JoAnna Hoyt
For many, college is an opportunity to learn how to be a responsible and independent adult, often while living away from family for the first time. During these years, students face more choices than they might have experienced before, and the decisions they make during that time can have a lasting impact on the person they become. It can be both wonderful and terrifying to varying degrees—depending on the choices they face that day.
The college years are also often pivotal for one’s faith. Many have heard stories of people who entered college as dedicated Christians, but left college as nominal Christians, at best—or non-Christians, at worst. Some Christians enter college with trepidation because they know their faith will be challenged in new ways. And often family and friends of college students worry on behalf of their college student, afraid that they will walk away from their faith during those years.
There is no secret method or formula for staying Christian in college. Staying Christian during one’s college years requires the exact same things as it does at any other point in life. The only difference is that they are living their Christian life in a very new—and sometimes shockingly different—context while also learning what it means to be an independent adult and navigate the challenges of academia and new relationships. And they often face these challenges without the benefit of their prior support systems.
We can talk about what it means to stay a Christian in college from various different perspectives. For this article, I’ve chosen three foundational principles to frame the conversation.
1. Love God
The greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength (Mark 12:30; Deut 6:5). This is the foundational key to staying Christian in college. The more you love God, the easier it is to make the difficult choices you will face, say no to temptations, and choose to be intentional about your faith.
It’s easy to type or say the words “Love God,” but it is infinitely more difficult to explain it and to do it. Here I would recommend spending time in 1 John, specifically chapter 4. John provides a beautiful description of how God is love and how that love compels us to also love because God, through his Spirit, lives within us (see 1 John 4:7–21). And Jesus’s last words to his disciples in John 14–17 are the foundation for John’s words in his later epistle.
Still, this is an abstract concept. So below I highlight some concrete steps that these passages mention.
i. By seeking the truth
God is truth (John 17:17; 1 John 4:1, 6). The more you seek to know the truth about who God is, the more you will know God. And the more you know about God and his love for us, the more you will be drawn to love him.
Many aspects of college life can make it difficult to discern truth. A professor or a class topic may feel like a threat to your faith, or a new friend may be a staunch atheist.
Always remember, though, that truth is not relative. Truth can withstand rigorous scrutiny. Truth may be difficult to hear and antithetical to your desires. But truth is more valuable and beautiful than our greatest desires.
Truth may be difficult to hear and antithetical to your desires. But truth is more valuable and beautiful than our greatest desires.
ii. By relying on the Spirit that lives within you
While Christians should constantly seek to know truth, the burden of finding or determining truth does not rest on us. The Holy Spirit indwells Christians. And it is this Spirit that Jesus calls “the Spirit of Truth” who “will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).1 And it is the Spirit that teaches us to recognize “the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood” (1 John 4:6).
Therefore, know that each time you walk into a classroom, a dorm room, or a conversation, and face a difficult situation or a difficult choice, you did not and do not walk alone.
iii. By loving others
Loving others is an outworking of God’s love in our lives (1 John 4:7). And it is evidence of the Spirit’s presence and work in our lives as we seek to reject our sinful desires that run counter to love (Gal 5:22–25). Christ himself urges us to love as he loves us (John 15:12–13).
Some people that you encounter during your college years will be very difficult to love. Love the roommate who ignores your boundaries (while lovingly maintaining the healthy boundaries you need). Love the professor who is a harsh grader. Love the classmate who annoys you.
But also make sure you have a healthy understanding of love, that you are not confusing it with a twisted version. Love does not ignore truth, nor does it neglect your personal worth and value.
2. Live intentionally
Graduating college with your faith still intact does not happen by accident. Faith, by God’s definition, is not passive. It is a daily intentional choice. This is why God consistently told the Israelites to “guard” what he had entrusted to them (Deut 5:1) and to “carefully obey” it (Deut 6:3). And it is why the greatest commandment requires action from every part of who we are: mind, body, soul, and strength (see Mark 12:30).
Yet it is not easy to choose to be intentional about your faith. Many college students, with their support system now physically distanced from them, find it challenging to remain intentional in living out their faith in the midst of all the new opportunities that college life brings. New adventures and experiences, new friends, and the ability to set your own schedule (including choosing to sleep in on Sundays) can present never-before-faced challenges.
Choosing to be intentional about your faith is key (Eph 5:15–17). There are three specific ways that I would urge college students to live intentionally.
i. In a local church
Be intentional about finding and investing in a healthy church community that proclaims the truth of the gospel (Acts 2:42–47; Heb 10:24–25). Perhaps it will be a church within the denomination you grew up in, or perhaps not. Perhaps it will have a thriving college ministry with many activities that draw college students. Or perhaps it will be a smaller church with many opportunities to interact regularly with people of all generations and build deep meaningful relationships.
ii. In a campus ministry
Consider intentionally investing in a campus ministry. Campus ministries do not and should not replace your local church community, since they do not fulfill all the functions and responsibilities of a church. But they provide opportunities to develop strong relationships with others in your college community and can aid in your spiritual formation.
iii. With a mentor (spiritual director)
Consider intentionally and prayerfully seeking out a spiritual mentor who can walk with you and encourage you as God continues to form you more and more into his image (see Prov 13:20; 2 Thess 3:9; Heb 13:7). Perhaps a pastor at your new church; or that older person who always warmly greets you with deep love; or perhaps you might seek out a trained spiritual director. Find someone who is spiritually mature who will deeply invest in your life and walk with you.
3. Don’t fear questions
The college years commonly provide young adults with their first opportunity to freely question their faith and belief in God. Perhaps having space and distance from your prior community allows you to face questions you never felt you had permission to ask—or were too scared to ask. Or perhaps you’re faced with questions from others who do not share your faith, or you’re faced with different forms of Christian theology that feel wrong to you.
Questions are not destructive. Questions are not a sign that you have lost your faith. And questions are not a threat to God.
i. Your own
Questions are only a threat to one’s faith when they are coupled with twisted motives and twisted answers. But even then, the threat is not the question but the twisting of truth.
Questions provide opportunities to seek understanding. Jesus’s promise in Matthew 7:7–11 about God answering those who seek is not limited to seeking for our physical needs.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matt 7:7–11)
God invites you to ask questions. By bringing your questions to God, whether simple or accusatory, you are standing with the psalmists and Old Testament saints (e.g., Pss 10; 13; 25; Hab) and the New Testament church (e.g., Jas 1:5–6; Phil 5:6–7; Heb 4:16). And though the phrase “doubting Thomas” has a negative overtone today, Jesus never rebuked Thomas. He met Thomas in his question and Thomas walked away stronger in his faith (John 20:24–29).
But, I also need to mention something that is often unsaid. What if you question your faith and discover you truly do not believe—your faith was a mirage because something about your prior context pressured you to pretend? If this is where your questions lead you, then your questions led you to the truth about the state of your relationship with God. Truth is not to be feared. But if your questions lead you here, know that discovering the truth of your relationship is also an invitation to continue to ask questions about this God you don’t yet know. You only know about him. And perhaps some of what you were told was not true.
ii. From others
As you enter your adult years, you will also likely encounter more questions from others about your faith: both genuine questions and questions intended to ridicule and dismantle your faith. Do not fear these questions, either. For both, remember Peter’s encouragement in 1 Peter 3:15–16:
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
Having an answer for the hope that you have does not mean that you have to be able to have a ready answer for any theological question thrown your way. Focus on knowing the gospel—why you have hope. And for all other questions, consider them opportunities to learn more and to, perhaps, be the means in which God will provide an answer to the other person. Remember that you can simply respond to such questions with, “I don’t know the answer to that. But I would love to help you find the answer.”
Conclusion
The college years are a wonderful opportunity to grow—both in society as an adult and in your faith as a maturing believer. Whether you approach these years with excitement or trepidation, remember that you do not walk alone. Every day of your life, whether in college or not, you walk with your God as he guides you and indwells you; so rejoice and rely on him as you take each new step.
JoAnna Hoyt’s recommended resources on the Christian life
The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who Can’t Get Their Act Together
Regular price: $9.74
JoAnna Hoyt’s recommended resources on asking questions
- The Counterpoints Series by Zondervan are wonderful books for exploring different perspectives on various theological questions.
- Similarly, the 40 Questions Series by Kregel are handy resources for asking questions about various theological issues.
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