Some might say that Wheaton College gets a little heavy-handed with their doses of Christ, that they lay the Gospel on a little thick. That is, oh so fortunately, true. In every class, chapel, and extra-curricular activity I do, Christ is made the center of it all. This is the main reason I chose to go to Wheaton, I wanted to be in an environment that immersed me in the gospel. But it seems that, somehow, at some point we become desensitized to the overwhelming love of Christ and the desire to individually and communally pursue Him starts to wane. We already do chapel, so church just seems like too much. I'm in a BITH class, so isn't that basically a small group Bible study? It's an easy trap to fall into, and one that I can personally resonate with.
But there is a reason the college so highly stresses the need for a church home and involvement in small group Bible study. Having a community of believers with which to intentionally share personal struggles and seek Christ together through Scripture and prayer is precisely the model the early church in Acts provides and is necessary to growing in relationship with Christ and other Christians.
Wheaton not only stresses both of these points—church and small group—but provides solutions for them! There are so many churches in the Wheaton area that you could visit on every Sunday from freshman year to graduation and still not hit them all—I'm sure there is one for you. As for small groups, every person on campus is invited to join a Discipleship Small Group on campus.
This year I had the privilege of being a leader for a DSG on my floor Fischer 5West, and let me tell you, DSG is a special thing. If you're unfamiliar with DSG, this is how it works: there are freshmen and sophomores on floors in the dorms who are led by sophomore or junior DSG leaders, and those leaders are led by junior or senior DSG coaches, and all of those coaches are led by the DSG cabinet and staff team. Phew—that's a lot of discipleship, exactly how it should be.
Wheaton's DSG program truly believes in the necessity of mentorship and coming together as the body to actively search through the Scriptures and preach the gospel over one another. As a leader this year I got to struggle and celebrate with the five beautiful women in my group. We asked hard questions and provided insight that we couldn't have come up with on our own. As a part of a leader's group, it was wonderful to receive wisdom and advice from my coach and from the other leaders in my group. No one was alone in leading, we were all walking with each other through our spiritual journeys for the year.
Small groups are so important to the Christian, so important to growing in relationship with him. We were designed for community—freaking intentional community. If you're not in a small group, I encourage you to join one! Walking with other Christians is part of your calling as a Christian and it is truly spiritual food to the soul.
