This post is number 2 in a series examining the book, Surviving Religion 101; Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College by Michael J. Kruger.
Stepping onto a college or university campus for the first time
can fill a student with a level of anxiety.
All is new. There are questions
of what major to choose, the challenge of getting along with roommates, and what
will classes be like. Michael Kruger,
shares one other way in which Christian students may experience anxiety: what challenges might their faith face? We all can likely bring to mind students whose
faith crumbled after leaving for college.
This can leave new college student wondering if their faith can weather
the storm that lies ahead (p. 28).
Students (and their parents) need not develop a Chicken Little
complex; looking toward college with dread.
Kruger writes, “Please know that your non-Christian professors are not
Darth Vader, and your fellow students are not part of the Inquisition looking
for evangelical Protestants to string up” (p. 29).
At the same, it is wise to approach an environment like university
with eyes wide open. Kruger says, “if unbridled suspicion is a problem on the
one side, then a naïve overconfidence may be a problem on the other” (p. 29).
Students might discover that their self-proclaimed atheist professor
is extremely intelligent and incredibly likeable. This creates a challenge for the unprepared
Christian student. This professor—a
bunch of letters after their name as a hallmark of their brilliance—is throwing
out intellectual challenges toward Christianity that the student has never
heard before. It is not hard for the
student to conclude that this professor (this brilliant, likeable professor) could
be right and they wrong. All of this is compounded
by the immense weight of social pressures to conform from Christian beliefs
that professors and fellow classmates label “narrow minded, intolerant, arrogant,
and even hateful” (p. 30).
And so, Kruger invites the student, on the one side not to be fearful, but on the other side, not to be unprepared. Students must take their spiritual-wellbeing seriously. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 16:13-14, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love (p. 30).
I broke my ankle slipping on ice this past month. It was because I wasn't watchful. I hadn't expected the ice so I quickly lost my footing and crumbled.
It is reasonable to anticipate that students will encounter questions they don't have answers to about God and the Bible. When this happens, Kruger advises they extend themselves some grace--there are not many first-year college students who can face off with university professors who've spent years honing their arguments. But this is the important thing: One's inability in the moment to defend their belief does not mean there is no defense! (p. 32).
Your belief can be correct even if you don't know how to defend it. Kruger gives the example of defending the moon landing to a denier. Some conspiracy theorists have some pretty sophisticated and well-crafted arguments, but that doesn't mean they are right and you are wrong (p. 31). Kruger says, "Don't confuse not having an answer with their not being an answer" (p. 32). Though we may not have the answer, Christians for the last 2000 years have formulated responses to the challenges being raised against the faith. There is an answer. "...Yow are not going to be able to answer every objection to Christianity that you hear...It's not a reason to doubt your faith" (p. 32).
In our youth group are a few brilliant future engineers who are
honing their skills as participants in the Robotics program. In their meets, they’ve come across other
robots that were challenging to face. But
those challenges served to highlight the weaknesses in their own designs so
that they could create stronger robots that would perform better the next time
around. They were watchful.
Kruger says, “the pain of resistance can actually create more
strength and endurance” (p. 33). Facing
new objections to your faith is an invitation to seek the answers that will
serve to strengthen it.
Any objection to God’s word is a lie. Lies are fought with truth. Soldiers fight. That means you and I are soldiers. 2 Timothy 2:3 says, “Share in suffering as a
good soldier of Christ Jesus” (p. 33). Christian
students have an amazing opportunity to enter the battle, seeking answers, and
becoming a resource both to other Christians in the struggle as well as to unbelievers
trapped in the deception of their lies (p. 34).
By seeking the answers to objections brought against the faith, student’s
faith muscles grow. They become better “theologians,
better defenders of the faith, and better evangelists” (p. 35).
As their minds are sharpened, so is their character. Trusting in the Lord through the struggle, students
grow as a Christians, build up their fellow believers and show non-Christian
friends the hope they have in Christ (p. 35).
But, soldiers don’t do battle alone. How important that students plug into a
Gospel preaching-Christ-exulting-authority of Scripture proclaiming, church! How valuable to plug into a campus ministry with
fellow soldiers right on campus (p. 37)! Going it alone in the face of opposition can
be very discouraging, and it isn’t how God has designed us to operate.
Hebrews 10:24-25 says,
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.
Yes, students will receive opposition to their faith; questions they don't know how to answer. That doesn't mean their isn't an answer. this is their opportunity to find it, pressing into the questions and becoming a resource to other believers. Perhaps, by God's grace, students will lead those who once opposed the Gospel to saving faith.
But students cannot go the battle alone. they must find their band of brothers and sisters, fellow soldiers in the fight--a good church and if available, campus ministries--spurring one another on in the faith.
Questions:
When facing a question about the Bible or your faith you don't know how to answer, how would you respond? Where would you look for answers?
Why is it so important to become a faithful and fruitful member of a church family?
How could God use you in the life of another Christian facing opposition for their faith? How could God use you in the life of an unbeliever who rejects Christianity because of their unanswered questions?
Insights taken from...
Kruger, Michael J. 2021. Surviving Religion 101; Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College. Wheaton, IL: Crossway
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