The Christian

Living in my little liberal college town, it is very amazing to me how far these masses of people have pushed God from their thoughts. It seems to me that God is just an idea, or perhaps a nagging afterthought that haunts the periphery of their minds, popping up in moments of reflection, but quickly pushed away. Though that ever present decision to maintain a weary yet persistent distance from a creator so alive and present makes me sad, I am aware that these choices are not mine to make for them. I do not judge. They have done their research and I have done mine. We came out with different answers and stuck to them.
I have realized that there is undeserved hostility and distinction placed by and between the "Christian" and the "Non-christian". Christians smother themselves in their people and perhaps avoid friendships with "others", while the Non-christian is instantly put off when they figure out just what that kid does on Sunday mornings. I hate this. To throw eloquent articulation out of the window: it is STUPID!!! Though the Christian needs and should seek fellow Christians for support and kinship in faith, it is not just the Christians that need their own help and friendship. Is it not the sinners whom Jesus called upon to be his disciples? It is OK to be friends with an atheist or a gay guy. It is not OK to forego your faith to better fit their description of a perfect friend, however. It is OK to share your faith with your Non-christian friends, like you would share anything else about yourself. Share Jesus because you love Him, not because they don't. It is not OK to push your faith upon people unwilling to hear it and make a big deal about it. If they want to hear it, then share it. End of story.
For the Non-Christian, it is OK to share your reasons for rejecting a relationship with God. It is not OK jump to the "Oh, you're religious" statement, let your face fall, and assume that the person standing in front of you has nothing to offer in your world. Enough with the "Religious" stereotype crap. Don't use the word until you understand what it means and where it should be applied.  Purely religious people go to church because they feel they have to, they read and pray every night, perform ceremonies and traditions, and follow a set of guidelines they feel are necessary because they feel they have to. A true Christian may act like a "religious"person, but they feel quite differently about it. It is about a relationship!!! A relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. We do the things we do because we love God and feel His love for us, not because we feel we are obligated, or will burn in hell if we don't.  Now, I understand that the Christian does not always act like the perfect little Christian that comes to mind, but what must be understood by the Non-christian is that the Christian is human. The Christian makes mistakes and is struggling with everything the Non-christian is struggling with, in addition to maintaining the extremely beautiful, powerful, yet difficult thing called Faith.
I will talk about faith in further detail later on, but until then, just realize that it is a much more complicated and alive entity than it seems from the surface.
I have failed often to keep God in my thoughts. I remember Him everyday, but not in everything I do. Though I have, by no means, lost my faith through my college years, like so many young Christians before me, I have failed to be more open about that part of my life. I am a very private person, and I believe my relationship with God to be private, but I know better. My pride forbids me to speak up lest I say something incorrect and lead somebody in the wrong direction, but I need to knock it off. I can't be perfect, but I can fight for perfection in making mistakes and correcting them. I will continue to talk about my faith on this blog, among many other, completely non-related subjects, and hopefully people (including myself) can learn a thing or two about what I (a Christian) and Non-christians are faced with every day.