To my fellow Christians,

Being a freak doesn’t make you devout. This life is too short and this world is too broken to be anything but sincere.

I am a die-hard Christian, I go to one of the most Catholic universities in the world, and I am not ashamed to be who I am, but here’s the thing: When we get overly preachy, or make our religious experiences out to be more intense than they actually are, I would argue that we are wasting time. Valuable time.

I do not want to belittle the importance of prayer. Saint Mother Teresa spent time in prayer every day and helped more people than I could ever hope to help. However, I feel that my fellow Christian millennials spend too much time praying for ourselves and our futures. We try to discern every little detail. We can’t partake in an activity without “praying about it.” Do you think Saint Teresa spent most of her life saying Novenas for herself?

We’re too careful with ourselves. We forget that there are children literally starving. We forget that this world is hurting. People are confused, and don’t have Anything better to lean on. We as Christians are lucky. We have been taught and exposed to the Truth. However, we have a huge responsibility. We need to die having made the lives of the people around us easier. We need to be approachable, we need to be loving, and we need to be worried about others.

Yes, knowing yourself is of the utmost importance. Knowing the path that God is calling you on is also important. God created you to live. You were not made to spend your life freaking out about every little detail. Trust your gut and do what is moral and right. It really can be that simple. We’ve got what, about eighty years to live? For most of us, twenty or so of those years are already spent.

We are no longer the leaders of tomorrow, we are the leaders of today. So, it’s time to shower, and have clean hair. It’s time to eat well and work out. It’s time to look presentable. We are representing ourselves and our beliefs. Every encounter we have will either make someone move closer or farther from God. To be blunt, if you are above the age of 3 and have a runny nose, no one will want to live like you. If you are above the age of 5 and have dandruff flaking off your scalp, down greasy strands of hair, no one will want to live like you.

People say “Don’t judge a book by the cover,” but we live in a fast paced world. You’ve got one glance, one conversation. Sell the life you’re living as something that others would want to live. Watch this scene from Easy A. You might think it’s harsh, but come on, it’s pretty darn accurate.

Look at Maryanne. This is how not to lead others to Christ. The “Awesome, awesome, awesome,” really hits home. Guys, how many times have you seen this in your Christian circles? How many times have you been a part of this? I’m not denying that the people in this clip wanted to do the right thing, but it is all about the approach. Being self-righteous will get you nowhere. I am sharing this clip, because this is a mirror. This is mirror that shows how horrible we can be. More importantly, it also shows how we are perceived.

I guess my point is, be real. Just be real, meet people where they are. Let’s stop singing while we are walking down the sidewalk. Stop asking for prayers for that test you didn’t study for. Stop making religious experiences sound like sexual experiences. Don’t be weird. Just love Christ and serve Him.