An Open Letter to the Class of #TCU17

Matt Allen and his wife Kaity help lead and coach the City Groups in the TCU neighborhood. Below is a letter from Matt to the incoming freshmen class of TCU.To the class of #TCU17,First and foremost I want to remind you of and encourage you with the Gospel: That outside of the cross of Christ you and I were dead and hopeless. We had no right standing before the One Holy God, and were objects of wrath to be separated from Him forever (Ephesians 2:1-3). But God sent Christ as a sacrifice for us that we might live, and that He might receive glory (Ephesians 2:4-10). Because of this sacrifice we worship him with our lives. We don't worship and sacrifice begrudgingly, but because we are already as loved as we ever could be because of Jesus. Because of Jesus the things that we are naturally inclined to put our hope in are worthless and faulty when viewed next to Christ, our Savior.This is the Gospel, and it is my prayer and hope that you would learn to worship Christ in response to his Gospel with the fullness of your life. I pray that God would give you such a clear understanding of your blessings in Christ that your knees would buckle under the weight of the call to rightly respond in worship. I pray that you would tremble because of the impossibility of responding to the Gospel fully, and then that you would rest in the sufficiency of your Savior who works and saves despite the insufficiencies and forgetfulness of His people.In your freshmen year at TCU more things than you'll be able to count will fight for your time, attention and affections. Without even noticing it you'll be prone to worship and put your hope in things that you might never have before. You might begin worship the approval of others: Looking around to see how many people see you drive up in your new BMW, fighting for the best grades, wanting to be the funniest, the strongest, or the most athletic. You might begin to find your identity in how you look: Spending too much money on clothes, too much time at the gym, too much time hoping to gain the attention of that guy or girl across the lecture hall or dorm. You will be told that social standing, alcohol, sex and money are more valuable then the God who died to save your soul. Without a right view of the Gospel you will believe these lies, and fall to them.Many of you have "known" the Gospel for years. Church kids that were at church any time the doors were open. Many of you may have been saved recently and are still learning what it means to worship Jesus. Many may never have heard the good news of the Gospel at all. For all of us, what is our only hope? Jesus. Jesus alone is better and more worthy then the things you'll be tempted with your first year of college. Jesus alone is better and more worthy than the things that I am tempted with every day of my life. He pursues us even as our eyes are taken off of His goodness, and loves us despite that fact that we've failed, and that we will fail. My hope isn't that you "don't do bad things in college, and read your Bible instead", it's that you worship Jesus. If you don't know Jesus, he alone is better and more worthy than the things that you place your hope in to fulfill you. Jesus is a grace-giving shame-thief. Jesus alone is our hope. 

My hope isn't that you "don't do bad things in college, and read your Bible instead", it's that you worship Jesus.

 I would encourage you now to be praying about what these things mean for you. They don't mean that you should distance yourself from those who would want to lead you to sin. It doesn't mean that you can ever be perfect and without fault. It does mean that you should get as plugged in as possible to a local church where you can grow in grace, understand the call of the Gospel on your entire life, and learn to love those around you who don't worship Jesus. It'll sound like a great idea to join every club, every ministry, and attend as many events as possible. It's not worth it. We don't need events that we can checklist off a list of religious duty, we need a family that loves us and cares for us. We need to be made more like Jesus. We need to live on mission for the campus, the city, and the world. We would love to have you out to The Paradox in the fall to join us in what God has been doing on TCU's campus through our church.Though I don't know you, I love you and am praying for you already. I'm praying that God would be your only hope as you continue to prepare for the fall. I'm praying that God would move you from understanding stories that you've known for years to understanding what it means to worship Jesus in Spirit and in Truth. I'm praying that God would save many of you, and that He would show you the emptiness of what you look for ultimate hope in. I'm praying that God would show us Jesus, give us more of Jesus, and create us to be a people who look more and more like Jesus.If there is any way I can pray for you, help you get connected to The Paradox in the fall, or serve or encourage you in any way email me at matt@theparadoxchurch.com.Matt Allen is the Deacon of Worship & Arts at The Paradox and leads the South University City Group.Watch the video below of our hopes and prayers for TCU and it's students.