It seems like, these days, my generation of "Christians" are one of the most cliche group of religious people to walk the Western world. We go to school during the week and attempt to pass classes. We go out on Friday and Saturday nights, participate in activities that our parents would probably kill us for and then walk into the church Sunday morning to face the criticism and judgement of the generation before us.

Honestly, I'm fed up.

Let's face it, the church is changing. The way faith is practiced is changing. The face of the church has gone from hymnals and church bells to contemporary rock bands and school gymnasiums. My generation of believers sleeps through service on Sunday mornings and instead meets with a small group on Wednesday nights at the local coffee shop to discuss the same God the preacher talked about that Sunday morning.

We are a generation of believers that wants our faith to be more of a physical and active search than one that only happens in the pews of old church buildings. We are the generation of Young Life, CRU and FCA. We want to be able to take our faith on the road with us. Whether that's here in the states or internationally to a 3rd world country. We are a generation of believers that is finding it harder and harder to relate to our predecessors. The gap between our grandparents and our mom and dads generation is growing each year it is not addressed. But the gap is also growing between ourselves.

Since coming to college, I've noticed a few things. One thing that has definitely caught my attention is that we, as a body of believers, have placed ourselves into these boxes. I'm going to call them "inconspicuous believers" and "conspicuous believers".

I would consider myself to be a "conspicuous believer." I am very open about my faith with pretty much everyone. I know what I believe and I will jump at any opportunity to do ministry openly. I am a part of CEF and Chapel Staff on campus. Heck, I'm even a Religion major. I am a very "out there" believer.

Then there's what I'm going to call "inconspicuous believers." The people in our lives that know what they believe or are still trying to figure out what they believe. They are the ones that may or may not openly participate in religious groups or clubs on campus but still find joy and fellowship in discussing faith. Now think about it, you know one person from each of these groups. But there doesn't seem to be much of an in between.

Here's the issue with that. Pretend you are standing at the bottom of a mountain and looking up or pretend you are at the top of the mountain looking down. The people on the other end look really small. At the top of the mountain are Conspicuous believers. The ones that would write "BELIEVER" on their forehead in big bold letters. At the bottom of the mountain are the "inconspicuous believers." Looking up, just imagine how disheartening it must feel. To see a group of people looking down at you and not doing anything to help you make your way up.

That's what our generation of believers is doing these days, whether we realize it or not. We have placed ourselves on one end of the mountain and we are not dropping any ropes to the ones below.

That's what we as a generation of "out of the closet" Christians have done. We have placed ourselves on a pedestal above everyone. Do we know we're doing it, most of the time, no. But, we have made it so difficult to open our arms to newborn believers.

Now, does every single believer do this? No.

But, really take a second and be honest with yourself.

Do you put yourself and your beliefs above someone else's? Do you truly open your heart to people that are still finding out what it means to have faith? Are you critical of someone that is still discovering where God is calling them to be? Do you think to yourself, at any point, "she or he can't be a Christian, they party too much or drink or smoke or put themselves in bad situations or they're friends aren't Christians so they can't be." If you answered yes or you know you have criticized someone like this, you are guilty of the same sin they are.

Jesus calls all people to follow him. God calls ALL people to be in the glory of his kingdom. God blinded Paul (formally known as Saul) on the road to Damascus, a man who spent everyday persecuting Christians, and called him to go and make disciples.

Jesus called 4 fisherman, 2 sets of brothers, to follow him on his journey to help the world. 4 regular day people that ended up doing and witnessing extraordinary things.

God doesn't exclude people. He doesn't choose just the wealthy. He didn't choose only the good hearted to his kingdom. God calls ALL people to come and be apart of all the incredible things he has to offer. When Jesus was born, there were Kings AND Shepard's at the manger. The highest of the highs, and the lowest of the lows. God called them and everyone in between to follow Jesus and show love to everyone they meet.

Jesus encountered a crowd as he returned to The Mount of Olives as told in John 8. The crowd was going to stone a woman for committing acts of adultery. Before they could however Jesus said to them "the one who has never sinned cast the first stone!" No one threw a stone. That's because We are all sinners. Sin is sin.

So why have we placed ourselves in boxes and pedestals above all the other believers God has called to follow him??

A Christian that persecutes any person for any reason, is not fulfilling the mission Jesus started when he walked the earth 2000 years ago.

Let me go back to the mountain analogy from a minute ago and think of it this way. Those same 2 groups of people are in the same places on the mountain. But instead of yelling down and holding back our ropes, we as a generation of believers is yelling encouragements to the people below and throwing our ropes down. So we can stand on the same ground as every person and every believer.

This doesn't apply to just my generation. My parents generation is guilty of the same thing.

I had an incredible conversation with a friend of mine the other day here on campus. She said to me she did not feel welcome in the church or any religious group on campus because she was not in the same place in her walk with Christ as the people in those groups. My heart breaks not just for her, but for the people that are persecuting her. We are called to stand on solid, level ground with all believers. With all people.

Bottom line is this.

God sent his son to Earth to show people that there is hope, light and joy. Jesus came here, and for the 30 some years He walked the Earth, he showed us how to love.

Love. That is the bottom line.

So please, open your hearts and your minds to all people. Show them love and compassion. Stop placing yourself on a pedestal above other faith seekers. Walk beside each other. Walk beside fellow believers and guide each other as you seek the Lord every single day.