How I Became Christian, and Why Millennials Should Explore Faith

Impact

A month ago I made one of the biggest decisions of my life by becoming Christian. It was a difficult decision after a long journey, but I do not regret it. I think it was a perfectly rational choice to build a relationship with God and to allow Him to play an active role in my life.

As a millennial and an undergraduate, turning to faith seems abnormal in this environment. When college challenges students to question reality, to holistically analyze everything, it is no mystery why turning to religion is uncommon. Faith is perceived as at odds with modern science. The Bible and other texts purport to be the word of God, but their historical accuracy is doubted. Many faiths claim to be the true path to salvation, however there are contradictions that make it impossible for all of them to be right. These are all legitimate and expected considerations for millennials to have regarding faith.  

My journey began at the beginning of the fall semester when my friend invited me to her small group Bible study. Growing up, I was always fascinated by religion and interested to learn more about different faiths. I was raised a Hindu and taught that each religion was valid as a path to salvation. Likewise, I saw the small group an opportunity to broaden my horizons and understand more about Christianity. After going once out of curiosity, it became a weekly routine. Soon after, another friend of mine invited me to go to church with her and I found myself truly enjoying the experience. As the weeks went on I started noticing a change in the way I contributed to the small group. Rather than referring to passages in the Bible as if it were any other book, I began acknowledging it was the word of God and saying, “God says this …” Eventually, I realized that I wanted to become Christian but perception was stopping me. I was not sure what others would think, particularly how my millennial peers and my family would perceive my conversion. Finally, after lots of thought, I reasoned that I should be true to myself by becoming Christian and not use my fears as an excuse.

This past month was both exciting and difficult. I was eager to tell people about my faith and new relationship with God but I just did not know how. I did not want this excitement to turn into debates regarding faith and its compatibility with science, history, and other parts of our education as I mentioned earlier. Honestly, I am still trying to answer many of these questions as I understand the Bible and learn more about Christianity. I believe it is healthy to have these questions and that as I am able to answer them it will make my conviction in God stronger.

The point I am trying to make here is that, although faith is statistically declining in the United States, I believe that millennials should be encouraged to explore it. It should not be put down automatically to our generation as unsubstantiated beliefs in the divine. Rather, like with all other disciplines, millennials should discover religion and learn what different faiths teach. College students especially have the unique opportunity on their campuses to join clubs, attend study groups, and have conversations with people who are devout believers in their faiths. My story is not anything special or remarkable. I did not have a “moment” that made me become a Christian, as it was truly a process. I took the same route as most millennials: I exposed myself to all different types of information, formed an opinion, and made an informed decision.

Religion and faith are an integral part of our conversation as millennials. Turning to faith is daunting, but it is very valuable to our discourse. We should be willing to learn more about spirituality, as we do with most other things, and not make assumptions. Faith has made an impact in my life and can do the same for other millennials.

As I conclude, I want to thank PolicyMic for providing me the forum to be open about becoming Christian. Most of my articles are political, but I feel this is a much more meaningful contribution. I am glad that I can now bring my testimony of faith to millennials and hopefully spark thought-provoking conversations about the role of religion in our generation.