A Student Testimony
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 ignorant, naïve, or maybe just crazy, but I didn’t expect to run into much trouble there. Non-Christians don’t attend Christian 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 significance 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 love to hear your perspective.” As we went back and forth, I found myself becoming more and more frustrated. I began to pray, and I begged God to open his eyes to his ignorance.
Then it hit me. He wasn’t only blind; he was deceived. He had spent 19 years developing a worldview that was contradictory to mine. A worldview contradictory to that of God’s Word, and one thirty-minute conversation wasn’t going to simply grant him a completely new worldview.
That night I realized how blessed I truly am. I’m nothing significant, but the fact that I was raised in a Christian school gave me something special—a Christian worldview. My worldview wasn’t developed in a week, a semester or even a year. It was developed throughout my entire K-12 experience. Every day I attended my Christian school, I learned something else about God’s love for me, about what it means to possess integrity, and the true reason as to why I should apply myself to everything I am involved in, including my schoolwork. God might not have opened my friend’s eyes that night, but he sure did open mine, and I will never forget it.
A Christian worldview is not something to be taken lightly. It is not something to ignore. A Christian worldview is capable of giving a person hope, love for others, and the passion needed to pursue big dreams. People who possess a Christian worldview face trials like everyone else, but what I have found is that our worldview gives us a reason to keep going. It gives us a deeper understanding of our circumstances, and most importantly, it gives us the ability to see the world from a biblical perspective.
Editor’s Note: This testimony was written by a 2014 graduate of a Renewanation affiliate school.
Volume 7 Issue 1 - The Renewanation Review