Different people react in different ways to the idea of going to university. Some Christians have mixed feelings.
Universities are not designed to be places where every waking hour is spent in a book. Universities themselves recognise this, and have poured a lot of money into providing for leisure and cultural activities on campus. Most universities in Australia have a system of support for student clubs and societies, which always includes religious clubs, as well as sporting and interest societies. The university provides rooms, advertising, and often money for running expenses because it recognises the importance of having other interests in life besides work. In other words, they recognise that it is possible to work too hard. Too often Christian students fall into this trap - the Protestant work ethic and all that - and sadly this tends to lead into careerism (career worship) which in Australia is still the most common way that males leave Christianity.
The right path is obviously to avoid the extremes. You do need to be disciplined and organised. A student who puts one hour a week of study into a subject over twelve weeks will do better than a student who leaves it until just before the exam, and then has to do an 'all-nighter'. Unfortunately, no student is that well disciplined. Actually, the truth is that the entire university process is a learning process which by the end teaches you to be that disciplined. But you will not learn that if you do not work at it.
University days can be the best time of your life. You meet so many different people and ideas. For a start, your mind gets stretched in ways that you never would have imagined possible. You also get exposed to the wider world in a way that never happens when you are stuck in one job with a small number of workmates. It certainly is an exciting time of life.
At university
Many church leaders and Christian parents think of the Christian going to university as something like a lamb going off with the wolves. It is dangerous; a matter for continual concern, needing constant monitoring. The chief danger in their minds is the effect of secular thinking: if non-Christian ways of thinking are allowed to impact on 'young' Christians they will lead them astray, if not out of Christianity completely.
There is some truth in this concern. There are courses where lecturers will teach ideas which are anti-Christian, and perhaps talk about Christianity in a dismissive and patronising tone. However, this is not the sort of thing that happens every day. In fact, in most courses it never happens. Where it does happen, it obviously calls for the right kind of response from the Christian. But the simple fact is that the far greater danger to the young Christian is the call of careerism that I mentioned before, and also the temptation of peer pressure, which of course is not unique to university.
So how is the Christian to approach university? There are two approaches that I have seen in Australia. Both are promoted by churches to varying degrees, but I am going to paint them as two extremes in order to bring out some important points.
The first approach, which I call insulate, encourages students to 'cotton-wool' themselves from the world. This means not getting too involved with non-Christian students or staff, but finding your friendships and support entirely within your church. It also means that you do not believe anything you hear, but instead you learn about the relevant topic from the church leaders, who teach a view on the issue as worked out by their favourite author. Then you are supposed to believe this view as dogma, whether or not it seems to you to come to terms with the issues as raised at university. (By the way, there is something quite ironic about this last practice, because the author in question could not have cotton-woolled himself, or he never would have been in a position to write such a book. And quite likely he would be very surprised to find his theories dogmatised.)
The second approach, I call engage. This approach encourages students to get involved with other Christian students, with non-Christians, to engage with secular ideas and to see university as an opportunity for evangelism.
This approach means firstly that you get involved with the Christian group on campus, and take the chance to study the Bible at a level appropriate to university. This inevitably will lead to a focus on evangelism, which in turn requires you to be involved with non-Christians.
Making friends
In all courses there is ample opportunity to make friends with non-Christians. Some courses throw you together with a fairly small number of students all working together towards a degree in, say, pharmacy. You will be together in most of your classes in your three or four years. This obviously provides the opportunity to make friends. In other courses, such as arts, you will find yourselves with 20 students for one course, then the next course it will be 30 different students. This provides even greater opportunity to meet new people.
Yet still it takes an effort. The temptation will be for you to stay close with your Christian friends; to always sit with them, have lunch with them, and so on. The great advantage of being a Christian - that you always have ready-made friends - can work against you if it means you never make friends with non-Christians. Make the effort to get to class early, to say something to the person next to you. After all, you have a lot in common , being in the same course.
It also helps if you make a Christian comment in class when appropriate. I do not mean always chiming in at any opportunity, but I do mean that when the lecturer says: 'Of course a Christian would not agree with this' and looks around at the class to see the reaction, that you say something: 'I'm a Christian, and you're right, I don't agree' or 'I'm a Christian, and actually I do agree with that'. You do not have to argue with the class, and you should not try and argue with the lecturer (who has the skills to make sure you never win any argument with him/her). The earlier you say something during the semester, the easier it is.
You would be surprised at the opportunities that simple comments can lead to. Next time when you arrive early to the class, the person next to you will probably make some reference to the fact that you are a Christian, which may lead to further opportunity to talk with them about the gospel of Jesus.
Engaging also leads to the need to think through the issues which challenge or apparently challenge Christianity. It always helps if you can say something in class when everyone is having their turn, and if you have thought about it. Here Christian books and older Christians such as Christian lecturers or pastors can help, but remember, you yourself are best placed to think about the issues because you are in touch with what these particular opponents of Christianity are saying. The author of a book is almost certainly writing about something a bit different. Slavish parroting of some party line on the general issue always fails to engage with the issues being discussed and only serves to alienate you.
As you might expect, engage is the approach that is encouraged by churches that have a strong evangelistic thrust. They are right. University is a great time for evangelism. Students have time to attend meetings, much more than later in life, and it is so easy to turn up at a lecture room at lunch-time that it is actually quite hard for them to think of an excuse not to come. And university is the time in life when people are forming their views about life, and they are listening to different ideas, so the gospel needs to have a presence.
Dangerous for whom?
My experience in Australia is that students are much more likely to drop out of Christianity during their university days when they follow the first approach, insulate, than when they follow the second approach, engage. Actually, my view is that university is a much more dangerous place for non-Christians than for Christians. They are the ones who have to explain why they do not acknowledge Christ as Lord, and in my experience there are many more non-Christians who have become Christians than Christians who have dropped out.
So my advice is, go for it! Engage. Throw yourself fully into the life of a Christian university student. It will probably be the most challenging and exciting time of your life.
Dr. Phil Dowe
Dr. Dowe is a lecturer in the Philosophy Department, University of Tasmania and a member of St John's Presbyterian Church, Hobart.
Home
Archives
Subscriptions
Adverts
Find a church
About us
Contact us
Site Map
Printable