Why I Am A Christian

I wrote this piece as part of a winter break study my campus ministry challenged us to take part in. It was supposed to be a one-page paper, but I couldn't help but give it a little creative twist. Whether you're a Christian or not, this is the peace and truth that I believe in, and I hope that it may bring you comfort this Monday morning.

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Why am I a Christian?

I am a Christian because true Christianity is the great unifier.

Tall, short, thin, attractive, homely, fashionable, practical, black, white, rich, poor, clean, unkempt, educated, ignorant, male, female, loud, quiet, charismatic, humble, joyful, weary.

Beautiful differences cast aside, we are all united under Christ’s ocean of love, as image-bearers of God, and that is why I’m a Christian.

Why am I a Christian?

I am a Christian because to be anything else would mean self-destruction.

The world says, Find your truth. Be yourself. Do what you want to do. Serve whomever you want to serve, believe whatever you want to believe, defy whomever you want to defy. You have the answers.

You, you, you.

Me.

Christ says, Love your neighbor as yourself. And love God even more.

Christ, He died to Himself because we refused to (and still do).

Christ showed the world that we serve each other, not ourselves. For iron to sharpen iron, it must come in contact with iron other than itself, one painful, bright spark at a time. We cannot grow, cannot bend, cannot be sharpened by turning inward – we must seek to sharpen others. We must face outward. Only then do we find ourselves.

That is why I’m a Christian.

Why am I a Christian?

I am a Christian because Christianity defies the status quo.

Christ, He walked into the status quo’s temple and flipped the tables.

They wanted Him to be King.

So He was born to an unwed girl, amidst hay and dust and animals. So He became a carpenter. So He offered Himself willingly – He was not one to call the angels to save Him.

Christianity, it is upside down. It is radical, a radical notion that those who listen to the world cannot grasp. The world says climb higher – Christianity says sit at the lowest place at the table first. The world tells you to succeed – Christianity says to pursue the Kingdom’s success. The world says to fit this box, and that box, and those boxes, to be whole – Christianity says we were all woven from dust into His image, and we are whole, when we accept Him.

Christianity, it calls us to something beyond greed, artificial beauty, and societal norms.

It calls us to the alter, where worship is the status quo.

That’s why I’m a Christian.

I’m a Christian because God picked me up in His hand, examined my nine-year-old frame, and breathed life into this body stemmed from dust. He taught me that I am dust – I am earth – I am clay, and He is shaping me with every passing second, an unstoppable artist with eternal work. I believe because I see Him in all things – in clear mountain sunlight, in coffee shop conversations, in feathery butterfly wings, and in the roar of a restless sea, the way a mother gazes at her newborn, the weeping and laughing of those who lose and gain, sow and reap.  I see His gentle touch on this world, healing it one act of kindness or sacrifice or service at a time. God is alive. Christianity is alive. And that’s why I am too.

That is why I’m a Christian. 

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What makes you come alive?

Cheers, 

Alicyn