Christian Students @ State Schools
Why I'm Glad My Son Attends The University of Florida
This article seeks to alleviate some of the fears of Christian parents whose children want to attend a State University or College like the University of Florida.
My son is a sophomore at the University of Florida. He is also a committed Christian. I'm glad that my son chose to attend the University of Florida as a believer. In fact, I would rather him be there than attend any private school, including our Baptist schools, in the nation. I'm a graduate of one of our Baptist colleges and universities and I highly respect most of them for their dedication to excellence in education and faith development, so the previous statement was not meant to bash them in any way. Let me try to explain that statement in a little more detail.
First, you need to know that I have been involved with and ministering to and with college students at state universities since 1987. I served as College Minister at Westside Baptist in Gainesville from '87 until '95. Then I moved to Tampa to become the Baptist Campus Ministries director at the University of South Florida, which later became the Baptist Collegiate Ministries. I served there until 2002 when we moved back to Gainesville to assume the duties of director of the BCM at the University of Florida. So upfront I will admit that I am very biased in my view of students and student ministry. However, there is good reason for my biases. I've known thousands of students over those 19 years who have been through the state universities without having their faith shredded!
In fact, I've known more students who have had their faith challenged and grew during their college years, than those that have fallen away during those critical years. That's because those students who get involved when they move away to college genuinely committed to the Lord when they get here. The marginal believers usually don't make it to church on Sunday or BCM during the week when they first arrive on campus. It generally takes a while for the world's cares to work on them for a while before they return to the church and campus ministries. I was talking with a student who is getting ready to graduate this fall recently who said that being involved in a local church and the BCM helped his faith to really grow and become real during his time at the University of Florida in ways that had not happened during his high school days.
I believe this happens for a couple of reasons. One is that the community of faith for believers on a "secular" campus realizes quickly that they are a minority on most campuses. This forces those who are real and committed to step up and also to depend more completely on the Lord. They have to step up because they realize that their survival is tied to their willingness to be identified as a believer. Thus, they are challenged to live a life committed to God in spite of the temptations and distractions that are prevalent on a "secular" campus. In order to be successful in living for God in such an environment, they quickly realize that they need the empowering of the Holy Spirit to do so. This leads to a dependence on the Lord and on each other in ways that being on a religious campus would not require. What I have learned is that real faith survives anywhere and challenges to real faith only make it stronger. Attending a state university will definitely challenge you as a believer in Jesus!
This challenging of faith also produces strong leaders for most Christian ministries, both on the campus and in churches. These strong leaders then challenge other students to grow in their faith as well. In the end, a culture of growth is created within the church or campus ministry. And with this culture, comes expectations of the members of the community to live up to the standards set by the leaders. This can translate into students being trained in FAITH at local churches and participating in mission trips with churches and the campus ministries. At one of our local churches there are 22 students being trained in FAITH this fall. There were 22 students involved in mission efforts this past summer from UF and SFCC and over 100 overall throughout the state of Florida that we know of. There were also many others involved in short term trips throughout the year. I know students who are currently serving as Journeymen in countries where it is not safe to serve, students serving local churches, and students who are at seminary getting prepared for a lifetime of vocational ministry who have spent their undergraduate days at state universities.
The final reason is that for the rest of his life, my son will be interacting with and reaching out to lost persons. This is the final "lab" so to speak where he can do that while still having some guidance from someone with daily interaction from a Christian perspective. He cannot help but be around lost people every day. So when our pastor challenges him to pray for and share his faith with lost people, he can't say, "I don't know any." His lab partners, his fellow engineering students, his fellow "rowdy reptiles", are all potential exercises in learning how to relate to and share his faith with a lost generation that the Lord can use.
I've watched him grow this past year in ways that I never thought possible. I have the blessing to be involved in that process as both his dad and his campus minister. I've also watched many of his friends grow in the Lord as well. They are leading new freshman in Bible studies called "fish schools" and their friendships continue to grow stronger as they challenge each other to love God more deeply and serve Him in obedience. We all know stories of how decadent and perverse the collegiate landscape can be, but I thought you might enjoy at least one story of how God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit can overcome all that to display the Glory of the Lord in our area. I've attached some links for additional stories that might encourage you to pray for our students and inspire you to join us in reaching a generation for Christ and training leaders for the next generation.
