Ephesians 2:19b
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
It took me over two years to find a church when I left home and went to college. The extended time it took me to find a church is a very strange part of my story because before I left home for college, church was a major part of my life. I went to church for youth ministry. I went to church for choir practice. I went to church for Sunday morning service. Sometimes I went to church for Sunday afternoon or (more rarely) Sunday night service. I invited friends, love interests, and perfect strangers to church with me, and when no one in my household was going to church, I’d go to church with an aunt or a neighbor. Sometimes I even rode the church bus to church.
Something inside me always wanted to get to church. From a young age I was drawn there. Maybe it was because, even with all of their flaws, the people at church genuinely tried to show love and attention to kids and youth who attended.
By the time I got to college, I was starting to experiment with the freedom of going to parties and hanging out. Late nights weren’t usually conducive to a Sunday morning worship service, but my going to the occasional party is not the reason it took me so long to find a church in college—a late night never stood in the way of church on Sunday morning. I remember at least one time, in fact it was prom night, that I went straight from the party to the church, but that was rare. Not even partying kept me back from church. There was just something about church that drew me there.
Long before I could point to scriptures that told me the church was my family (…you will know how to conduct yourself in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, I Tim 3:15), it always felt like home to me. No matter what I had done the night before, no matter what city I was in or what family member I might have been visiting out of town, it always felt right for me to find myself in a church on Sunday morning.
But when I got to college, that was no longer the case. I was in no hurry to find a church. When I did find a chapel on campus, that chapel looked like a church, but the life of church wasn’t in it. I took me until junior year to commit to a church and join it. When I did, I immediately started growing spiritually. Maybe it was because the Holy Spirit met me there in my genuine desire to know God better. Whatever it was, I credit church membership (at a good, strong church) with my consistent spiritual growth.
You might be thinking, the church is just a building. I have Christian friends that support me. I don’t have to go to church, and you would be right, technically. I love my Christian friends, just like you love yours, and I love campus ministries, but there’s nothing quite like an actual church—an independent organization that exists solely to help you worship God, grow in your faith, and serve others with the gifts God has given you. When you set o
ut to find a chuch like that, you’ll soon find that church starts to feel like home. If you want to give God your best in college or at any other time in your life, connect yourself with a loving church body.
