5 Reasons Why Christian Community Is Essential for Bible College Students

Posted On August 20, 2024

Written by Rev. Levi Berntson, assistant professor of theology

We sometimes hear people say, “Christianity is a relationship, not a religion.” On the one hand, if we mean by this that a relationship with Jesus Christ is the crux of the Christian faith instead of a cold, heartless set of practices, then we can wholeheartedly agree. After all, what makes someone a Christian is Spirit-wrought faith in the risen Lord Jesus.

But on the other hand, the Christian faith is not meant to be a solo mission. While it may feel at times that we are all alone, Scripture teaches that the Christian life is “religious”— that is, a corporate and communal life.

Here are five reasons why community is essential, even for Bible college students.

1. Community is good. When God established the first marriage, His reason for doing so was that “it is not good for man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18). While this passage applies to marriage specifically, it illustrates more broadly God’s high view of human interaction and accountability. In contrast to the world’s notion that freedom from all commitment is the best way to do life, our God understands that flying through life unaccompanied is dangerous. Bible college students may often feel the temptation to seal themselves off in their rooms to devote themselves entirely to isolated reading. But this is not good.

2. Community is essential to the gospel. When we become Christians, it is not only the case that God becomes our redemptive Father, but also that we become siblings with other Christians and fellow heirs of the promises of our Father along with Christ (Heb. 2:11). Bible college students need and encounter this covenant family directly as they join a local church and indirectly as they lock arms with their classmates.

3. Community checks our doctrine. As we spend our lives studying God’s Word, Scripture tells us that this takes place within the context of a family of believers who are being built up by Christ Himself, which Paul calls the “household of God” (Eph. 2:19–22). Further, the study of Scripture in community is an important way that we are held accountable for our views—especially in the church (Acts 17:11). Similarly, the faculty and staff of a Bible college seek to instruct and guide students in their doctrine.

4. Community checks our practice. It is very easy to believe and teach the right doctrine, but it is only our community—the people who actually observe our lives—that can recognize whether we live that doctrine faithfully. Our covenant family guards our souls (James 5:19–20), influences our lives (1 Thes. 3:6–10), serves and provides for us (Rom. 12:9–13), and even holds us accountable through church courts (Matt. 18:15–20). In much the same way, staff and students can help keep us accountable as we pursue theological studies.

5. Community guides our perspective. As we study theology, the goal is that we would be rooted, grounded, and knit together in love so that we might keep the light of Christ in our view (Eph. 3:17–19). This perspective is nearly impossible to maintain if we neglect the very community to which Christ has joined us. In both church and school, Bible college students should seek (together!) to build up the body of Christ into a holy temple, a fit place for the dwelling of God (Eph. 2:21–22). Theology is not a one-man show.

As students of theology, we must never allow our studies to isolate us from the larger Christian community. The truth is that the people of God will enhance rather than diminish our understanding and experience of God and His Word.