All of my life, I have lived in a small town. Most everyone knows everyone. While there have always been people that stand out and just try to be different, most people have always had the same values. Though we may not agree on everything, and people may have different denominations or faiths, most people will claim to be Christians.

Everything that I say is strictly from my personal experience, and these are just a couple things that I have noticed that young Christians have to deal with.

Now, I am not old by any means. I will only be 22 next month (Dec 21^st if anyone wants to send me a card), but I can see how things have changed in our society in just my short lifetime. When I first came to my current university, it was quickly made clear that being a Christian was not the most popular thing.

While there are a few extremists, I have never been physically attacked. The biggest thing that I noticed was that people, especially on social media, are so quick to attack you if you pronounce your faith.

I am very strong in my faith, I have been a young preacher since I was 16. I have been in church all of my life, it's just how I was raised. People can say whatever they want; It will not change anything about how I feel and what I know is the truth. It just shocks me how people who claim to be so “open minded” and accepting are so quick to attack anyone who disagrees with them.

I know that a lot of times the first experiences that Non-Christians have with Christians are extremists or people who mean well, but can come off as pushy, or aggressive, to make others believe. The problem is that they do not give Christianity itself a chance. The entire basis of me being a Christian is that I have been loved and now I want to show that love. I cannot make you accept it, but I will do my best to give you every opportunity to learn it.

The other main issue is that if you have the morals and beliefs of a Christian, you are degraded and called names because you don’t accept everything that the government makes legal or that society says is okay. I love you regardless of your life choices. Whether or not you agree with me on a single aspect of what is right and wrong, I will not attack you or degrade you--it just isn’t my place.

The part that bothers me is that if I voice my beliefs and state what I think is right and morally acceptable, I am called a bigot or far worse names than that. As I mentioned earlier, these things do not bother me in the slightest. I just know that for a young or new Christian, this can be detrimental to their relationship with God. People should never be afraid to voice what they think is right--regardless of what anyone else thinks about the matter. The fact that society says you are a hero because you have done something that, for years, was known to be wrong, and says you are a horrible person because you continue to stand against it, is exactly what is wrong with society itself.

A young Christian should never be afraid to stand up for what they believe in, no matter what the world says. Just stay rooted in what you know is right, let your light shine, and everything will be just fine.

C. Long