As a young adult living in today’s society, I am continually tested when it comes to faith and beliefs I hold. I often find my morals in question, and that there are very few people among my age willing to stand up for or fight for their belief in Jesus Christ and religion as a whole.
My group of “friends” who most days are merely acquaintance has always been kept small. Seven girls, including myself, three of us pronounced Christians, two undecided, and two atheists. Some people question how people with such opposing religious views are able to maintain a friendship but up until a week ago it had always worked…so I thought. I was under the impression we all understood each other’s beliefs, what I have since realized is that it only worked because we didn’t understand or care to ask about each other’s beliefs.
As many high school students do, my friends and I have taken the liberty of pulling fun and innocent pranks since school let out. Last week, we noticed that our school rock had been painted with Christian inspired saying written on it. Three of us had no problem with the rock and expressed our opinion freely. However, in the eyes of my atheist friends it wasn’t positive and encouraging it was against their beliefs. Two of them took the liberty to paint Satanist inspired drawing on the rock; which as most would imagine, flared up a wide range of emotion.
I was the first to express how disrespected I felt and how inappropriate I found the situation. Soon after, another Christian pronounced friend took her stand. However, under pressure and questioning from my atheist friends, both of the friends I look to as support backed down from their beliefs and sided to make peace.
I don’t believe god intends for us to always be peaceful. He tempted Adam and Eve with a tree they could not eat from and he tempted me with the option of backing down from my belief to keep peace between acquaintances. Being a Christian in today’s society isn’t “cool” or “hip”. I fall prey to the pressures of society and let down on my beliefs but if nothing else this experience has shown me what it looks like to other people when you don’t fight for what you believe.
Maya Angelou once said, “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning”. We can read our bibles and blog about how strong of a Christian we want to be, but it is not until we step into action that we will see the change we are looking to find in this world and corrupt society. As I prepare to leave for a Mission Conference this next week, my prayer is that I find how God wants to use me and that he gives me the strength to be the person who doesn’t back down from her beliefs. God Bless.
WeLcOmE To My LiFe 