While the drift of Christian institutions is real, it is not inevitable. Faithful men and women, committed to Christ above culture, can strengthen and secure the training grounds for the next generation.

This past week, a well-known preacher confided in me with a heavy heart. His adult daughter, once strong in the Christian faith, no longer shares his biblical worldview.

She has become a highly respected physician at a world-renowned hospital, but she now refuses to come home, unwilling to be around what she calls “bigoted, uninformed people.” When asked what had caused such a reversal of conviction, the preacher didn’t hesitate: he pointed to the church-related yet liberal college and graduate schools she had attended to earn her degrees.

Stories like his are not isolated. They are increasingly common—and increasingly heartbreaking.

Over a decade ago, one of my grandsons, eager to pursue a life of ministry, enrolled in a respected Christian university well known for its training of ministers.

During his freshman year, he sat under an adjunct professor who was openly gay. When my grandson expressed concern, believing that such a lifestyle stood contrary to biblical teaching, he was slandered by classmates as hateful and homophobic. Only months later, when the professor’s same-sex marriage was celebrated on the front page of the local newspaper, did the university quietly sever ties. But by then, the message had been sent: standing for biblical truth was cause for public shame—even at a Christian university.

Just a few weeks ago, a 19-year-old ministry student sat across the table from me, asking for advice. He had enrolled at a church-based college that advertised itself as biblically sound. Yet as a freshman, he was already disturbed: one professor taught theistic evolution, while another reduced Jonah’s historical account to mere allegory. He asked whether he should stay or transfer. I urged him to transfer—because a young man preparing for ministry needs his faith reinforced and guarded, not challenged and eroded.

The stories above are not the exception. They are symptoms of a deeper and dangerous pattern.

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