I am a Christian, and I am a Millennial. I am 23-years-old, and I plan to dedicate my life to spreading the Gospel or "good news" about Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.
When I moved to Morgantown, I realized several things about being Millennial and even more things about being Christian. I came from a small town and a small private Christian school where most people believed some version of the same things I believe.
Living in a college town is completely different.
When you move to a college town (even if you don't go to college), you are throwing yourself in a melting pot of people your age that may or may not agree with you about things such as religion, morality, and even how the earth was created.
After meeting several college students and even several people living in this town who are one or two generations older than me, I began to learn that I am viewed a certain way based on how old I am and what I claim to believe. I met several new people (and I won't name names) who made me feel that because I am in my 20s I must also be irresponsible, lazy, and arrogant. And because I am a Christian I must be stupid, judgmental, and close-minded. I felt like I was being stuffed into a box full of labels that didn't actually define me or if they did, I definitely didn't want them to.
The worst part of this experience was knowing what a Christian should be which is not ANY of those things. There are a plethora of misunderstandings about what being a Christian Millennial is all about, and I am here to clear the air about some of these things. Even more astounding is that some of the same people that would refer to me as judgmental or close-minded were, in fact, judging me and closing their minds to my opinions and beliefs.
1. We are not all judging you...
There are people in this world that might label themselves as Christians and scream about how much they hate homosexuals, but that is not the majority. I am here to convince you that I am not walking around judging you simply because you don't agree with me. I have been a part of three different churches during my lifetime, and each one has been full of loving, kind, generous people that love God and others. The Christians I have encountered (Millennial or not) have bought me groceries when I couldn't afford any, given me rides to work when my car was broken down and come alongside my husband and I during difficult times. I wish you could all meet these Christians. Just because there are people out there that may be judgmental and unloving, that doesn't mean we all are.
2. We're not all lazy.
Yes, there are people under the age of 30 that are lazy. This DOES NOT mean we all are. My husband and I have been supporting ourselves since he was eighteen and I was nineteen. I moved out of my parent's house, I worked two jobs, and I paid my bills. I didn't know what I was doing, but I wanted to be married so I made it work. Sure, sometimes we take naps, but we can also work hard to support ourselves.
3. We are not stupid.
I know that I believe in a couple of things that may seem really "far-fetched" to you. I believe the word of God. I believe that God created the whole entire world. You can disagree with me, but that doesn't make me stupid. I believe in Christ based on faith, my experiences with him and his love for me. This does not mean that I am ignorant or somehow "less" than you. It simply means that I believe in something other than "science" and a postmodern worldview.
Being a Christian Millennial is not easy, but it's who I am. I feel like my beliefs are constantly under attack, but now I have an even better reason to learn how to defend them.
I am sorry if you have been hurt by a Christian before, and I hope that it wasn't me. I am not judging you, I am not lazy, and I am not stupid.
I am a Christian, and I am a Millennial, and I am not ashamed.
