"The cost of sending a young person to a state university will, in many cases, be a life marked by ambivalence toward spiritual things"

For many students, Christian college may be necessary due to 1) an extended adolescence and 2) a meager diet of God’s Word—all of it—from the pulpits and in the families.

This. And I say that as a family leader who suspects he’s at least partially guilty of cultivating #1 in his children as well as not overcoming #2 for my family.

My oldest is a HS senior this year. MBBC, my alma mater, is one of the schools we’ve looked at. Their persistence with this (probably well-intended but misguided) tack is very disappointing to me. It borders on determinism.

The factors that influence young people are far too complex to try to make a connection between where they go to school and their choice to ‘fall away’ from Christ.

It is also a bit disingenuous to imply that Christian college campuses have been washed from all immorality and challenges to one’s faith.

What if the take away from this is that parents aren’t providing their children with a firm foundation at home? That their churches are not equipping them for the work of the ministry? Or that children who make professions of faith when young weren’t truly regenerated to begin with?

I think Christian colleges are fine for providing an education in an atmosphere where students can take certain things for granted. One certainly can learn more in a less stressful environment. But personal responsibility and a solid doctrinal foundation should be ingrained into young people by parents and church, because no one is going to hold their hand when they get older and have to go to work in a place where people are blatantly immoral and hostile to Christianity, where they will be ridiculed, they will share space and even a company washroom with the opposite sex, and where drinking, drug use, and sexual immorality are accepted and encouraged.

I thought the article had some valid points and should not be dismissed out of ad hominem accusations. There are serious risks being taken when we place our young people in very hostile environments void of common grace. I would normally recommend a Christian college education. I know how beneficial it was to me personally, Three of my four children have attended a Christian college. I can say that the experience they received at the Christian college or university was very beneficial to them in every way. The dangers mentioned in the article are real and should not be dismissed lightly. My children have also attended secular schools in their graduate education. I realize that there are times or occasions when this might be necessary. I would advise every parent to take every precaution necessary to protect and strengthen their children in such an environment. Temptation in these environments can be overwhelming. The statistics cited in the article speak volumes.

[Shaynus]

Some trust in chariots, and some in institutions of higher learning, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

The truth is that parents who surrender their kids to programs and institutions to raise them up will be disappointed. I grew up at Bob Jones since the day I was born. I have a group of friends that I grew up with some of whom are serving the Lord today, and others have abandoned the faith completely. There are PLENTY of students who go through state schools with their faith intact. It seems to me the difference is mostly that parents have to put teaching their children into higher gear: when they rise up, and going on the way, and every other time.

While everyone agrees some Christians who go to secular colleges remain faithful to the Lord and some students attending Christian colleges abandon their faith, and everyone agrees that the primary responsibility remains parental, do think a young adult professing Christ is more likely to be discipled in the faith and encouraged in their sanctification in a Christian college setting or a secular one? With all the anecdotes about secular college successes and Christian college failures, that is still the core question. Which setting is best equipped and most likely to help a young adult continue maturing as a disciple of Christ?

Chip,

What are the two institutions God ordained to carry out discipleship? Are those two institutions sufficient to succeed in that mission?

do [you] think a young adult professing Christ is more likely to be discipled in the faith and encouraged in their sanctification in a Christian college setting or a secular one? … Which setting is best equipped and most likely to help a young adult continue maturing as a disciple of Christ?

[Chip Van Emmerik] Which setting is best equipped and most likely to help a young adult continue maturing as a disciple of Christ?

Answer: A good local church

A repost of sorts, but valid for the discussion at hand - HERE.

[Jay]

You mean…people that are unsaved do sinful things like drugs, gambling and sleeping with whomever they want?
You mean…there’s a whole bunch of people out there that don’t love God and live for themselves?
You mean…that there is a whole sin-filled environment that we’re sending our kids into and we can’t keep them in our hermetic bubbles?

I’m Shocked…SHOCKED, I say.

/humor

Seriously - if someone is affected by that ad enough to send them to BCM as a result…they’ve got some serious issues.

While everyone agrees some Christians who go to secular colleges remain faithful to the Lord and some students attending Christian colleges abandon their faith, and everyone agrees that the primary responsibility remains parental, do you think a young adult professing Christ is more likely to be discipled in the faith and encouraged in their sanctification in a Christian college setting or a secular one? With all the anecdotes about secular college successes and Christian college failures, that is still the core question. Which setting is best equipped and most likely to help a young adult continue maturing as a disciple of Christ?

http://sharperiron.org/article/cars-and-christian-schools-rigor-and-lea…

Furthermore, how did it become an objective of Christian schools to “produce a better quality of Christian”? Are the home and the church, the institutions established by God, inadequate for the task?

[rogercarlson]

I think part of it goes back to where your kids went to high school. My daughter graduated from public high school, and she made big stands for her faith there. She is used to that. But by the time she leves junior college, she wont have to be in the dorms anyway. The other stuff, she deals with now. All of you made the other points that Iw ould have made.

While everyone agrees some Christians who go to secular colleges remain faithful to the Lord and some students attending Christian colleges abandon their faith, and everyone agrees that the primary responsibility remains parental, do you think a young adult professing Christ is more likely to be discipled in the faith and encouraged in their sanctification in a Christian college setting or a secular one? With all the anecdotes about secular college successes and Christian college failures, that is still the core question. Which setting is best equipped and most likely to help a young adult continue maturing as a disciple of Christ?

[Charlie]

My favorite part of the ad was the scare quotes for “elite” schools, as if Harvard and Stanford and such simply pretend to offer superior educational opportunities. They bribe the judges! Don’t be fooled! Instead, get a real education at our “Christian” school.

On another note, you must be doing something wrong if the only selling point for your school is something definitional, like a Christian school being Christian. I can’t wait to see the ad for West Coast Baptist. “Come visit! We’re on the West Coast! And we’re Baptist!”

Do you really think this is the only selling point Maranatha has? Do you argue that it shouldn’t be among the selling points? Do you think a young adult professing Christ is more likely to be discipled in the faith and encouraged in their sanctification in a Christian college setting or a secular one? This is the core questions. Which setting is best equipped and most likely to help a young adult continue maturing as a disciple of Christ?

[Jim]

Briefly comment because my own (or my wife’s) was 40 years ago (University of Cincinnati for me and Florida State for her)

Maranatha said:

But, please consider for a moment just what your young person will be facing every day:

• Peers with a view of faith and morality that is ambivalent at best, antagonistic at worst.
• Professors who decry Christianity as “intolerant” and intellectually bankrupt.
• Fellow students who will question, and often ridicule, those with conservative lifestyle standards.
• A dormitory where they will be forced to share a bathroom, floor, or even their room with someone of the opposite sex.
• A social atmosphere where drinking, drug abuse, and immorality are encouraged and even expected.

Observations:

• Two of my children managed to attend and graduate without being in the dorm
• Dormitory: Daughter graduated 5 years ago from St school. Was in a dorm for 1st year. She never experienced this
• On peers. Really this is no different than life after college. But there are Christians at the secular college. Christians can choose peers with whom to associate
• On social atmosphere. See peers

While everyone agrees some Christians who go to secular colleges remain faithful to the Lord and some students attending Christian colleges abandon their faith, and everyone agrees that the primary responsibility remains parental, do you think a young adult professing Christ is more likely to be discipled in the faith and encouraged in their sanctification in a Christian college setting or a secular one? With all the anecdotes about secular college successes and Christian college failures, that is still the core question. Which setting is best equipped and most likely to help a young adult continue maturing as a disciple of Christ?

Copy-n-paste bot took over the account?

My oldest kid is only 9, so please understand I’m not facing these issues right now. Having said that …

I think it really comes down to when adulthood begins. I’m not talking about individual maturity, but the general age at which we need to begin treating our children as adults. The idea that our children aren’t “adults” until they graduate college at age 22 is just plain silly to me. I joined the military and married at 18, had two children by age 22, and was a Watch Commander in a military police detachment when I was 19. I served with many people my age who did similar things. So, the idea that our kids must be protected from the “evil world” until age 22 is just nonsense, in my experience.

I was being a bit sarcastic earlier when I said we shouldn’t hermetically seal our kids in theological tupperware, but there was a nugget of truth there also. They need to be enabled to act like adults, and that means making the Christian faith their own, and dealing with tough decisions and overcoming temptations. If they’re not ready by 18 then (1) I’ve done something wrong and (2) they have a lot of growing up to do.

Chip: You asked “Which setting is best equipped and most likely to help a young adult continue maturing as a disciple of Christ?”

I answered “the church” which really wasn’t one of the answers you sought.

My observations are these:

• I have a lot of confidence in Maranatha and Faith (fundy schools near me). I applaud both schools for being regionally accredited. I think BJU is a very good school despite not being regionally accredited yet! I expressed on some other thread on S/I that I think PCC is the best “value” for fundamentalist schools because the tuition rates are the the lowest (subsidized I would imagine by the A-Beka division)
• From the non-fundy orb, I like Cedarville and Cornerstone
• The decision of where to send a young adult for college is a very personal one - best made by a mother & father and the young adult in question
• I find it unfortunate that the Christian college vs the secular college is yet another divisive issue in our churches - and again I believe the decision is best left with the family
• I find the the common decision model of the youth pastor recommending colleges to be severely flawed - what qualifies the Y/P to make that recommendation?! Additionally I find that some churches have a certain herd mentality where the vast majority of the xx (year) class will go to Northland … 3 years later it is Maranatha … et cetera.
• Looking around my own church - 4th Baptist in Plymouth. This is what I find:
  • Northland was the “go to” place for a number of years. No more! Before that it was Pillsbury (which of course itself is no more!)
  • For Christian colleges: Faith, Clearwater CC, Maranatha, & PCC. BJU (seems to be waning as a choice - but consider the distance!)
  • We have many students who start at the community college: Anoka Ramsey, Hennepin County etc
  • Many go to “the U” (which for us is the University of Minnesota). I know of 3 in our church studying engineering at the U
  • Some go the military route - We have 3 young men in the Marines .. 1 in the Army
  • We had a young adult (25-40 year old) fellowship last night. There were grads from all of the above colleges in addition to Cornerstone. Another did 2 years at PCC … finished a the U of North Dakota and has an MBA from the U of Minn. Another Bachelor’s and MBA from Augsburg College. Another from University of Northwestern – St. Paul, The man who started at PCC expressed to me that he felt his education there was weak. The Cornerstone grad started out at a fundy school (named in the list above) but couldn’t stand the rules and left after 1 year
• I don’t see a “one sized-fits-all” approach to be viable!