Christians are egotistical self-righteous hypocrites.

This is the opinion that many who are not Christians have. Sadly, many times they are correct; however, there are several misconceptions about Christianity, amazingly, here in the so-called bible belt of America.

There are Christians who are presenting Christianity in a negative way. The major way this is done is by condemning people they don’t know.

We have all seen them standing on streets, in front of businesses or even on our own campus.

They stand there with a bible in hand and tell us all we are going to hell.

You may or may not be going to hell but at that point is negativity the best way to start a conversation? It’s no wonder Christianity leaves a bad impression when this is our opening line. It may take some time, but how about we get to know people or just be friendly if nothing else?

Life-changing decisions like accepting Jesus do not happen with one brief encounter, but sometimes that’s all you get. If we only get one chance, what message should Christians be leaving?

Christians should accept people as they are with all their flaws and character. Christians often forget how messed up their lives were before they gave their lives to Jesus.

The next thing is, yes, Christians can come across as egotistical. We may think we have the only way to heaven, but come on, let’s not be douchebags when telling people about it. Let us consider why we would even tell someone about Jesus and Christianity.

We shouldn’t be doing it to tote our own righteousness or to get a notch on our belts. We should be doing it because we honestly want to see people go to heaven and because we know how much God has done in our lives so we want to share that with others.

“Hypocrites, the church is full of them.” This is one of the biggest complaints about Christianity that I’ve heard. The cause for this is really twofold.

First, there are legit hypocrites. If you are going to openly condemn people, then turn around and do the thing you are condemning someone for, then you are in fact being a hypocrite.

The easy solution to this is stop condemning people. You are not their superior. Take care of the problems in your own life.

People see Christians do things that other Christians have told them not to do. Examples of this include getting drunk, sleeping around — the list goes on. Something both Christians and non-Christians need to keep in mind is that we are not perfect.

As humans, we all make mistakes. How we handle those mistakes is what defines us. Do we slough it off and do it again the next week, or do we earnestly try to fix the problem and ask forgiveness for our actions?

We are in this crazy world together. Some of us have chosen Jesus and some of us have not.

Choosing Jesus does not make me better than you. In fact, in many ways you may live a better life than me.

The real difference is that I made a decision that I felt I need to make, and it is has changed my life.

I think it would be great if you came to know Jesus and the impact he can have, but if you don’t, I’m not going to ignore you or treat you an inferior. That’s not how people of any belief should treat others.  

Not all Christians are going to be what you think they should be. We are all different and have different personalities and issues.

I drink, smoke cigars, check out women and cuss — and I am a Christian.