I’ve successfully entered my last year as a teenage boy and, to be quite honest, I’m not going to miss it. The hormones, the acne and not to mention the girl-drama. Now that I’m immersed in college classes, I haven’t had the chance to reflect on my last several years as a teen. What’s really been on my mind is the development of my faith. This period in life is not exactly what many of us would consider, how do we say, "Bible-friendly"? With all of the societal pressures, I know how difficult it can be. These are my confessions and thoughts of being a teenage Christian in the modern world.

You Had One Job

Growing up, I wasn’t a part of an established church for the most part. I learned the old fashioned way; I read it straight out of the Book. Numerous translations later, I felt as though I had a very strong grip on what it meant to live a life through the Son. I looked at the world as a place to learn from everyone around me. Fast forward, my fiancée gave me a cross necklace that I have worn proudly since we started dating, and I love the open expression to Christ. Recently this necklace has been the source of a lot of uncomfortable conversations with strangers. As I was shopping one evening, I had a woman come up to me and blurt “could you please put that stupid thing away and stop shoving it down our throats?” This took me off guard and I can honestly say I was not prepared for the moment. I asked her why she felt that way. She responded with examples of how Christians were judgmental and arrogant. This took me back to what Jesus said himself, as written in the Gospel of Mark. "The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:31 NIV). I love hearing this because I feel like it is Jesus’ plea for us to love one another, regardless of differences. I’ve seen firsthand how some people (especially on my campus) have perverted the Bible for their own desires. To this woman at the store, all I had to say was this: “I am terribly sorry if you have ever felt victimized by a brother or sister in Christ. Let me just say this: I will never judge you because I know I’m not perfect myself. Until I am, I have no room to speak. Please do not place the blame on the faith, because the faith is perfect. Humankind, however, is not.” That’s what is so difficult sometimes when people look at Christianity. Unfortunately, there are some individuals who use hate with the words of God and I cannot pretend like they don’t. Like I said before, I am not perfect because I am a Christian. I am forgiven because of His grace. I don’t practice Christianity because I think I’m better than anyone; I practice Christianity because I’m too weak to live this life without my Savior.

Purity

Oh Lord save us now… purity. Many people consider this a hard confession to make but I am proud of this: I am a virgin. That is correct, I am a 19-year-old college student who has decided to wait. What people choose to do with their bodies is completely up to them. This feeling was not always reciprocated to me. For many reasons unknown to me, I struggled with several of my classmates in high school once they found out I wanted to wait. It caused quite a bit of bullying and unnecessary pressure. It seemed to fascinate people in my school when I didn’t have the slightest interest in what they were doing with themselves. My virginity was constantly the center of jokes and when the topic of sex was brought up, many times a comment or two was made in my direction. To me, that is something very sacred that I hold close to my heart and I know when I finally get to, it’s going to be special. I wasn’t asking for people to follow my lead, or even to agree with my decision, but just for some respect. I rarely got that respect early on.

Doubt and Reason

Our instruction manual (as my pastor calls it) does not have too much to say on the subject of doubt or how to deal with it. To get a better grasp on doubt, I often turned to Proverbs chapter three. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5–7). Do not lean on your own understanding… maybe the most difficult thing for me to register and has been for some time. Another confession: I struggled with a bout of depression when I was about to start college, as well as anxiety throughout high school. I would be lying if I said there weren’t rough patches, spiritually. Many times I would attempt to figure it all out by myself instead of praying first. This only made matters worse. Being a Christian doesn’t mean I’m immune to real-world issues. I constantly worried and was the hardest critic of myself time after time. After reading through Proverbs, I realized I needed to put my problems into God’s hands. I needed to eliminate worry, or it would eat me alive. And lastly, if you are out there reading this and struggling, listen to this: It will get better. God has not forgotten about you. He has big plans for you and you will shine on. And please, do not be ashamed of how you feel.

With all that being said, I propose my thoughts. Life as a teen Christian is not easy, but it is worth it. To all my other Christ teens, use the whole Gospel, not just what you want.