Coming onto a college campus as a newly devoted Christian was nothing like I thought it would be. Okay, I guess I overestimated the ease I would have being a Christian living on a college campus whose majority population was not, in fact, Christian. I thought I would have more time for God, be instantly surrounded by community, and have fellowship with other Christians that could keep me held accountable for my faith.
As you can guess, that was not the case.
I saw my friends who were already in college and follow Jesus, and it looked like they were rocking it; to me it looked like they had a bunch of Christian friends with their perfect, artsy Instagram pics with a Bible verse as the caption. It hit me hard when I got here that nothing was like that.
Being a college student is hard, and being a Christian college student is harder. As a college student you're expected to get good grades, go to class, study, have friends, have a social life, have and keep a job, volunteer, and, oh yeah, sleep, everybody forgets about that one! As a Christian, college student you have the regular duties of a college student, but don't forget about church on Sunday, making time each day for devotionals and prayers, probably being in a Bible study or small group once or twice a week, and living every single second of your life attempting to be an obedient disciple of God.
Sounds exhausting? It is.
I'll come clean with you guys. The first couple weeks of college were not my strongest times in my relationship with God. Did I go crazy by partying and getting drunk every night? No. But I lost communication with my Heavenly Father because school came into play and was starting to squeeze Him into a lesser and lesser important spot in my daily life. I struggled with trying to decide what church I wanted to go to and what kind of Christian organizations I wanted to spend pouring my time and effort on. I was so nervous with making these decisions that I ended up procrastinating, pushing me further away from God.
The hardest part was not having that accountability support that I had with my friends back home. Nobody was there to ask me how my relationship with God was doing or if I went to church on Sunday. Everybody around me wasn't nose deep in their Bibles and making sure they get to bed early on Saturday night to get to bed for church early the next morning. The world on a college campus is so much different than the one you came from at home, and I presume it is even bigger after college (I haven't made it that far yet, I'll let you guys know when I do, stay tuned).
The day I moved in, I instantly was submerged into a different world. I was around all sorts of people with different religions, backgrounds, and beliefs. This was hard for me to take in. It's still hard to walk around and know most of these people don't know and love Jesus Christ like I'm used to.
Being in an environment where not everybody is Christian has really helped me grow in my faith. Don't laugh, I'm being serious. It makes you work harder for your relationship with God and finding that fellowship He wants us to have. I believe with all my heart that we have two missions one this earth. One is to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ Our Savior and the other is to praise all glory to God by worshiping Him and diving deeper everyday into His word. Being on a campus where people are lost and dead in their sin is allowing me to serve Our Lord and spread His good news that we are forgiven and have eternal life!
Will I go crazy and march around campus with a sign that says, "You're going to Hell! Repent now!" No. But I will always put my best effort into spreading love into others just as my Savior has.
If you're a Christian trying to survive on a campus that's not a majority of Christians, I encourage you to not lose hope! Don't lose hope on your faith and don't lose hope on others. Just because they haven't seen their Savior yet just means you have the opportunity to serve our Lord and help them see what you see, and I think it is the most important thing on this world.
"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love." -Galations 5:13
