Understanding the Modern American University
Universities are great places for students to spread their wings, to make memories, and to form new connections and lifelong friendships. I have great memories about my time in college. But the American university of today is less and less an environment of robust academic discourse, and more a machine for shaping the ideologies and values of the up-and-coming generation. Making the decision to go to a public university shouldn’t be for everyone. But if you’re making plans to go to college, recognize that you’ll need to double-check the things you’re going to hear in the classroom.
Don’t misunderstand me. Most universities still have a high level of academic excellence. The university is still incredibly valuable for training competent engineers and surgeons. But the university, you need to understand, has virtually no interest in seeking knowledge from God. Some professors you meet won’t be particularly concerned about knowledge at all because they believe that “truth” is whatever you want it to be. Many university researchers will depend exclusively on human resources to guide their inquiry because they have little (if any) regard for divine revelation. Many college hall lecturers will assert their own innovative beliefs and social theories about oppressed-oppressor paradigms and gender identity – and they’ll speak with greater energy and unction than most pastors do when they preach the Christian gospel.
The Effects of the University on College Students
The results, then, shouldn’t be surprising. Most students, without even questioning and wrestling, slowly soak in the university culture and convictions. Many students graduate from the university mistakenly believing that belief in God is somehow anti-science or anti-intellectual. These students come under the persuasion that God is irrelevant – that religion is perhaps even antagonistic to a healthy, flourishing society. Students may even fixate on a few of the objections or accusations that a professor raises against the Christian faith (which reinforces the erroneous idea that religious conviction is something to be ashamed of rather than valued). This is how students become indoctrinated by the university.
I’m not saying that this specific form of indoctrination has been systematically planned out by anyone in particular. I don’t imagine that university administrators are regularly sitting around a table somewhere, devising a scheme to undermine American religiosity. I’m not even saying that “indoctrination,” broadly conceived, is inherently a bad thing. The fact that we still value education in America indicates that we believe that “indoctrination” (teaching people “doctrine”) is a worthwhile pursuit. But what is the substance of that doctrine? Will you follow doctrines for life developed by human innovation, or doctrines granted by divine knowledge? That’s really the issue at stake here.
Are we really comfortable to have universities deciding and dictating what it means to be a truly well-adjusted human being? Do universities even have the tools to make absolute judgments on what our society should or shouldn’t believe? Because this is what’s happening. You may approve or disapprove of this phenomenon. You may be politically liberal or conservative. But everyone recognizes that the university is indoctrinating students with social theories that are unmistakably human in origin. So if you leave your home, your church, and your community to enroll at a public university, be prepared.
Five Tips to Resist Indoctrination
If you or a young Christian you know is heading off to college, let me suggest five ways to attend a public university without being indoctrinated.
1. Determine ahead of time that the Word of God will be the foundation of your life doctrines. (Joshua 24:15; John 6:68; Colossians 2:8)
2. Recognize that all of your professors are human, and the things they teach are not infallible; they are limited in their knowledge and competence, and are able to make mistakes. (Numbers 23:19; Isaiah 40:6-8; 1 Corinthians 3:19-21a).
3. Understand that when scientists appeal to data to defend their position, this isn’t the end of the discussion. The quality of the data depends on the integrity of the experimental design, and the “story” told by the data depends on the interpretation given by the scientific community. This process is often far less straightforward than many people are led to believe.
4. Find a healthy local church near the university, and surround yourself with faithful Christian friends. Because of our human limitations, we aren’t designed to stand on our own. When we hear the atheist’s objections, or when we hear so-called Christians promote a version of the gospel that contradicts God’s moral character, we may have difficulty knowing how to handle these new challenges. As a college freshman, you probably won’t be sufficiently equipped to pick apart the problems with the social theories you’re hearing in class. But chances are, if you have a good church near your college, you’ll find other Christians who know how to deal with the issues you’re wrestling with (and how to maintain a Christ-centered life in the meantime). (Ecclesiastes 4:12; Ephesians 4:15-16)
5. Pray regularly. Bring your anxieties and questions to God. He isn’t afraid of tough questions, because he knows the answers. As you humbly rely on God, and trust in his character, you’ll find that His grace will be sufficient for you in your university years (2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 4:6).
Serving the University as a Church
Since I pastor a church near Central Michigan University, I recognize the challenges for students. I myself graduated from a public university as an undergraduate student and as a Masters student. Since then, the college atmosphere has only grown more difficult for students who hold a Christian worldview. But let me encourage you – keep the faith. Christianity is rational. Christianity is good. Christianity is true. And Christ is worth it.
