Before heading off to college, I took a road trip. Feeling like a rebel in my beige 1984 Buick Century, I drove down a winding country road in my hometown with the Whitesnake classic, here I go again, blaring from the radio:
“Tho’ I keep searching for an answer,
I never seem to find what I’m looking for
Oh Lord, I pray
You give me strength to carry on,
‘Cos I know what it means
To walk along the lonely street of dreams
An’ here I go again on my own
Goin’ down the only road I’ve ever known,
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.”
The problem was that I wasn’t that cool in a Buick. I had dreams, especially as I headed off to college, but I was not going to survive as a drifter or alone.
There were new possibilities and new opportunities at college, but were they going to connect me with Christ?
Thankfully, I connected with a Christian community that pushed me to be more like Christ.
Proverbs 13:20 (NIV), “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
Today, we are socially connected but rarely have true community.
Students put in headphones and just keep walking. A few connect with campus groups or simply stick to the two to three friends they meet at the beginning of the semester.
Whether it is your first semester or you’re a returning upperclassman or even a ministry leader, you have an opportunity to find or go deeper with a true Christian community.
Take the initiative.
As a freshman or even an upperclassman, it takes initiative to check out a new group.
Even if you are an introvert or came to college knowing no one, find a campus ministry or church to get involved in.
You have to put yourself out there to meet new friends and be challenged.
Invite others to be a part of the community.
Often when we find a Christian community, we are so excited to be involved that we solely focus on going deep with the friends in that group.
We forget that there are others on campus who are also longing for community.
Let us not neglect to look outward, to the campus, to offer community to others who are seeking it.
So are you going to walk alone or take practical steps to find community this fall?
