The Stigma Between Christians

There are 2.2 billion people in the world who identify as Christians. Christianity is the first most common "organized religion" on Earth. But out of the billions of people who are Christians, there probably isn't a single pair that could 100 percent agree on their beliefs regarding it. Christians will never completely see eye-to-eye.

Every person on our planet interprets religion differently. More specifically, all Christians interpret The Bible differently. This lack of agreement, although inevitable, may really be what tears Christians apart from one another. The disagreements that stand between churches and their different denominations is destructive to Christianity. The war being fought is not between Christians and non-believers; it is with one another. We are our own worst enemies.

There are hundreds of denominations of Christianity — all founded because someone interpreted the Gospel just a bit different than the next guy. The Baptist denomination? It was founded because they rejected baptism as infants, and only promoted baptism for believing adults — hence the name "Baptist." Lutheranism? It was founded based on the teachings of a German monk, Martin Luther — hence the name 'Lutheran.'

The Bible is thousands of years old. Christianity is thousands of years old. Think of how much in our culture has changed in the last decade — let alone the last 20 centuries. Different interpretations of The Bible and of Christianity are beyond inevitable. The fundamentals of Christianity, though, are never going to change.

Christianity isn't about being perfect or doing no wrong. Christianity isn't about dressing up on Sundays. Christianity is certainly not a checklist — there's no to-do-list to get to Heaven. Being a Christian isn't just changing your Facebook status, or posting a bible verse on Instagram once a week. Christianity is NOT about having the specific beliefs, or a certain look.

Christianity is about having a relationship with God. Christianity is about loving and following Christ — Him being your Savior. Christianity is about following God's mission and being a disciple of Him. Christianity is about believing that God is your Savior, and that He came to Earth to die in place of your sins.

The stigma associated between different denominations of Christians needs to end. Simply put, live your life as a Christian for Him — not for your church, and not for others.

There is no good or bad Christian. Leave judgement of others up to God, and hate up to Satan.