Curious Indeed

Just a note....I am going to start using this blog for more than just talking to people back home...I kind of want to use it for a forum of my general thoughts as well...I still will give you all updates, though, just like always.

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It really is quite curious how much my faith has been challenged since I have gotten to Biola. I knew that I would grow in my faith here, but I never thought I'd have so many people in opposition to the finer points of Christian living that I believe and practice.

Biola really draws a diverse range of people...maybe it doesn't appear that way on the outside (all Christian, 70% white), but being in the culture I can really see the differences of people. There are people here who have been Christians all their lives, and their are people here (like my roommate) who have only been Christians for a few years. That in itself causes a lot of mixed beliefs. Furthermore, Biola attracts people from around the world, many of them missionary kids--you can imagine the diversity that brings.

It just has been a very (insert any adjective here) experience for me. I mean, growing up in the same church all my life, I never really heard too many things that I outright disagreed with. I never really engaged in any heated theological debate with fellow Christians.

So being here at Biola, where there really is no official denomination (except for the very broad "evangelical" Christian), I have run into a lot of weird things. One day I'm hearing people behind me talk about speaking in tongues, the next day I got my roommate trying to tell me that he doesn't think cussing is wrong, and still another person is suggesting that calling God "father" is just as wrong as refering to Him in feminine terms. Wow! Just remember these are students, not professors.

Now, all this is good for me, you guys don't have to remind me. I am very confident that I am experiencing exactly what God wants me to experience. If my faith is never challenged, how strong can it be, right? I just feel trapped often times because where I used to be so confident in making a theological statement, now I kind of hesitate...fearing that I'll aggravate an argument.

But yeah, Grace people back home, don't think that Biola is a bad school or anything--it isn't. Biola is an awesome school and I am so glad I am here. I have already learned a lot about defending my faith and am constantly being forced to think about my faith--especially in my cultural anthropology class where my professor likes to just throw purposefully controversial things at the class.

One of the most important things that I have taken out of this whole belief shock is that even if a fellow Christian disagress with me, as long as he believes the Gospel, he is still my Christian brother....seems a simple concept, but I have experientially learned it down here.