I won't go down by myself but I'll go down with my friends...

One of the struggles I have as a Christian is interacting with people who harbor bitterness and anger towards Christianity and/or Christians because of what one or a few "Christian(s)" have done to them. Because of this they stereotype all Christians as being this way and automatically write off all of them. This sort of prejudice is usually race related, i.e. "All Mexicans are this, all blacks are that", but more and more it's seems to happen with Christianity. I'm sure it happens with others groups of faith like Muslims or Buddhists, but since I'm neither of those I can't give an informed answer. Nevertheless, I find these people more difficult because their reasons to not believe Christianity or to like Christians are driven by the forces of anger and bitterness, and not because they have searched and pondered and decided not to believe. I'd rather deal with atheists and agnostics who have traveled the journey to find faith rather than these other people.

Of course there are some atheist and agnostics who don't believe because of their experiences with Christians, but regardless one should not make such an important decision based on the representatives, that is human beings. We are fallible and sinful people who do not always make the right choice or set the right example, but that doesn't mean you should make your decision about something as important as your soul based on what you see in the average "Christian". Just as if a black person robbed your house, you should not believe that all black people are thieves. This particular person chose the life of crime and he/she happened to be black. To make such a proclamation about an entire group of people based on one individual's actions is ignorant, and just plain sad.

I think dealing with these type of people is difficult for me because I consider myself an open-minded educated Christian, and these people are so embittered by their past experiences that they close their hearts to anybody who mentions the name of Christ in any form. Forgiveness is lacking for whatever reason, which makes building a relationship quite a task. I can love them as Christ loves them, but until they let go of these feelings they will never truly be free. Their vision will forever be blurred by their own stubbornness and prejudices and that brings me much sorrow because some of the people I meet I believe that we could be close, but they won't let me get too near because I carry the name of Christ. Alas, I must continue to fight the good fight...