My sixteen year old daughter Brianna was asked to write a paper about what she thought about Christianity. This is what she wrote. I thought it was very provacative and insightful.
Maybe it is because I have grown up in church, or maybe it is because I hear about it in the news all the time, or better yet, maybe it is because my dad and my grandfather are both pastors of local churches, but the fact of the matter is that I have been subject to Christianity every day of my entire life. From the day I learned to talk, it has always been, "Pray before you eat," and "Have a quiet time," and "You better not use God's name in vain," and all of that has been fine with me. It wasn't until I grew up a little and noticed that everyone was not like me, nor did they believe the same way I did that I started to investigate why in the world anyone would turn away from the only religion I ever knew. As soon as I started to look, it became very prevalent that people of the Christian faith are the antithesis of what they are truly supposed to be, and if I was on the outside looking in, I would want nothing to do with the so-called Christians of today.
Christians have, over the past years, isolated themselves from the rest of society. They have made their own radio stations, bookstores, schools, bumper stickers, organizations, clubs, and the list goes on and on. From their eyes, it is a great thing; it keeps their kids sheltered from "the dangers of the real world," and it keeps their family focused on the most important thing, a relationship with God. Yes, I would agree that this relationship is important, but what good does a Christian do if they are sheltered in this "bubble" of Christianity so that they cannot reach the people who need it most? The Bible says in Matthew 28:19, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." This clearly shows that the followers who are so wrapped up in keeping to "their kind" have been misled, and should maybe refer back to their main source of reasoning for some real answers.
Some people of the Christian faith have the wrong idea of how to raise their family, therefore giving those looking in the wrong image of all Christians. Some people who raise their children in orderly ways, putting heavy rules and regulations on all of their children's actions, give the impression that if you are part of this religion, you can have no fun because you have to follow a set number of rules. Frankly, Christians will set ridiculous rules for their families, making all of us look like plain idiots. My philosophy is to just let a kid be a kid, let them do what they want to do, but guard their actions and monitor what they are doing. Putting crazy restrictions on a kid because you think it is "in God's will" will only make the child look ridiculous in the whole scheme of things, and a parent cannot shelter their kid forever. If a child is pushed to do all of the so called "right things" as a kid, they will be likely to rebel as a teenager.
Non-Christians get the wrong impression of followers all the time because of the things they hear in the news or the things they see with their own eyes. Recently when Heath Ledger was killed, a so-called "church" protested that "God hates fags, " and "Heath is in hell." This is something that personally upset me the most because it is something that everyone can see, and it is totally the wrong impression of a Christian. I Peter 2:17 says, "Respect everyone", and II Peter 1:7 says to show, "brotherly affection with love for everyone." No matter who you are, a Christian's job is to accept you, and people have somehow become so caught up in the religious lifestyle, forgetting the true meaning of being Christ-like. People become so caught up in the "image" that their actions become worse than those who they are protesting against in the first place. The Bible says in Matthew 6:5, "When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on the street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get." This clearly shows that being a Christian is about sharing truth with others, and it is not about building yourself up, but about building others up and bring more people to God.
If only non-believers could look in at Christians and realize that not all of them are the crazy, Bible beating, ridiculous clothes wearing weirdos that they are known as, maybe some people could start to realize that maybe this religion is about love and acceptance and forgiveness. It is only when that stereotype is forgotten and someone, ironically, shows Christians the light that things will actually change, but until that day, the same things will be going on in our world as they are today.
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