Yes, I'm a Christian. Yes, I'm a
teenage girl. So what? That doesn't mean I have to be the stereotypical
"shove Jesus down everyone's throat while judging them behind their backs and
simultaneously being a hypocrite" Christian. Honestly? Those "Christians"
bug me too.
It also doesn’t mean I have to hide
my Christianity and become the stereotypical “girls gone wild” teen either.
Truth? Being a Christian teen isn’t
easy. I don’t think it ever was. My friends are on one side inviting me to do
things I don’t want to do as a Christian. My mom tells me things I should do as
a Christian on the other. And my TV is in front of me, showing things I wish I
could do, but shouldn’t, as a Christian.
Sound familiar?
What does that mean? I can’t have
any fun or fit in as a Christian? Do I have to compromise my Christian values
to be what society wants me to be?
Eventually I realized, no, not at
all.
All I had to do was find that
boundary. As a Christian, what do I know I want to do? What do I know I don’t
want to do? I want to have fun and go out with my friends, but I don’t want to
get drunk. I want to go to church, read the Bible and pray, but I don’t want to
be judged for it.
Where does that leave me? Trying to
be the best Christian I can be as a teenage girl in today’s society.
As a teen girl, society expects me
to party and have a hangover every Thirsty Thursday. Society expects me to have
sex with every guy I date. Society expects me to wear slutty clothes and too
much makeup. Society expects me to lie to my parents and sneak out at night.
Society expects me to be a rude, immature, teen girl with low self-esteem. Society
expects me to be the stereotypical teen girl.
But I’m not. I don’t want to be.
On the flip side, as a Christian,
society expects me to shove Jesus down people’s throats to the point where I’ll
be hated by anyone who has a different opinion than me. Society expects me to
judge others when they act “un-Christian.” Society expects me to be a hypocrite
and act “un-Christian” myself while continuing to judge others. Society expects
me to pretend to be this fake perfect, holy saint. Society expects me to be the
stereotypical Christian.
But I’m not. I don’t want to be.
There’s this balance between what I
personally feel it means to be a teenage girl, as well as a Christian. I don’t
have to fit in to either stereotype if I don’t want to. I need to find that
balance that I feel comfortable with.
So, yes, I’m Christian, but I’m
also a teenage girl. So what? Does that mean I have to choose one or the other?
Actually, I choose to be both.
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