Does a girl in a large, public high school stand for truth differently than a girl in a small, Christian school? Does being homeschooled mean you don’t have to stand for truth? What about when you head off to college? What does standing for truth look like then?
Several years ago, as Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth and Dannah Gresh were preparing to write Lies Young Women Believe, they sent me on a cross-country tour to talk to girls just like you. I met girls from every nook and cranny who attended all kinds of schools, and I was surprised to find out that standing for truth isn’t easy anywhere. Living out your faith is challenging wherever you learn.
No matter where you spend your days, God has called you to stand.
No matter who your school mascot is or who sits beside you in math class, these powerful words still apply:
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth (Eph. 6:14).
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter if you wear a private school uniform or a public school T-shirt. It doesn’t matter if your teacher is your mom or a college professor. No matter where you spend your days, God has called you to stand.
With that in mind, here are three truths and a lie about every single school.
Truth #1: Every school is full of sinners.
We all have a tendency to look around us and thing that other people’s sin is the problem. (I call this plank-eye syndrome.) We also tend to think that if we weren’t surrounded by so many sinners, standing for truth would be easy peasy.
But the gospel reminds us that “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). Your public school is full of sinners. Your Christian school is full of sinners. Your homeschool is full of sinners. Since you’re a sinner, too, even if you’re the only student in your school . . . your school is full of sinners. That means choosing to stand for truth will likely never be the most popular option in your school. I
hope you’ll make the bold choice to do it anyway.
Truth #2: Every setting has temptations.
Because every school is full of sinners, every setting has temptations.
In Matthew 4, we find Jesus facing temptation. He wasn’t in a school. He was alone in the wilderness. You would think this setting would insulate Him from temptation, but it didn’t. If Jesus was tempted on a solo trip to the wilderness, you can bet you will be tempted to compromise in the halls of your school. Instead of being blindsided by temptation, prepare for it!
For more on facing temptation, check out this post from our archives.
Truth #3: Every school is a mission field.
As Christians, we are all assigned to serve others and to share our faith.
Through love serve one another (Gal. 5:13).
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19).
Sharing the gospel isn’t something we have to hop on a plane to do. We can share Christ with the people we rub shoulders with every day.
Serving others isn’t something God asks us to do “someday.” Rather it is something He calls us to all day, every day. Sharing the gospel isn’t something we have to hop on a plane to do. We can share Christ with the people we rub shoulders with every day.
Do you see your school as your mission field? Who can you serve there today? Who can you share Christ with at school?
A Lie: My school is the problem.
When standing for truth makes us weak at the knees, we all have a tendency to want to point fingers. We look around and think, It’s so hard to stand for truth here. My school must be the problem. We think the grass might be just a little greener and the standing might be easier if we went to a different school. Sometimes the opposite is true. We think it’s our school’s responsibility to make it easy to stand for truth and decide, “My school is the solution!”
Neither belief is true. Standing for truth is difficult because we live in a fallen world, permeated by sin. No matter where you go to school, this will always be true.
A Silver Lining
If the fact that standing for truth is hard in every school feels like a dark cloud, here is a silver lining:
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil (Eph. 6:11).
God goes with us and equips us to boldly live out our faith in Him.
God has given us everything we need to stand firm. In every situation in every school, we are not alone. God goes with us and equips us to boldly live out our faith in Him.
What lies have you believed about being a Christian at your school? What can you do to treat your school as a mission field?
By Erin Davis
