5 Solid Reasons College Freshman Need to Be Part of a Local Church

1. Fellowship and Accountability

The freedoms you have as a college student come with increased temptations and distractions. If you are not careful, you can easily get caught up in the environment and succumb to the new influences and pressures around you. One way to counter that is by being part of a local church.

When I began college, I remember asking God to provide me with Christian friends because most of my friends in high school were not and sometimes that environment challenged my walk with the Lord. Looking back on my high school years, I recognize now that I didn’t always shine the best light for Christ. In college, I was determined to connect with other believers because I wanted to have a much different experience.

I went to college locally and made a point to get involved in the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship on campus. While this was not a church, my experience there helped me recognize the importance of fellowship and accountability among other Christians. Since I was still involved in my home church, this became my home-away-from-home and helped me tremendously in my walk with the Lord.

A local church offers you the opportunity to meet like-minded people who can help you navigate the new experiences of college in light of your relationship with Jesus. It is great to know you have a support system you can connect with – people who can pray for you and help you stay encouraged in your walk with the Lord. For me, connecting with other believers helped me immensely when I was in college and as a young college student. I don’t know if my college experience would have been the same without it.

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2. A Place to Counterbalance Different Worldviews

On a college campus, you are going to be exposed to a variety of worldviews. Some of these may really challenge your faith and everything you believe. Sometimes wrestling with these truths can feel overwhelming, and if you do it in isolation, it can shake your faith. I remember a student in my college days who professed to be a believer and then got so wrapped up in philosophy that he walked away from his faith. That’s where a local church has the potential to help.

While some believers treat questioning your faith or having doubts as the end of the world, I don’t think these are problems; they are opportunities. Hopefully, you will find a local church that will help you navigate through these questions of faith and not condemn you for having them. Remember, those who were following Jesus had many questions, and he didn’t disparage them, he addressed them. With some ideologies expressed in college, you will need a safe space to help find answers to them.

Being part of a local church serves as a counterbalance to these influences and hopefully will be that safe space for you. When challenged by the philosophies of this world, it is good to know you are not alone and there is a community which can help you stay anchored in biblical truth and resist the pressure to conform to the surrounding culture.

Romans 12:2 urges us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The local church helps you live out this transformation, even within a challenging environment.

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3. The Opportunity to Develop Your Gifts

God has placed within each person certain gifts and talents. One place you can discover those gifts is in the local church. When I was in my first year of college and still attending the church I had grown up in, one of the Sunday School teachers decided she would not teach anymore. The reason behind her decision was the kids in the class she was teaching were so bad they drove her away from teaching after many years. During this time, they were looking for a replacement teacher and they could not find one because no one wanted to teach these twelve-year-old kids. After a while of them not being able to find a teacher, I volunteered to do it. This one act helped me discover a gift of teaching that I did not know I had. If I had not been part of the local church, I would have missed this opportunity to discover, grow, and develop my gift.

There are gifts and talents within people that need an opportunity to be expressed. The local church should give you that opportunity to do just that. It may come with very humble or simple beginnings, but who knows how God will develop and use that gift over time.

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4. The Opportunity for Discipleship

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

We know this as The Great Commission and the command to make disciples. However, discipleship does not happen in isolation and it does not happen by accident. For discipleship to happen, there are two components necessary. You need someone who wants to be discipled and someone who wants to do the discipling. This is something that can happen in the local church. I won’t say this can’t happen outside of the local church, however I strongly believe this is one of the primary functions of the local church.

When God saved us, he intentionally intended for us to grow in community. This is true of the young college freshman or the older believer. We all need community and we all need discipleship. The local church gives you the opportunity to grow in community with others as you pursue your relationship with the Lord.

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5. To Help You Discover God’s Plan for Your Life

As a college freshman, you’re likely thinking a lot about your future — what major to choose and what career path to follow. Part of that consideration should also be what is God’s plan for your life. College can help you with personal and professional development, and when you combine that with the support of a local church it can be instrumental in helping you discover your ultimate purpose in Christ.

Ephesians 2:10 reminds us, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." When you consider God’s plan for your life, an aspect of that is discovering where he is leading you. That means your vocation (the work you do) and your location (where you do it).

Being in college is a great opportunity to help figure these things out, but don’t be discouraged if you are still unsure after four years. The most important thing is to use that time to continue to grow in your walk with the Lord as you discover the plan he has for you. Being part of a local church can potentially help you as you seek out that plan.

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What Should You Look for in a Local Church?

I thought it would be fitting to answer this question, because if you are going to be part of a local church, then what should you look for in that local church? While this is not an all-inclusive list, here are some core elements that you should look for in a local church.

A good local church:

• Is committed to the teaching and preaching of the word of God.
• Actively shares the gospel and points people to Jesus as their hope of salvation
• Serves the community they are in
• Encourages your personal relationship with Jesus
• Believes in the power of prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit
• Loves people and is willing to walk with them in their journey with Jesus
• Seeks to disciple people and help them grow in their walk with the Lord

If you can find these things in a local church, then that church is most likely built on a solid foundation.

Regardless of where you go, make it a matter of importance to be part of a local church. As Christians, you will always grow more in community than isolation, and that is what the local church is supposed to do. Finally, don’t go looking for a perfect church because it does not exist. As the old saying goes, if you do find a perfect church, don’t join it because you are going to mess it up. That should not discourage you but remind you when the local church is doing the things God has called them to do it can be a tremendous asset in your journey with Jesus.

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