From the Christian Sitting Next to You
Special to the Echo | March 4, 2025
You may not know me, or maybe you do, but I just might be sitting next to you in class – we share a place of learning on this campus, a residence hall and most importantly, we share challenges. There’s something I’ve wanted to say for a long time, but I fear misunderstandings and rejection of the energy created in the classroom. I am a Christian.
Pause right there.
Not the kind you might expect. Jesus and I are just besties…and I guess having that friendship means I’m a Christian.
I'm no holy roller. I don't preach exclusion and shout from the street corners phrases that are disguised as righteous. I don't fit the mold of the insufferable influencers who make my God seem performative or disconnected from love. My faith is rooted in something simpler, something I've carried with me since childhood: love thy neighbor.
That simple phrase is what led me here, a simple verse. It’s why I believe that Jesus would have walked these same trails, probably lived in the eco-dorms, a van-lifer and embraced the very people our world so often cast aside. That’s why I believe that my bisexuality and my faith are not a conflict. Because the God I know and have felt would love me through anything.
I am no stranger to religious trauma, I spent years of my life grappling with being told what I “should be” and “believe.” After years untangling that and dealing with my anger of God and the Church, this past summer, joining a Bible study group, my faith was reclaimed on my terms. When returning to campus this past semester, and stepping foot into my classroom, I quickly realized that here, Christianity is often met with complete dismissal. I hear it in passing comments, scoffs during discussions and the initial reaction that I am ignorant because of my faith.
I question my faith constantly. Why can’t you question your assumptions about it?
In my version of the Bible, The New International Version (NIV), gay marriage is not even condemned. The verses you hear so often to justify homophobia were not about love between two consenting adults: they were warning against exploitation and harm behind closed doors such as pedophilia. But even if they were unclear, let me repeat myself… Jesus stood with the outcasts. Something I know for certain is that he would stand with the LGBTQ+ community too.
I don't need you to believe what I do. I just wish faith wasn’t something to be dismissed before it was understood. I wish people could see my faith as I do, as a source of comfort, love and belonging. Because right now, at Warren Wilson College (WWC), a place that so many claim to welcome all perspectives, and all walks of life, mine often feels like the one left out.
So whoever reads this, whether you share my beliefs or not, just know this. I am here — I see you — and hopefully you’ll see me too.
With quiet hope,
The Christian sitting next to you