How can a Christian student glorify God on the college campus? It may not be easy when one considers the climate in which he/she will be thrust. Sexual activity is staggering at the university these days. With the advent of the internet, said activity is on the rise with 87% of students polled saying that they have had virtual sex via instant messenger, webcam, or telephone according to "Protect Your Kids." One should hardly be surprised in light of the stance the universities themselves now take on this issue. Consider the controversy brewing at Clemson University over required reading for incoming freshmen.

According to WYFF, almost 3000 first-year students are required to read Truth And Beauty: A Friendship, by Anne Patchett, a book that is too sexually oriented for young people according to Clemson alumnus, parent, and member of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, Ken Wingate. "The explicit message this sends to students is that they are encouraged to find themselves sexually," Wingate said. Moreover, "The book talks in graphic terms about pornography, about fetishes, masturbation and about multiple sexual partners and seducing fellow students." Most objectors consider the book to be pornographic.

In addition to reading the book, the students must write a review of it and attend a lecture given by the author herself. The book will be referred to all four years of the students' college careers and will form the basis of dialogue about their own sexuality. While Wingate and a number of other parents want the students to be given an alternative, despite the controversy, the university has no plans to change their policy.

The Clemson controversy is but one example of this massive problem among others that are sexually related. Suffice it to say that Christian students must think long and hard about their role on campus before God. Concerning sexual activity a few implications are in order.

First, it is God's will that Christians should be sanctified and abstain from sexual immorality. God wants Christians to be practically different from the world and He wants them to be progressively different throughout their lives. Paul wrote, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality (1 Thes. 4:3)."