I was raised in Christian home, and from a young age, I dedicated my life to Christ. It didn't really seem like a question to me. I knew that God existed and that Jesus Christ died for my sins. But as I've gotten older and started to think more critically and ask questions, I've become frustrated by Christianity as a whole. When I was a child in Sunday school and AWANAS, they taught us about how great God's love for everyone is (even our enemies and those who aren't Christian). I was absolutely amazed by this, but this aspect of Christianity was something that I took for granted and didn't fully understand. It wasn't until I got older that I realized how hard it is to love everyone, especially if they hold different opinions from your own. As a young Christian, I took it upon myself to argue for what I believed was right, but in so doing, I began to hate and distance people.
As Christians, we are supposed to strive to be more Christ-like and thus, more loving towards others. But often I've found so much hate in Christian communities: hate against other religions, races, sexualities, gender identities, political parties, denominations, and the list continues on. My heart breaks that Christianity is becoming known for this hatred. This is not the religion I believe in; this is not what I want my faith to be about. I have become frustrated that so many conversations that I have with people whom I know are Christians revolve around hatred for particular groups of people. I have had to ask myself: is this truly what I believe in? I have been a Christian for most of my life, and being a Christian had never seemed like a question, but in the last few years, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue my faith if this is what I was supposed to support and believe. I was disillusioned with Christianity, and it has made me question my personal faith.
In conjunction with my frustration with the hatred I've seen within Christianity, I am discouraged by the superiority that many Christians seem to hold nowadays. In certain Christian communities (not all, but some), I've felt as if the Christians surrounding me were placing themselves on a pedestal and judging those around them. But the truth is, we are all undeserving of God's love. The Bible states in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." As Christians, we are absolutely not superior to those around us. We are, however meant to be a living example of Christ's love. That means loving unconditionally and attempting to be as Christ-like as possible. Being Christian doesn't mean putting your nose in the air and putting on a facade of a perfect person, because no one is perfect or superior. In Romans 12:3-5 it states, "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." We are a community, but sometimes, I think that many Christians forget that we are all one in Christ. We need to be reminded constantly of how Christ loves us unconditionally, and how we should love others in the same manner even if they're not Christian. In our community, we may be different kinds of Christians and hold different opinions, but we are unified by God's love.
My faith is and has been a personal journey, so if others don't agree with what I personally believe, I am not hurt, because I am the one who will have to answer for my actions not anyone else. I believe in an all-loving but powerful God who sent his son to die for the sins of the entire world. That means that whoever you are, God loves you and made a sacrifice for you. I believe in Jesus Christ who cared for the people whom his own followers had shunned and warned him against. So if we truly are Christians, shouldn't we do the same? Shouldn't we love as Jesus did? I believe whole-heartedly that we should, and I hope that other Christians begin to practice Christ's unconditional love more seriously and genuinely.
