“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Hebrews 10:24,25
The “college experience” is a delicate balance of class, study, campus involvement, other extra curricular activities, and trying to maintain a social life. Students walk around stressed out and severely sleep deprived. They become so caught up trying to survive the college whirlwind that their spiritual lives take the backburner. Having a time to meet with the Lord daily takes effort. Free time on the weekends is highly coveted. Facing the daunting task of finding a local church to become involved in becomes just one more thing to do, and one more thing to be procrastinated. If students do manage some church shopping, they try to remain unnoticed on the back row, comfortably uninvolved, and sadly unfulfilled by the wonderful things that a community of believers has to offer.
This is a very stereotypical and slightly over dramatized view of the life of a college student. The temptation to remain unconnected with a local church during the college years is, however, a very real struggle. Whether students are too lazy to look, too intimidated once they look, or too frustrated when they fail to find a new congregation identical to the one they have left behind, the temptation is the same. Students also may try to supplement on-campus ministry activities in place of a local church. While it is important to be involved with believers on campus with the resultant spiritual growth, this still cannot replace the local church.
I did my own fair share of church hunting and was fed up with the whole idea. What was the point? I had a good home church and attended a convenient Tuesday night worship service on campus. I didn’t realize that I was cheating myself until I stopped hopping around and just getting tiny glimpses of different churches and really got involved. Thankfully the Lord led me to a strong congregation my sophomore year of college, and I quickly became drawn into its young adult/college ministry.
College is a wonderful time of change and growth. College is equally a terrifying time of change and growth. Students need to be surrounded by a loving community to guide them and pour truth into them while the stress and confusion of the undergraduate experience threatens to overwhelm. There is so much wisdom to be learned from adults in a congregation in addition to the encouragement and support that will be provided by college ministers and other peers. A local church not only provides a place for students to be built up by a diverse community, but it will also give them numerous, consistent opportunities and ministries where they can pour themselves out into others as well. I encourage all students to break out of the college bubble, persevere, and find a local church.
Lydia Gritz, UBC kid-turned-grown-up, Samford University Class of 2011, Beeson Divinity student
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