Here’s a snippet from Chapter 3: The Entourage:
This natural progression happens on every college campus in the country. A freshman arrives at college with great anticipations of living for Jesus. This freshman had a high school graduation service at her church where she received a Bible, a devotional book for graduates, and was featured in a graduate recap video. During the service, her pastor challenged them to live for Jesus in college, and the majority of those graduating honestly had that desire.
Then she actually gets to college where it’s hard to follow Christ. A couple of her church friends went to the same school, so she has a security blanket. Over time, she comes into contact with certain classmates who are having the time of their lives in college. As she begins to get to know some of those people, she realizes that they don’t live for God, but she still likes hanging out with them, and she desperately doesn’t want to be alone. All of a sudden, it moves past being acquaintances, and she starts being influenced by their worldview. She listens to their advice. She starts changing the way she thinks on certain subjects due to their influence in her life. She is walking in the counsel of the wicked.
After a while, her thinking on the necessity of church has shifted. She no longer believes it is important, for her friendships have helped change that thought. Currently, she is no longer merely attending events and aware of people breaking God’s commands. She is starting to indulge as well. She thinks that a lot of what she was taught back home was outdated and unrealistic. She is now standing in the way of sinners and loving it.
Not too long into her college career, she finds herself no longer just merely sinning, but she is literally mocking God with her lifestyle. She laughs at narrow-minded goodie-two-shoe Christians. She is on the top of the world – sitting in the seat of scoffers, and she has found herself very far from Jesus.
You need to realize something – she did not intend to go down that path. No one who honestly loves Christ desires that ending, but in the context of unhealthy friendships, she found herself in a place she never intended to be – far from God. The number one reason was that she allowed the people closest to her to be people who were far from God themselves.
Leading up to the time around when I get to release Freshman 15, I wanted to provide you a snippet every day for 15 days at 15:00 in the afternoon.
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.