For my whole life, I grew up, not only as a Christian, but as a preacher’s kid. I went to church every Sunday and Bible study every Wednesday; that was my routine. I’m still a Christian, and I take my faith very seriously, and I have often been negatively stereotyped because of that. There are so many misconceptions and stereotypes about Christian college students that we’re tired of hearing. Here are a few things that (some) Christian college students want you to know.
- We’re not judgemental Many people think that because we, as Christians, try to live our lives by a “biblical standard”, that means we judge those who don’t have the same goal. In all honestly, most of us are focusing on living our lives in a way that glorify God and telling others about the message of Jesus Christ, so much so that judging another person’s lifestyle is the last thing on our minds. Yes, it is our hope that everyone comes to understand the love that we believe Jesus has for all of us, but we don’t judge people who don’t.
- We really do love everyone We are called to “love our neighbor as ourselves”, and most of us really try to adhere to that. I mean, we’re human, so it’s not always easy, but we genuinely do try. The root of our faith is love. The Bible tells us that God is love, so how could we say that we believe in a God who in His very essence is love, and not love those around us.
- We’re not prudes This is probably one of the worst misconceptions that people often assume. Just because were Christians, doesn’t mean we’re prudes. It doesn’t mean we dress like and 1850’s housewife, and that we don’t like to have fun.
- We don’t put ourselves on a pedestal Christians are just people trying to live our lives in the way that we believe God sees fit. We mess up, and we do things wrong. Most of us have never considered ourselves to be better than anyone else because of what we believe. On top of that, we’re called to be servants to others, it’s not likely that a servant will think of themselves more highly than those that they serve. We simply want to go to heaven, and we want others to go to. That’s our goal and that is our mission, not putting ourselves up on a pedestal.
- We struggle with sin Sin and wrongdoing, we all struggle with that. It’s never easy to say “no” to some of the things we know that we like, so sometimes we succumb to temptation. We’re humans, and we’re in no way perfect. I mean, we’re in college, it’s definitely not easy to make a conscious decision to sit out on the fun events that come with being a college student (crazy party nights; yes, I’ve had them).
- We’re not stupid or naive I saved this one for last because it’s the most insulting, and the first one I’d like to see go. People often assume that because Christians believe in things that they think defies science, that means that we’re stupid people who ignore logic and reason. In reality, that’s far from true. Many Christian people, myself included, have had their faith strengthened as they learned more about science; it makes God cooler and more amazing! Believing in a higher power, a God, does not negate all of the proven scientific knowledge that we have. Science helps to reaffirm many of our beliefs.
Most (good) people believe that you should get to know someone before you make snap judgments about them; that courtesy should be extended to Christians. Get to know us and learn a little bit about what we believe and why before you put us in a box and slap a label on us. You might be surprised.