How do I survive as a Christian at university?
Oli Bugden
Coming to University for the first time can be really daunting. It's a world of new opportunities, new people, new places, but also new challenges... maybe living alone for the first time, maybe even cooking for yourself for when your current culinary repertoire includes little more than beans on toast and a can of lager...
So what happens to your faith? It's a big step to leave the church that you may have grown up in, or to move away from supportive Christian friends, or of no longer living under the roof of expectant parents. At University you have to own your faith for yourself, whether you've done that before or not.
So what are you going to do?
Freshers' Week is the most surreal week of your life. Everyone's in the same position of wanting to settle in quickly, make the right impression, find people who they think that they can be friends with, find their way around the university and city, and be seen to be going to all the right pubs and clubs. It's easy for Christians to think that we won't be as easily accepted by their flat-mates if they know that we are Christians. However, it is really important that we are open about our faith from the very start. It can be really hard to tell people that we are Christians when we don't know what people's reactions will be. The longer that you leave it though, the harder it becomes. Most likely you will find reactions of intrigue, from people who have never met a Christian before, or who used to go to church themselves, or of indifference, thanks to our postmodern culture. Thus, we don't need to think twice before telling people that we've just been to a church event or visited the Christian Union...
Which brings me to the best and most important advice that anyone could possibly give a student going to University for the first time - get stuck into a church. Don't delay. Get to church. A church which teaches the Bible and can support and encourage you as you seek to live for Jesus at University. Go to the Christian Union and get involved there too. Joshua, one of the most blessed of God's leaders, gave this advice on how to live: Only be very careful...to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul (Joshua 22 v.5). That's no less relevant to Christians at University in Sheffield now, than it was to Israelites moving into their own land then.
Christ Church Central aims to help and equip you as you seek to follow Joshua's advice. We would love to welcome you at any of our Sunday meetings or student meetings - see the students page for more details.