I recently heard quoted at a conference that a staggering 90% of students involved in Christian Unions leave the Christian faith after finishing university. I expect we have all heard a variation on this, even though research into such urban myths has proved they are unfounded, or even the exact opposite of the truth.
Still, the fact remains that some Christian graduates do walk out on Christ post-graduation. And the Parable of the Sower tells us to expect this. As graduates enter the workplace, wealth and worry hit the agenda and can knock them off track, or as Mark 4 puts it: 'the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful'. It's not exclusive to young graduates, but the transition from university to work is a particularly vulnerable time.
Make or break
As term trails off and final year students disperse to trade in their three-month summers for 21 days a year and collection of hooded tops for a new suit, Christian students face some more significant changes. The CU where they had regularly met with Christians of a similar age, facing the same challenges, and working together to be an effective witness can seem a distant memory when they move into a workplace where they are the only Christians. The church - and even the Bible - may begin to appear irrelevant.
