The Christian Student

Post Summary:

This post will look into the matter of the role of a person (e.g. me) as a Christian - then what it means to be a Christian student. Order of logic being: Christian first, then student.



What is the role of a Christian in this world - for that matter, what ought to be the original role of every human being?



God being the Creator, we are His creation. We will exist for His pleasure - whatever His pleasure would mean. What quickly comes to mind is a cruel dictator. What if I said the Germans at one point of time lived for Hitler's pleasure? That is madness. Truly, for a man who is sinful (which each of us are not far from) - to exist for one man's pleasure which is tainted with selfishness and wickedness (as "good" as he may otherwise be), a little corruption will make "existing for his pleasure" a nightmare.



And we know this, humans are at best - flawed, heavily flawed if not twisted. Otherwise, we just have not gotten to the bottom of the human heart.



God is not like that. God is perfectly good. If it is hard to imagine the Christian God, let us just suppose a good God who is infinitely just and infinitely loving.



Some Christians have summed up that the purpose of the Christian life is to worship God - to acknowledge Him as who He is and give due adoration, praise, and worship. Very quickly, the same image of Hitler might hit our minds where the cruel dictators force people to bow down to them by force most of the time if not all the time, a performance that will protect their obscurities. A show to please their fancies.



God is not like that. The fact that billions of people live far from "living for God's sake" up till today lets us know that God is giving us a time to decide who is the king of our lives. He definitely knows that He is the King of the Universe - but whether we regard Him as King or otherwise is quite another matter.



With the understanding that God is perfectly good, wise, and loving (having our welfare in His mind) - I think it might give a better idea to say that it is the honour, duty, and joy of every man (should they fully come to their senses) to do WHATEVER God decrees. One might question, WHATEVER? what if He asks you to kill? Isn't that what is happening in the world today - religious fanatics going out killing people in God's name? (Very soon this will relate to the student's dilemma)



I am to a very large extent glad to say that since Jesus time - Christians are called to offer the other cheek, and nowhere are there records of God commanding us to kill or hurt anybody since Jesus time. But I have to be clear that in ther earlier parts of the Bible before Jesus time, Israel had armies, God did command wars. God even commanded Abraham (for those unfamiliar, he is some big character in the Bible) to sacrifice his son - Isaac. So in that sense, whatever would include killing. But before jumping to conclusions, we have to understand that God's character (perfectly loving, perfectly just, perfectly wise) is the foundation of all His decrees - such that God would call us to do something based on His character. Nowhere in the Bible does God "test people for fun". Very different from some of us who posses some twisted sense of humour.



What does it mean (most of the time if not all of the time) to do whatever God says?



The good thing is that God did say something - and we know the major part of that "whatever" is. Jesus, before returning back to Heaven after His ressurection told His disciples

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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."



Since then, people everywhere have been taught not only to believe in Jesus, but also to follow His footsteps - to be a disciple, not just one who hears and simply professes their faith with words. Since this will be the foundation of the following arguments, I better make sure that this point is clear.



Jesus is definitely clear that this world is not "all there is". He knows that the whole world will be judged because He is the judge. He knows that the whole earth will be destroyed because He is making a new one. He knows that the human body will die and decompose and we will not carry this body we have now into eternity. Every human institution will one day fail or fall.



As much as they might serve wonderful purposes now - there will be a day when we won't need "Energy Australia" or "Tenaga Nasional Berhad" anymore and they will run out of business because God will take care of the electricity problem in heaven should we ever have one.



In light of that, therefore what is most important is firstly - God's honour that is being blasphemed throughout the world and the human responsibility to comply to that. The human responsibility to that is to know Jesus - His Judgement, His Interpretation of the World, His verdict on our current state of relationship with God and much more - repent of their wicked ways, and entrust ourselves to God, taking Him at His Word.



This being of utmost important, the duty of every Christian is then to preach God's Word everywhere in one way or the other. One way or the other does not mean that we preach God in our words and not our actions - we preach God every way, in one way or the other. We might be a school teacher, or a government official, or someone in the comercial sector, or a pastor - this is the one way or the other (one form or the other). But we preach God every way - our actions, our attitudes, our secret thoughts, our words, how we treat others, how we treat God, etc.



This is why there is a part in the Bible where a leader called Paul asked the new believers of the day to remain in the same jobs they were in before - but with a new attitude in life. Paul asked slaves of the day (about 2000 years back) to remain as slaves, but to live honestly, although working for their masters, but to live with the attitude that their are serving God their true Master, etc. so that in every area of their lives, they will make known God's Word to others.



Excluding the job of an assasin, drug lords or the like... It is not what job we do that pleases God (as though being a big-time CEO brings more honour to God than a toilet cleaner), it is how we do our jobs that please God. To God - there is no hierachy. If there is, the CEO and the toilet cleaner belongs to the same level.



What does it mean then for a University Student like me?



Before this sound too far fetched, I will tell a little about myself being a student. Having grades to keep, there are times I pump some caffein into myself, stay up late quite often. Being a person who is not very concerned with my health, I now make extra effort to drink more juice, eat my vitamins, get out once in a while for some fresh air. I like sleeping, like many of us. But even having no assignments to rush, other housemates and I stay up late to study.


Thats a little bit about me.

But really, what difference is it being Christian as a student, or any other person? What is this whole getting top grades thing? What does studies mean to us... what does it mean to God, in the span of eternity?



Firstly, there is no difference.



For the second question. The knowledge of how capacitors work, how diodes work, how electricity flows... would be very worthless in the span of eternity.



However, a Christian student is to honour God in his work - for now, our job is to study. We may do many other things in church, or volunteer for charitable purposes. However, considering the amount of time we spent in our studies, it is quite clear what our jobs are.

Though on the outside the Christian and the non-Christian look somewhat the same, yet the Christian student believes something that is contrary to the popular alternative that our studies is our future-


I will study Engineering to become a great engineer, or earn lots of money, or to help many people by inventing wonderful appliances. It is wonderful to have a goal and achieve something great, want to help people, and perhaps to earn lots of money

But from our understanding previously that the world will not last and that what is truly of utmost importance is God's Honour and the human responsibility towards God... We ought not to be distracted from the crucial work of saving souls to chase afer the dreams that are shaped according to our fancies, ours and the world's fancies.



As a Christian student, I still bear the joy and responsibility to preach God's Word through my words, deeds, and attitude. I suppose it is not difficult for us to understand the responsibility part, but let me share some of the joys with you being a Christian student - dismissing the notion that the responsibility is something that is without joy.



As a student, in my studies:



I discover wonderful principles in Mathematics.


3²+4²=5²



We are familiar with this one. We learn this in high school. It is simple, but for some of us who study Mathematics on the tertiary level, we know that all these are beautiful equations. The simpler it is, the more profound. It marvels some of us, it marvels many professors "HOW ON EARTH IS THAT POSSIBLE?"



We learn that many laws govern our universe very beautifully.


They say this is the most beautiful equation that ever existed. You can ask some of your Mathematician friends if you want to understand this. Engineering students should know it too.

On the electrical side, I am also amazed by how laws all work together. Some of us learnt from Physics about simple things such as conservation of energy. But have you ever thought that converting energy from one form to the other (as much as we can calculate the amount of energy and give them a certain name - Joules for it), up till third year, I don't really have any idea of explaining what energy really is? and the the conversion process is still very mysterious?


Invisible magnetic waves created within the dynamo - somehow through some process turn into light, turns into power that can move electric cars. If we really think hard about it, it is quite an insane thing how all these things work together. Chemistry, Biology - all these things are mad stuff. As days goes by, scientists discover more and more wonderful things, like the DNA.


From equations, one who ponders long enough might just see something divine. There many tons of other wonderful equations - equations to prove the fourth dimension, some like to call it the spiritual world - which mathematics can be applied to guide our thinking in such matters.

I can only speak from the scientific point of view, since that is what I am in. I suppose there are similar things in the arts - which I probably know too little to comment on it.

My studies (some parts, not all) teaches me wonderful things about God, and I have to say that God did reveal some part of Himself through mathematics so that I appreciate Him more. Not only more, but also brought me to adore some qualities that another person who does not understand mathematics wouldn't see.


Yes, there are many boring parts in my studies where I learn how all these relates to our real life, how to apply these things. Tons of formulas that are difficult to memorize (which of course, God created both the simple and the complicated formulas - we merely discovered them) bore me. Well, in this world - we don't just feed on thoughts, we have to live, eat, shit, get tired and sleep and do all the "practical" things like use computers, electricity...


Yet somehow - there are times that we feel we were not created to do these things. Sometimes we want to play. Sometimes we want to do something that is truly significant in life , and we say "What on earth has this to do with it?"


Therefore, we look forward to a new world. Where we have new appetite for better things. Where we have a new body and the strength to do the things which truly matters - things that we were really created to do. As Christians, we sometimes do wish to just skip around and sing songs about God - close our eyes and dance around and express our joy to God. Yet it is the small menial things that disturb us. If we close our eyes and skip around, we might just bump into something else and fall down. People might think Christians are crazy or something. A pair of wings to fly would be cool. Being able to dance in the air would be cooler.


But I am sure Heaven would not be disappointing. Worshipping God on earth as a student, many times do not mean the most fun thing on earth to do. I get frustrated all the time. People who know me knows that I always look stressed - and yes, I am stressed all the time. Sometimes I cannot wait to just die and meet God. Yet I know I want to stay on earth, and God willing - as my friends see my attitude towards life - through my studies, through my living with them everyday... perhaps they might to open their minds toward the God of The Bible.


This is also another joy of being a student. I know that when I study, people watch. They watch my attitude. To some extent, they might be just looking for God in me - which I claim to say that Jesus lives in me.


Many times, as a student - it is the small things that frustrate me. Having to hang the clothes, having to wash the dishes. Why can't I just eat and have no dishes to wash? Then there are the "bigger" things. Final exams are just round the corner. I have grades to keep - I have to get a minimum of second upper class, which is part of my scholarship contract. It is my responsibility to keep it, but I prefer to call it a joy to lift the burden off my parents' shoulders by fulfilling my contract.


The world that I live in, is a world full of constraints. But with constraints, we know who our friends are. Loving is not easy, therefore we know what love that perseveres mean. With constraints, we are forced to prioritize and do what is more imporatant first. With constraints, we show our true colours. The higher the pressure, the more amazed I become as I see how God supports me from within.


Honestly, I look forward to a new world. Yet while I am here with all the frustrations... Thank God that He gave me friends and family - inside and outside the church. He has proved Himself faithful throughout the years, and when I come to my senses once in a while... I realize that it must have been tough for God to love someone like me.


It the quiet moments as I lie on my bed, I think back of what God has done, and somehow feel satisfied... even as my head is beating in rhythm with my heart as I ache over unsolved questions on engineering, relationships, my future.