Conclusion

We began by noting that, although the university is a place of preparation for what comes after, it is not only a place of preparation. What students do there can have immediate, significant, and sometimes permanent ramifications. This also means that the university is not a place for spiritual experimentation, or trial and error. It is a place not only for learning, but for doing. You must not only practice, but you must perform. It is not just a place where you learn to do things right, but where you must actually do things right. This is "real" life. A conversion is just as real when it happens in the university as when it happens elsewhere. And the same can be said of apostasy. Positively, this imparts significance and meaning to all that you do even though you are still a student. Negatively, it means that there is no excuse for failure, and that when it happens, there is a price to pay.

We also mentioned that major transitions in our lives force us to reevaluate our priorities. Those who are short-sighted and earthly-minded give preeminence to the new challenges that come into their lives when these transitions occur. Old habits, even good ones, are sometimes abandoned for new ones that we consider expedient. This is one reason why professing believers sometimes backslide from the faith when they enter college, the workforce, or new relationships. However, if our faith is the one constant that we maintain at the center of our lives, then whatever changes occur around it will not affect our priorities, but we will immediately evaluate them in relation to our faith, and consider how our faith can advance in the midst of these new circumstances.

This brings us to another important point. We should not focus on merely maintaining our faith in the university, or in any other situation in which God places us. Our purpose must be to glorify God, to grow in faith, and to advance the kingdom. It is not enough to resist the negative influences of the university, but we must seek to influence it by the wisdom and power of Christ. To do this, we must take aggressive measures to undermine its anti-Christian foundation and introduce to it the light of the gospel. Like many other institutions, the university has a well-established social and political structure, but that is its only strength. It possesses no spiritual or intellectual power by which it can resist Christian ideas.

The same can be said about any other environment. A Christian in the workplace is not just an employee trying to stay a Christian. No, he is a Christian assigned to infiltrate the workplace both to promote his own spiritual growth and to advance the cause of Christ. This is no less true for the Christian housewife. After all, the housewife is in the "real" world, and what she does matters.

Finally, although we have focused on only a few things, the changes that occur for a student include more than the obvious points concerning spirituality and academics. He must also consider his relationships, finances, health, diet, sleep, and so on. As we cannot cover every area here, we must refer the reader to our other materials, encourage his own study and reflection, and commend him to the grace of God.

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