I spent my whole life being a Christian, I grew up along a plethora of Jesus songs and scattered Veggie Tales VHS tapes. I spent my lazy Sunday mornings in Sunday School and went on lots of retreats throughout middle and high school. When I was younger, you're religion didn't seem to be a huge deal, most kids just believed what their parents did. If someone in your second grade class was a Muslim, Christian, or an atheist no one seemed to care. As I've gotten older, I've come to grasp that faith comes with a lot more responsibility.
I read somewhere that the fastest growing religion is actually atheism, especially with my generation. I believe this can trace back to a lot of reasons. It could be because many millennials have seen the hypocrisy in the church, the rise of counter-culture, the rejection of LBGTQ in many religious organizations, and the fact that many seek a freedom from the rules that many religions demand.
I have met plenty of atheists that are better people than some Christians that I know. What your religion is doesn't necessarily serve as a map to where a person is at morally or spiritually. However, being a teenage Christian in an increasingly atheistic world has some challenges that older Christians don't really relate to.
1. Believe it or not, you find often that you're the minority.
In America, Protestantism is the main religion. However, along youth, that is not true. I've noticed that most kids my age claim to be part of no religion. So when other kids are off doing things you don't agree with, you often find yourself alone in your beliefs.
2. Sometimes your faith can exhaust you.
When your surrounded by people who don't understand why you don't think smoking, casual sex, and partying is a great idea, it can be suffocating. Plenty of times I found myself in situations that made me insanely uncomfortable because I didn't want to be the "stick in the mud" who didn't know how to have fun. No one wants to be left out. I hated that I felt guilty when I would hang out with some of my friends because I was envious of the fun they would have. Sometimes I wished I didn't believe that certain things were wrong.
3. If you don't find yourself a solid group of Christian friends, you lose sight of what you believe in.
Jesus was right when he said: "Show me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are." Human beings are sponges to other people. If we stick around certain social groups, we tend to find ourselves adjusting to be more like them. Now that I'm at a Christian school, I find that I am more myself now than ever. I rejoice in my beliefs because I finally am in an environment with people who support me in a way I can understand.
4. It's important to not play the "converter"
A lot of people shudder at Christians because so often we try to force our beliefs onto people who quite frankly don't want to hear it. It's the same vice versa. I had friends who advocated for me to doubt God, and to do what I wanted with my life. It happened so often that I resented some of those friends. It's important to share the gospel, but the phrase "actions speak louder than worse" is so relevant. This generation won't respect you if your blabbing about Jesus. It's essential to be loving to everyone, and to stick up for your morals by refusing to join the norm.
People come from a lot of different backgrounds, and I'm not saying every atheist likes to party and that every Christian is a saint, however it's important to remember that we have differences and need to respect one another in how we treat the other's beliefs.
