A Temporary Fix

A few weeks ago, I reached out to my former campus ministry colleagues to ask for any stories of Christian high school graduates asking them to meet during summer orientation in order to connect with believers on campus before they arrive. I wanted to put a couple of these in my upcoming book, Is Your Faith Ready for College? I received a couple from folks who had met students at orientation, but it was not arranged beforehand. Only one came close to what I wanted—the daughter of a campus minister who arranged for her to meet a campus minister while at orientation.

Out of hundreds of campus ministers, only one story of a student (or their parent) taking initiative to meet with a campus minister before the fall semester. My experience was similar. I can recall only two instances where I was contacted to meet with students before they arrived on campus. For most campus ministers, most of the new students they meet are during the first weeks of the fall semester.

Now compare this to the fact that a majority of Christian students leave the faith sometime in college. Is there a connection? I believe so.

The number one priority of college freshmen is making friends because they don’t want to sit alone in their dorm room while they believe others are out having a good time. If they don’t already know some Christians on campus, they are highly likely to develop their first friendships with unbelievers and do the things they do. That can easily lead to a spiritual trainwreck.

That is the reason I wrote my new book (hopefully being published in April or early May) in order to help high school graduates have connections with Christians before they arrive on campus. Most parents and students don’t give much thought to what I call spiritual resources when considering colleges to attend. Typically, it is summer orientation where the first inkling of interest occurs, and it is mom and dad that are usually the ones trying to find information. As the statistics demonstrate, this is an ineffective way of getting teens spiritually ready for college.

Instead, there are two things needed. One is for parents to intentionally disciple their children throughout their childhood and teen years. Currently, Christian students coming to campus do not have solid spiritual foundations on which to rely when they face the challenges of college life. They are spiritually vulnerable and often isolated from other believers. They are perfect prey for the devil (I Peter 5:8), as are vulnerable and isolated animals to prowling lions. By discipling our kids from a young age, we are training them how to defend themselves against the enemy. 

However, the reality is that the majority of Christian parents are not discipling their kids. Rather, they are letting the church take that responsibility. And this will take a long time to change even if parents across the country change right now. So, we need a temporary fix.

We need to make sure our spiritually vulnerable high schoolers begin to line up their spiritual resources at the colleges they are considering attending. This is where Is Your Faith Ready for College? (WARNING: Shameless plug coming!) can be a valuable tool. It provides the guidance needed to make sure spiritual resources are in place when these freshmen arrive on campus. They will already know some Christian college students; they will be familiar with one or more campus ministries; and they will know about a church or two they want to check out. All of these connections will help assure that they have Christian community available to them from DAY ONE of college. I believe this can help students resist the temptation of hanging out with all the wrong people during those early weeks of their first semester.

However, it is only a temporary fix. What is truly needed is to return discipleship of children and teens back to the home where the Scriptures are clear it belongs (Deuteronomy 4:9; 6:4-9; Ephesians 6:4). We need to attack this problem at both ends. I am trying to do my part by providing the resources to do this. What we need now are parents willing and intent to do their part and for churches to help them to have the tools to do it.

© Jim Musser 2023 All Scripture references are from the New International Version, 2011.