Why I Left USC

And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way. ~Ephesians 1:17-23

About 4 years ago, I thought long and hard about the career I would pursue, and the education I needed under my belt to attain the highest level of success. According to a workbook what helped me assess my strengths, weaknesses, and interests, I reasoned  that Social Work was the work for me.

As a recent college graduate, this was a time of life when I was both certain and uncertain that I could do anything in the world and make it count. God’s master plan is really amazing if you sit back and think about the precise succession of events that have taken place in your life. Just one decision could have made your life take a sharp left, but whatever happened, happened because God foresaw that it was the best possible option (and as C.S. Lewis says in The Weight of Glory , what happens is the ONLY option).

I set my sights on applying to an MSW program and last November of 2011, I entered the MSW program at the University of Southern California, a top ten school for Social Work. The first semester was great, I got straight A’s and looked forward to starting my internship in the fall. The coursework was all introductory, of course.

So in the second semester, I began to learn things I was less inclined to agree with. As a Social Worker looking toward state licensure, I would be required to uphold a sort of Universalist worldview in which every lifestyle and liberal social doctrine is “PC”.

I don’t know what I expected. Of course this is how the world thinks. The NASW Code of Ethics stands for very honorable things, and I don’t mean to say that they are completely out of their minds. It’s that the overall framework I would be required to submit myself to is not Christ-centered. Even “Christian Social Work” must come under restrictions as applies to the Gospel of Jesus. That’s just the nature of the beast.

But lately I have come to realize in a major wayhowJesus is Lord of my life! I want to submit my decisions, my words, my whole life to His will. I don’t want to just say he is Lord, and then turn around and make decisions that don’t agree with what He is teaching me. I have been living the same hypocrisy as the Pharisees who did not truly practice what they preached. Through Christ we have been given the freedom from the worldly way of thinking!

It started with an inkling that what I was learning goes against what the Bible teaches. The inkling turned into an idea of leaving, and that idea turned into a desire. I prayed about it and talked to some people very close to me, and I officially withdrew last week. Now I am truly free to pursue Godly things!