Should I Send My Christian Kid to a Christian College?

This is a follow up to last week’s blog post “What Makes a Christian College Christian?”  It’s all well and good to try and define what a Christian college is but I got to wondering whether or not parents would want to send their Christian kids to a Christian college in the first place.  My initial response would be that you should definitely look into it.  That doesn’t mean that a Christian college will be the best choice for your son or daughter, but they won’t know that for sure without looking into one or two.  Here are some good reasons to do so.

1.     An education with a biblical world view – For me this is one of the most important reasons. It seems many secular schools are becoming little more than echo chambers with a narrow and liberal focus.  Unfortunately there is not a whole lot of diversity of thought.  I realize that is a generalization, and one might argue that Christian schools are echo chambers as well.  That might be the case, but if a school is going to have a narrow focus when it comes to its world view, wouldn’t you want that narrow focus to be based in the truths of scripture?

2.     Students can be with likeminded students – It’s nice for kids to be able to share the same faith and values.  That being said, I should note that just because they share the same faith and values that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for plenty of diversity.  Christian kids can be Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, NASCAR fans or ballet fans, into sports or into the theatre, upper income class or lower income class, Baptist or Episcopal, and so on.  In the midst of all those differences it’s nice to share the same faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.   

3.     Lots of opportunities to grow in your Christian faith – Between ministry opportunities, short term mission trips, inner-city service projects, special worship services, chapel, and bible studies, there is no shortage of opportunities for Christian kids to grow in their faith at a Christian school.  I readily admit there are opportunities for kids to grow in their faith at secular schools as well.  Especially if it’s a larger school down south.  Through organizations like Intervarsity and Cru students can easily find a good Christian environment.  At other schools it can be a bit more difficult.  Can a kid grow in their faith at a small New England college with little to no Christian clubs or organizations?  Yes they can, but they would definitely have to make more of an effort.  Ultimately, whether or not a Christian college kid grows in their faith during their four years of college depends on just how much they want to.  If they are at a place where they are not taking their faith very seriously than it probably doesn’t matter much where they go.  I was a youth pastor for 17 years and during that time I saw plenty of kids go off to secular schools and end up thriving in their faith and I saw plenty of kids going to Christian schools and end up struggling in their faith.  But in general the ones who went to Christian schools tended to flourish in their Christian faith more (for numerous reasons).

Some of you as parents at this point might be saying to yourself “I would love for my kid to look into a Christian school but I just don’t think he or she is interested.”  Here is my suggestion for you.  Encourage them to look into a Christian school anyway.  Notice I said encourage and not force.  There’s always that delicate balance between it being your son or daughter’s decision and it being your money.  As parents you have the right to gently nudge them in a direction you think is good for them.  I would simply say up front that part of the process will include looking at and applying to at least two Christian schools.  You are not forcing them to go to any particular school but you are at least exposing them to that option.  And let’s face it; most kids really don’t know what they want when it comes to looking at colleges.  They may not think they want to go to a Christian school but once they visit one they could totally change their mind. 

For me personally, my son is currently in his freshmen year at a Christian school down South.  He applied to two Christian schools and two secular schools.  I’m thankful that he seems to be doing quite well.  My daughter is a junior in high school and we are starting the search process all over again with her.  I don’t know if she will end up at a Christian college or not.  All I know is I will follow my own advice in this blog and pray……… a lot!

What Makes A Christian College Christian?

I was with a group of fellow pastors the other day and we were talking sports. Somehow the conversation turned to Baylor University and their not so positive headlines lately.  This led to a discussion around Baylor being a Christian college.  I wasn’t so sure but I did end up learning about many points of Christian emphasis at Baylor from one of the guys who had close ties to the university.  For that I was thankful.  The whole conversation got me thinking though; what makes a Christian college Christian?  I’ve managed to come up with two requirements.

1.     For a Christian college to be Christian it must advertise as being Christian. – Let’s face it; if a school isn’t even willing to advertise itself as a Christian school than why should the rest of the world consider it so.  Is being a Christian school a point of emphasis on their brochures and website?  Does it have a motto that is distinctly Christian?  I believe there should be something (if not many things) on the homepage of their website that communicates that they are Christian.  It’s all well and good if you can go to a tab and find out about their many student ministries and a thriving religious life, but that’s not the same as distinctly proclaiming itself as a Christian school.

2.     The staff, faculty, and board members need to be Christian. – These are the people who promote the school, run the school, and teach the students.  If they are not Christian than the overall emphasis of the school and education is not going to end up Christian either. 

So that’s it.  Just those two requirements are what are needed in my opinion to be a Christian school.  A couple other issues did come to mind though.

1.     What about requiring chapel?  I think that is more of a philosophical issue.  Personally I think a Christian college should have some sort of chapel requirement.  It doesn’t have to be overly strict, but something that manages to get students together for worship at least once a week.  That being said, there are many in my family who attended North Park University in Chicago (A Christian school by my definition above) and they take pride in knowing that their chapels are not required but many students attend anyway out of their desire to grow in their faith and to encourage the numerous students who are involved in running it.

2.     What about Christian Codes of Conduct? – In other words, what about rules that encourage/force students to follow a particular school’s understanding of what it means to live a Christian life?  When you think about it, all schools have rules.  The Christian ones just tend to be a bit more thorough.  To me that is a good thing.  So many secular schools have gotten carried away with trying to be amoral about how they run their schools that they end up doing things that make little to no sense.  I mean come on; who in their right mind thinks having co-ed bathrooms is a good idea?  Someone was telling me the other day that their kid’s school has a rule that a person of the opposite sex can only stay overnight for up to 3 nights in a row, and then they have to stay in their own room for a night.  Really?!?  How’s the third wheel roommate feeling about that rule?  But back to rules for Christian living in Christian schools.  Of course that’s a good idea, but you need to find what makes the most sense to you.  I personally am not a fan of the overly fundamental Christian schools with strict rules, dress codes, curfews, etc.  The more fundamental they are, the more the student is living in a Christian bubble and not the real world.  That being said, I know many people who have attended Liberty University, and who currently attend there and they have no problem whatsoever with Liberty’s stricter rules and they love the experience they had or are having there.  They knew what they were getting into and that’s how they wanted it.  In summary, any Christian school is going to have a code of conduct with a Christian emphasis.  It’s up to the student (and parents) to decide how comfortable they are with its level of strictness.  Allow me to suggest my alma-matter’s (Gordon College) old motto as what I think is a good guideline to life on a Christian campus.  It was “Freedom within a Framework of Faith.”  I think they followed that pretty well with their conduct codes.  Enough rules to emphasize Christian living, but not so many that it felt like you were not in the real world.

So I have no idea if this was helpful or interesting for anyone reading it.  It was just something I was thinking about.  I almost became a guidance counselor instead of a pastor, so maybe that’s where this blog entry is coming from.  If you’ve managed to stick with me to the end, perhaps you will also enjoy my next entry – "Should I Send My Christian Kid to A Christian School?"  Stay tuned.