College students are becoming less interested in Christianity. In 1971, 74% of incoming freshman in America claimed Christianity. In 2019 that number was 54%.
So, what are college students missing? How might students benefit from a vibrant Christian faith or be deprived by a lack thereof? In working with students, I’ve discovered several ways students benefit from a robust Christian faith.
Elongating Our Feed
Social media outlets are inexhaustible spouts of content, where posts two days old are seen as outdated. I believe this is partly why I’ve seen more young people express an interest in older hymns and confessions of faith.
A rich Christian faith roots people in a long tradition of saints who studied the same Scriptures and even sang some of the same songs. Fads come and go, but Christian students can experience the joy of their life being one pixel in a grand display of God’s glory rather than a flickering and fading flame of their own.
A Firm Moral Ground to Change Themselves and the World
“Give me a place to stand,” said Archimedes, “and I will move the world.” It’s significant that what has driven moral change historically has been biblical values such as human equality, forgiveness, etc. (see Tom Holland’s book and Tim Keller’s review as well as Tim Keller’s talk on this topic). The opposition of slavery was powerfully taken up by Gregory of Nyssa in the 4th century and many abolitionists came between him and Martin Luther King Jr. all of whom appealed to the Bible for racial equality. Alternatives to biblical ethics have been shown to be inadequate in spurring true and lasting moral change personally and thus for the world. Students wanting to reform themselves and the world morally will have a more difficult time doing so from any ground other than the Bible.
Humility
A video entitled The Joy of Being Wrong created by the Templeton Foundation, presses home the importance of intellectual humility. The argument is that we should temper any confidence we have in our assertions because we might be wrong. A Vox article takes a similar approach. Though the pursuit of humility is admirable and there is much to commend in these resources, the likely result of this approach is a skepticism that questions the validity of all truth claims.
In contrast, the Christian worldview allows simultaneous confidence in truth claims and humility. We can confidently assert truth claims since the Bible gives Christians a firm epistemological foundation. Yet, the Bible also teaches that we are imperfect and in need of God’s grace. This makes it challenging to be arrogant in any knowledge of truth, though admittedly Christians often struggle with amnesia of this reality.
Conclusion
The grandest realization, I believe, is not what God can offer us, but that we were made to offer ourselves to him. The Apostle Paul, an intellectually gifted man himself, said it best: “For the love of Christ controls us, for we have concluded this, that one has died for all and therefore all have died, and he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
Mike McGregor
Mike McGregor (MDiv, Reformed Theological Seminary) is Director of College Ministry at First Baptist Church in Durham, N.C. You can follow him on Twitter at @m5mcgregor.
