"Christians Are Hypocrites"
Let's be honest: no one is perfect.
No one is an exception to this - not even Christians.
So why is it that Christians are held to a higher standard? Why are Christians expected not to fail and are shamed when we do sin? I never really understood that mindset, but maybe people think that we're not supposed to fail because we are Christians.
Or maybe it is because they expect more out of us.
Whatever the case may be, Christians are still humans and humans are still prone to mistakes and sin. That's what it boils down to in its simplest form. The only difference is that Christians make use of what Jesus did for us on the cross and we repent; we then study the word and arm ourselves as best as we can.
However, that doesn't have to be the case - anyone can become a Christian simply by becoming saved and acknowledging Jesus Christ as our savior.
Now, I'm not entirely sure how different religions may go about this method, but I am non-denomination. It is not my place to disrespect or to challenge someone's religion or lack of it, I'm only speaking about my own.
"Christians Are Warped/Abuse of Power "
I hear this in a lot of cases, actually. I think we all do. Maybe you have heard of a preacher that did something inappropriate to a child, or you heard of Christians committing murders in "Jesus's name" or you heard or witnessed Christians excusing their wrongdoings by saying "the devil made me do it".
To counter that, I ask: should we all be judged as a whole because of some Christians? Should all cops be considered horrible and racist because of what we constantly see happen with them regarding black people and BLM? Should we define an entire race or entire group by the outliers? Should we assume that all teachers are bad when we have one or a few bad experiences? Are all men or women bad simply because we may have been hurt by one or a few?
In short, no.
It is all of our duties to try and understand that not everyone is bad. Not every cop is a bad cop, not every Christian is horrible or manipulative, nor is every teacher bad. We see a “bad bunch” with everyone and everything.
It would probably do wonders if we got rid of the “one-bad-apple-spoils-the-whole-bunch“ mentality. After all, why make an entire group pay for the sins or wrongdoings of a few out of the bunch? I think the sooner we can work towards that mindset, the better we'll be. I will admit that it may be hard to do, especially if you see so many bad cases; it's certainly a challenge.
However, I would like to believe that there's still good in the world.
"Christians Are Judgemental/Pushy"
I'm not sure when this issue first came about, but I have seen cases of people feeling like Christians are overly judgemental. To be honest, I don't think this is something that is just limited to Christians. I'm not sure why people want to push things on people, but that never works. In fact, that tends to have the opposite effect.
I have always learned that someone will always have something to say about what you're doing; it could be your friends, family, or a stranger.
Nine times out of ten, we really don't care about anyone else's opinion and we could definitely do without the lack of judgment. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to think it is human nature at this point. Like, it just comes with being human. I mean I hate to admit it, but sometimes even I have to catch myself and remind myself that judgment is not my place.
The only being who can judge is God; God is the only "person" we have to answer to.
Before we look at anyone, which is much easier to do, we need to face ourselves and be accountable. At the end of the day, we never really know someone's complete story and it is very easy to judge looking from the outside looking in.
All of this, however, is a learning experience.
We can't just know everything out of the gate; we live, learn, fail and get back up.
All we can ever do is try to be the best versions of ourselves.