Why College Faith Needs the Church

Written by Jordan Vinh

If I had to pinpoint a period of my life that was most transformative for my faith, it would be college. I was blessed to be raised in a Christian household, but when you grow up in the church, it can be challenging to delineate between your parents’ faith and your own. I believed in God, went to church every Sunday, and engaged with Scripture and prayer, but it was also easy to do so – if life was a river, being Christian was like swimming with the current.

I think for most people who grow up in a Christian household, college is the first true test of faith. Suddenly, being a Christian is like fighting against the current, because most people aren’t like you. Going to parties and getting drunk is no longer something that just the popular kids do – it’s something that everyone does, and not participating means that you’re missing out on the “college experience”. In certain programs, test scores, extracurriculars, and internships become the measure of one’s worth, and spending time in Scripture and prayer can easily become an afterthought amidst the endless slew of obligations. Every single person who comes into college as a Christian will inevitably be forced to consider whether their faith is worth fighting for. And the sad reality is that about half of the Christians I met in my freshman year are now either Christian only in name or have rejected their faith altogether. 

There is a bright side, though. Those who choose to fight for their faith will find that it grows tremendously. For me, college was where I began to think critically about my faith, engage in discipleship, and serve in a Christian community. If it weren’t for the people I met and the experiences I had in college, I think Christianity would still be something I do and feel instead of something that I am. 

Perhaps the most unique part of being a Christian in college is the chance to join a college fellowship. At different points in my college journey, I was part of Cru, Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), and Asian InterVarsity (AIV). Each shaped and challenged my faith in a different way, and I wouldn’t be who I am today without them. The transformative power of engaging with a campus ministry cannot be understated.

But college ministries have their shortcomings as well. The fact that everyone is experiencing the same pressures from school can make fellowships a bit of an echo chamber, leading to the normalization of things like skipping church or small group to study. A bit of perspective is usually enough to combat this, but the problem is that when all the Christians you know are fellow college students, there’s nobody to give you that perspective. As a result, most people know that they should resist the pressures of college, but don’t know why or how.

I also think that college ministries unintentionally teach students that a strong Christian community means finding people who are similar to you, whether that be cultural background, life stage, or even professional interests. But I think that’s the complete opposite of the Bible’s vision for the Church:

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-24, NIV)

I think the reason that we tend to gravitate towards people like us is because we view differences as a source of awkwardness and conflict. It’s hard to relate to those who have different backgrounds or are in different stages of life, and differences can lead to misunderstanding and conflict. But to Paul, they’re absolutely crucial to the effectiveness and growth of the Church and the individuals within it. Differences are a strength, not a weakness.

For me in college, church was a place, not a people. It was where I went with everyone else in my college ministry to worship and listen to a sermon, but meeting people outside my bubble was never a priority. As such, the prospect of making a church my primary community after graduation was foreign and daunting to me. Yet here at Waypoint, some of my closest friends are twice my age, are from overseas, or working in completely different fields than I am. And precisely because they’re so different from me, they’re able to offer me wisdom, support, and perspective far beyond anything I had in college. 

To any college students reading this, I implore you to not only attend a church, but to become part of one. Yes, it’s much easier to just stick with other college students. But God often works best when we step outside of our comfort zones. 

As I step into my new role as a college ministry intern at Waypoint, I am striving towards a future where college students find not only a church, but also a home at Waypoint. To everyone who is reading this, I hope you’ll join me in that mission by engaging with students who visit and take active steps to integrate them into our community.