How long are students in the program before they commit their lives to Christ? My personal observation has been that through the years the length of time a student is in the program has lengthened; most students seem to be in the program for many months before they fully surrender their lives to Christ. Why is that?     

For one thing, there is a greater distance between what they personally think and believe and what God says and reveals in scripture. Our culture today has a much less biblical worldview than it did 50 or even 30 years ago. Take the idea of sexual relationship outside of marriage for example. Even 30 years ago most incoming students understood that such behavior wasn’t right even if they were not raised in church. But, today most see nothing wrong with such behavior. This cultural mind-shift away from biblical truth can be observed in many other different ways.    

Secondly, they are increasingly skeptical of the church and Christians. Many have observed hypocrisy. Some have been hurt or abused by people in the church. Others have grown skeptical, questioning the tenets of the Christian faith. Some have not encountered  a living, active, faith and are hungry for more. And others are simply – rebellious.There are other reasons that we could discuss why many students are hesitant to fully follow Christ.

I believe that most are looking for truth, for something real and alive, something they can believe in that gives hope! And they are observing us to see if we have it! I believe the questions students are asking include, “Are you real; can I trust you?” and “How has following Christ made a difference in your life; does following Christ make a difference in your life?” Can we say with Paul: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”? I Corinthians 11:1 NIV 

Discuss – Evaluate – Execute:

• How long are students in the program (on average) before they fully commit to Christ
• Why do you think this is?
• What can be done to intentionally address those issues?
• Does our expressive worship and spirituality align with our attitude at work and in conflict management? (I’m asking the staff, not the students.)
• If they don’t line-up, what steps do we need to take to bring them into alignment?