Many young adults today are more skeptical and resistant to Christianity than they were 10 years ago, according to the book Unchristian by Dave Kinneman. Only 16% of Americans between the ages of 16 and 29 said they have a favorable impression of Christianity. The most common terms they used to describe Christians are judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%) and old fashioned (78%). Only 55% said Christianity is a faith they respect.
When those who claim to be Christians don’t live out what they say they believe, it’s no wonder they’re viewed as hypocrites. The CCO’s core purpose of “transforming college students to transform the world” is about equipping students to integrate their Christian faith into every area of life.
Faith for Thought is a one-day conference hosted by CCO staff at Penn State University for college students, graduate students, 20somethings and everyone who “wants to connect real faith with real life.” The conference was designed to answer the question, How does our Christian faith connect to our ordinary, everyday, going-to-class, showing-up-at-work, sleeping, eating, walking-around lives?
“Sometimes it’s easier to know that we’re Christians when we come to church on Sunday morning or go to a weeknight Bible study, but what about in the classroom, the workplace, at a football game, when MTV comes on…or in the mundane day-in and day-out of life?” This is the question Faith for Thought was designed to address.
Faith for Thought 2007 took place on Saturday, November 10th, and drew students together with Christian professionals who are engaging their faith with their whole lives—in their families, communities and workplaces.
In large and small groups, students explored topics as diverse as “ethics and idolatry in business,” addressing current corporate scandals and a Christian response to these questionable ethics, and environmental stewardship (“Being Green: Trendy Fad or Biblical Mandate?”). Other seminars addressed racism (“Reconciling the Races”), how we spend our money (“Responsible Consumerism: Voting with your Wallet”), and the tension between the sciences and spirituality.
When students are given models for how to live with integrity, they learn to apply what they say they believe about God to how they actually live it out. As they wrestle with these questions and put them into practice, their lives are transformed, and the world around them changes as well.