Christianity is about controlling people.

As a Christian, I can say that people have placed a stigma on it and it stems from years ago. I used to attend this church where they would try to control what you wore and if a woman ever wore a pair of pants they were condemned. In fact, this particular church condemned my mom for allowing my sister and me to wear pants and earrings. It can be discouraging for a person who's not familiar in the Word but because we were already rooted in our Faith and we knew the true Gospel ourselves, we didn't let that stop us from finding another church to fellowship with.

Christianity is not about controlling people. It's about following a certain lifestyle that pleases God. You may come across people who will tell you that your lifestyle isn't exactly healthy and you have to understand that not everyone that tells you that, doesn't always mean to hurt you or condemn you, they just want to see you grow. It's like you telling a friend that they are drinking too much. That's what true friends do. You tell them with love and kindness but don't sugarcoat the truth. "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." - Proverbs 18:24 NIV. There will be people who will try to control you but God gives us the spirit of discernment to know when someone is hurting or helping us. "Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good." - Job 34:4 NIV.

Some people even believe that Christianity is created to make people controlled by this "spiritual being" in the sky but it's more than that. God is more than a spiritual being. He is a Holy God. He desires for us to live a holy life but He doesn't force us to- even when people around us try to. This holy life that God desires for us is the good life. It may seem like being a Christian means living a dull life but I can promise you that living in God's image gives you something that this world can't: strength, endurance, love, joy, peace and eternal life with God.

God gave us His own son, Jesus, to have the opportunity to be holy and live free. So, yeah, I can praise God in my jeans and piercings. "Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God's slaves. Don't let that word "slave" scare you off. The original word of "slave" in Hebrew and Greek original form means "servant." In the biblical times, people felt that it was an honor to be a servant of God but when Jesus came he told the disciples that He would no longer call them "servants" or in this case slaves but He will call us "friends" (John 15:15). We are friends of Jesus.

Christianity supports slavery

I'll admit this one almost got me to doubt my Faith at first but then I had to study the Bible for myself with an open mind. As an African American, it was crucial for me to have an answer to debunk this myth.

I know a lot of Africans and African Americans today that hate everything about Christianity because of how it was negatively used. I have heard people say that if it wasn't for "white people", then black people wouldn't even know about Christianity which is false because Ethiopia and Eritrea adopted Christianity way before the 1500s. That was way before the slave trade had even been thought of.

There was slavery in the biblical times, voluntary and forced. When people were in debt or needed money, they voluntarily became servants and were treated like family. It's similar to today times where people work as maids or butlers. The forced slavery was against God's will, for example, the Israelites who were in enslaved in the book of Exodus 1-10. God placed Moses to lead the Israelites to freedom. For a piece of in-depth information on how biblical slavery differed from America's slavery, click here https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-wrong-say-bible-pro-slavery/

Christianity was once and still is used by white slave owners and racists to justify their reasoning for the enslavement of African Americans and instill obedience. They took out important parts of the bible that spoke against enslavement (The Israelites) and only kept in the parts about how a slave should respect their masters- which was not related to American chattel slavery. I tell people that the white slave owners and racists that supported slavery could and cannot be Christians because in the bible in Deuteronomy 4:2 it says, "You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you." They altered the bible to make them seem faultless and only a person who has no love nor fear for God can do that without remorse.

You probably wonder why God would allow such a thing to happen but remember, God gives us the free will to choose Him or not. So when someone decides to do something evil as to take ownership of someone, it has nothing to do with God. It's our own

If the Bible truly supported chattel slavery, they (white slave owners and racist) wouldn't have felt the need to take parts out of the Bible and keep African and African American from reading it themselves. I suggest you looking at the differences between the slave bible and today's bible.

Remember no one can be enslaved or threatened by a book. They came to Africa with something Africans did not have. Advanced weapons.

Christianity is homophobic religion

As a good friend to my LGBTQ+ friends, this can be hard to explain without offending anyone but as a Christian, it is my duty to spread the gospel and sugarcoat the truth. Let's clear the air. The Bible does speak against homosexuality, in Leviticus 18:22 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. You may ask, what's wrong with it? It's not what you have probably heard like, "It's freaking disgusting". It's because God has already established his perfect plan for marriage in Genesis when He created Adam and Eve. A woman and man to be one and to repopulate the earth.

According to Google, Homophobia means to dislike or to be prejudice against homosexual people. As Christians, we are to love and spread the love of God and the Gospel and even though it may differ from different lifestyles doesn't make us hateful. I agree it is how you come off to people. I prefer going to people individually with an open mind and loving spirit and if they are not still interested- bless them, pray for them and leave them be. Unfortunately, there have been Christians that have humiliated and harassed LGBTQ+ members which is something that I DO NOT condone and it DOES NOT represent God, the Bible or Christians as a whole. You read in the book of Mark, Jesus talked and dined with people from all different lifestyles and backgrounds.

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." 1 Peter 4:8

Just because we disagree with a certain lifestyle DOES NOT make us hateful. We all have our beliefs and we should attempt to respect and understand each other. No matter how different someone is nobody deserves to be discriminated or worse, killed. True Christians are loving and welcoming to all people without withholding the truth.

I'm sorry if anyone had ever approached you or someone you know and being called "disgusting or blatantly screamed that "you're going to hell!" I'm sorry if you ever felt excluded or rejected by a "Christian". Remember humans can take something good and turn it into our own evil device but thankfully the best thing about Christianity is that it's a personal relationship between God and you. Your life? Between you and God. Your choices? Between you and God. Nobody else. God loves everyone. He loves you. He might not like what we do but He loves us and that's what true Christians represent.

Christianity is about being perfect

I heard so many comments about this. One in particular, "I hate Christians. They think they're so perfect but in secret, they are doing more horrible stuff." I read that comment under an Instagram post and instead of getting upset, I felt sad for the person because I knew that it was coming from a hurt place. Some so-called Christian had hurt them and not tried to make amends.

Christianity is not about being perfect because no human is. Yeah, not even our celebrities. We all made mistakes. We all did things that we want to bury deep in the Earth's core. I know I do. Christianity is about giving your flaws to Jesus and accepting that you need Him because you can't do it all. Giving Him and accepting those embarrassing things about us that no one else knows about. After that, you don't become flawless to mistake. You will still stumble but what really matters to God is your heart. Your intentions. He doesn't want perfection, He wants you. He knows we can't be perfect. No matter how much we try. That's why He sent His Son Jesus so that we may have a chance at Grace and Salvation.

Understand that even us Christians (me!) make mistakes unintentionally. We can get mean. We can say horrible things. We can cause trouble but what separates Christians from the world is when we acknowledge our imperfections and wrongdoings and apologize and strive to do better.

So let me apologize on the behalf of those who have to belittle you while fooling themselves into thinking they were the epitome of a human being. I can guarantee you that they are far from it and they don't want anyone to know but God knows everything. I'm sorry if they made you feel like you are incapable of God's love or that you are so far off from God that you will always be that way. It's not true. If He can love Saul enough to transform him to Paul (Acts 9), me and every other person that committed their life to God, then so can you. It's free and He's waiting.

1 John 1:8 If we say, "We aren't sinful" we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. In other words, if a Christian ever states that they are faultless, even after being saved, they are a liar and the truth is not in them.

Christianity = perfect lives

Many people believe that Christians are these "happy people" that lives only consist of small problems such as, that "Chick-fil-a being closed on Sunday" or "not finding the right dress in the right size." WRONG! The Bible mentions a lot of people going through hard times. Check out the book of Job. He was righteous in God's eye and still lost everything.

Accepting Jesus as your Savior does not promise a life of peaches and cream. In fact, the Bible warns Christians that we will go through persecution and hard times since it's a "narrow path". (Matthew 7:13-14) But it also gives us advice and encouragement on how to stay faithful through the storm.

Isaiah 43:2. "When you go through deep waters, I will be with you." See here, the Bible says "when", not "if". But God affirms and confirms to us that He will be there. Even when He is silent. He is there working.

Romans 8:18. "The pain that you've been feeling, can't compare to the joy that's coming." In other words, trouble does not last always. Your joy will come in the morning.

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." In other words, the giants that you are facing, take heart because Jesus has already won victory over it.

You may say, what's the point of serving God if life can still suck? Imagine it like this. You are in the snow forest naked and it's freezing. You don't know when spring will come and you might not make it. But when you accept Jesus into your life, imagine proper winter clothes and gear appearing onto your body, warming you up. Yeah, it's still snowing around you but now you are fully prepared and protected from the cold.

Though life can be so hard that you feel like you might not make it. God has everything that we need. He will provide people in our lives to confide in. Christians are supposed to be there for one another because we are all suffering from different situations. In 1 Peter 5:9, "Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings." In other words, block the enemy (Satan) who WILL try to attack and know that you are not alone because your brother and sister in Christ are also being attacked. You'll never alone.

Another thing to remember is that life here on Earth is not perfect. When Adam bit into the apple, sin entered the world. There's going to be a lot of unfair things that will occur, that not even the strongest Christian will not be able to explain. But remember that this is not our home. God has promised a home with Him for those who believes and follows Him.

Romans 10:9-10. If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Besides if this world was perfect, why would we need God? If this world was perfect, we would not have the desire to live holy in order to go home to be with our loving God.