A Worldv
I
thought I knew
what was best
for me. I tried
endlessly to convince
my parents that I would
be better off in public
school where I could make
more friends, share God’s love
with people who had never experienced
it, and be involved in the sports and activities that
weren’t offered at my Christian school. My efforts were in
vain. I couldn’t understand my parents’ reasoning because all
I saw were the present circumstances. Eventually, I stopped
questioning and just assumed that it was my responsibility
to attend a Christian school, and do it with a good attitude.
But I was so blind.
Three months after graduation I ventured into the
unknown, leaving all familiarity six hours behind me, to
follow God’s call on my life and attend college. Call me igno-
rant, naïve, or maybe just crazy, but I didn’t expect to run
into much trouble there. Non-Christians don’t attend Chris-
tian colleges, right? Wrong again. Friends partied on the
weekends and got stoned, others told of their plans to sneak
drugs in the dorms, guys took advantage of girls, girls took
advantage of guys, students flunked out of school for lack of
motivation, and others couldn’t quote John 3:16 if their life
depended on it. Seeing all of those things left me confused
and hurting for them. I couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t these
people know God? Don’t they realize they’re disobeying
Him? Haven’t they heard these Bible stories since grade
school? Isn’t this
just common sense?”
But after a very deep
conversation with one
of my peers, I realized
that the answer to all of
those recurring questions was
simply, “no.”
I never fully understood the signifi-
cance of a Christian worldview until that night. As
this young man shared some of his past experiences from
school and home, I listened intently and began to piece it
all together. He wasn’t aware of his worldview at the time,
but he was speaking directly from it. He didn’t realize that
the more he talked, the more he clued me in on his values,
beliefs, and convictions. He didn’t have to define his frame
of reference in order for me to see it pretty clearly.
Essentially, the conversation unfolded something like
this: He spoke, and his worldview said, “I am the most
important person on this campus.” Then I spoke, and my
worldview replied, “God should be the center of our life. The
world does not revolve around us.” He spoke up again, and
his worldview told me, “I care about people, but only if they
have something to offer me, and only if they’re not a burden.”
I spoke back, and my worldview said, “We are called to love
others, put their needs before our own, and expect nothing
in return.” His worldview quickly argued, “Don’t try to tell
me I’m wrong. There can only be one correct view on this,
and it’s mine.” Mine spoke up and answered, “There is a lot
I don’t know, so there’s a chance I am mistaken. I would
s A r ou n d
ve
42
A Student
Testimony