I've had several questions about why I'm attending a secular college, so I thought they warranted a post.The easy answer is that in my position at work I'm going to be required to understand finance, business, mergers and acquisitions, etc. and am pursuing an education which will help me with this. The more difficult answer goes with the question of why a secular college instead of a Christian one. Allow me to explain...
I am wholeheartedly a proponent of Bible colleges and think their value is enormous for young people whether or not they are going to be in a full time ministry position. Bible colleges offer a solid framework of Biblical teaching to help the young person understand the reasons behind what he or she has been taught growing up. It also gives them the opportunity to experience ministry at a larger level than they may have seen at their home church. I think even if a young person wants to be a doctor or an accountant, Bible college should come before their secular education.
Because I'm in a different position in life (married with two kids and a full time job) is would be impractical for me to move to a bible college to pursue an education. I also believe that Christians should be the best they can be in their profession and workplace, and many times this may mean obtaining an education from a secular school where the quality of training is higher (Bible colleges don't typically specialize in areas like business). Having a solid Bible background, I don't consider myself at risk for being indoctrinated with worldly philosophies and can therefore glean the knowledge I need like how to analyze spreadsheets and financial statements without changing my believe system or losing my faith in God. Again, I think Christian young people must be VERY careful when going to a secular school, and should make sure they have solid Bible training before they undertake an endeavor like this. The worlds philosophies can sound very intriguing if you don't know God's Word well enough to see the error in their logic. Please feel free to comment with further questions.
2 comments:
Hey,
I stumbled across your blog, and thought I'd comment. You make a pretty good case for attending secular vs. Christian university. In fact, it is strikingly similar to the case I made before I ended up here at Covenant, a Christian liberal arts college.
My story in a nutshell is that I wanted to go to a liberal arts college, but not to a Christian college because I didn't want to be surrounded only by Christians (I felt like it was, to some degree, ignoring the call to be "in the world" and witnessing to non-believers, etc.). But, then I visited Covenant. And people here were real. And involved in communities that were not just Christian. And they really really knew what they believed- and in whom. Long story short, I knew this was where I should be (for a whole lot of reasons I haven't listed). I thought I was well educated in doctrine and in the Bible, but since coming here, I've realized that by most standards, I barely knew what I was talking about.
Anyway, I didn't intend for that to sound like I'm putting you in the place that I was, just to give a short account of my story. My original intent in posting was to let you know that there are Christian colleges that are not merely "Bible colleges," but are institutions dedicated to real scholarship and to educating students in doctrine. Hope that makes sense and doesn't read like incoherent babble.
I appreciate your comments. I know there are some good Christian Colleges out there that offer business admin degrees, etc., and if I was near one I would definately attend. It sounds like you are doing well and I'm glad.
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