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“So, do you believe I’m going to hell?” my friend asks me sweetly. He likes to try to put me in awkward situations. For him to admit that he is actually curious would be unthinkable. Sadly, the only answer I can honestly give to his question is yes. This seems to amuse him. Silly Anna and her silly religious notions.
A strange fact about Cambridge, Mass., and many other areas of the United States, is that just about every world view is acceptable except Christianity. When it comes to religion, Islam is interesting, Buddhism is even better, and the more exotic you get, the better. Christians, however, are narrow-minded and bigoted.
This was a new and strange concept to me when I transferred into Cambridge’s giant public high school. I had grown up in a small, conservative town, and even at the high school, I had never really had any trouble in relation to my faith. Cambridge was a brand new and almost frightening battleground.
In my opinion, the most difficult struggle of being a Christian in a public school is sorting out the truth from the secular propaganda. It’s difficult not to let the world’s viewpoints creep into your mind when you are bombarded by them every day. It becomes a very personal and emotional battle. It was always easy to say “homosexuality is wrong”; but now I have close friends who are lesbians, and they ask me how it can be wrong to love another person. Suddenly I am forced to come to terms with the fact that these people, who I love so much, are disgusting in the eyes of God. It is sometimes difficult to know where the line is between loving the sinner and hating the sin, or embracing and endorsing the sin.
I’ve never experienced any of the persecution horror-stories that circulate. For the most part, people come to accept my faith as a part of who I am. I have enjoyed my time in public school, and I am continually thankful for God’s grace as I work through my everyday life.
Violet Wright Lexington Christian Academy
“My good Reformed sister Violet!” my Bible teacher boomed, as he observed me sitting in a corner quietly shaking my head. Another student had just voiced an Arminian opinion that I didn’t agree with, but I hadn’t wanted to start a debate. All eyes were on me, especially because people thought of our Bible teacher as a weird person who believed in predestination and thought people no longer spoke in tongues. After that, whenever people heard I believed in predestination they almost always wanted to debate. There was never any disrespect involved; it was just that they couldn’t believe I could think that God would be like that. From then on I began to realize that I needed to figure out how to back up my beliefs. Until high school my beliefs were based on the assumption that my parents were smart, so they must be right. Going to a Christian school made me realize that I need to know my Scripture.
At Lexington Christian Academy, people aren’t going to be shocked when they find out I’m a Christian. The nonChristians there don’t care anymore because everywhere they go they have Christian influence. Sometimes I wonder if I’m going to be any good at defending the Christian faith to non-Christians. I can do moderately well arguing with Christians, because that’s what I’m used to, but will I just look stupid if I ever try to debate with someone else?
LCA isn’t just about debating and theology. There is a mutual bond there, and I never feel lonely. Even all the sports are centered around our faith, and we let other teams know it. It’s great to end a game, whether we’ve won or lost, with a loud and clear cheer of “Praise the Lord!” People respect us for it.
Going to a Christian school has helped me grow in my faith and has helped to give me a Christian perspective on my classes. In biology, instead of teaching about evolution as if it were true, they teach in a way that shows the problems with evolution and equips students with an understanding of what they’re fighting against. Everyone is required to take a Bible class every year. They don’t allow teachers to assign big projects or have big tests on Mondays, so that the Sabbath can be a restful day. My friends challenge me to become a better Christian, and I feel like my faith is stronger. I still wonder, though, if I’ll be ready to face the world, or if I’ll be too sheltered to know what to do.
Anna and Violet are members of the Cambridge, Mass., RPC.