all. But it’s the school you chose. You knew what you were signing up for, right?

00