A couple of weeks ago I had an encounter with someone who saw my cross necklace I was wearing and asked if I was one of those "church people" who believed in something I couldn't see. I replied, well yes I am a Christian and left it at that because I do not like to argue about religion nor do I like to convince people otherwise. This person then proceeds to say "I bet you're just one of those people who only attends church on Christmas and Easter." This really had me thinking about religion and how society views Christians every day. Society expects Christians to be the "perfect Christian".

After this conversation, I recalled a conversation I had a couple months prior with one of my good friends. We were both of age each one of us had a strawberry daiquiri, and a photo was taken. Directly after the photo was taken my friend asked me politely to never post the photo on any social media account. I asked why and my friend told me it was because people who follow her will call her a hypocrite because of her being a Christian and there is a photo of her drinking alcohol, which does not fit the “perfect” Christian image. Her reasoning was good because I wouldn't want someone calling me a hypocrite but at the same time, I thought her reasoning was unreasonable because people shouldn't call you a hypocrite for drinking in moderation when you are of age. If the photo would have ever been posted, my friend would be going against what society views as the perfect Christian and instantly people would start calling my friend a hypocrite. This is something Christians deal with almost on a daily basis. Society expects Christians to be the perfect person who does no wrong.

Realistically though is there a such thing as a perfect Christian? Or even a perfect person? As much as society likes to believe there is a perfect Christian, they are so quick to point out every flaw or minor mistake a Christian makes, but there is no perfect Christian. Just because someone of age drinks, a girl posts a photo with "too much cleavage", or even having sex before marriage, it doesn't make you less of a Christian. Yes, some of those are sins and flaws but, everyone has flaws, and everyone sins. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.”

In God's eyes no one sin is greater than the other. Everyone sins every day. Just because someone doesn't go to church every Sunday it doesn't make them any less of a Christian. The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is their own personal relationship with God, which lies in their heart. That doesn’t mean someone can repeatedly do the same sin over and over again and think it’s okay. It means Christians know they sin, and they ask God for forgiveness, then try to live their life better for God and not repeating the same sins over and over again consistently. Christians strive not to use their sins like a credit card daily, but rather like the poor with only a couple dollars left, and trying their hardest not to use it.

I have seen Christians criticized for every little thing they do because society expects us to be the perfect Christian. Christians strive every day to live a life to follow God but even at that, they still aren't perfect, they still have flaws but it doesn't make them any less of a Christian. I have heard numerous testimonies from people, one that sticks out in my mind is a head pastor of a church was an atheist, into drugs, partying and everything else in college, then one day something happened and he decided to go to school to become a pastor. This pastor is proof, Christians can screw up just as bad as anyone else, but it all comes down to asking God for forgiveness and their relationship with him in their heart. So no there is no such thing as the perfect Christian, but there are Christians who know they sin, flaw, and these Christians strive to do better and be a better person the next day than the day before because they know God will forgive them if they let him in their heart and ask him for forgiveness. Just like 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Christians are not perfect, nor are they any different than anyone else.