When I was a little girl, I understood Christianity as church people. Through Sunday school teachers, ministers and church leaders, I learned to trust adults other than from my parents. I discovered close friendships in my nursery friends, and I found role models in the "big kids." I watched adults work together to serve Communion, sing in the choir and join in fellowship. I learned about working together and respect. I listened to my parents discuss board and committee meetings, and I saw the importance of volunteer commitments. Eventually I came to understand that family does not always have to be bound by blood. And, looking back, I recognize that this family-like community I found in church expanded my view of greater human community. Growing up a part of such a community has instilled in me an unshakable belief in the importance of people working and living together. Even more, it taught me that all kinds of people can come together as friends to make a vibrant community like the church.

As I grew older, the spiritual and theological side of Christianity began to unfold for me. I found a calm and peace in songs we sang at church camp. I discovered the power of prayer in hard times. Perhaps most importantly, I discovered the messages of love, reconciliation and hope given in the Bible. I learned to turn the other cheek and to treat my neighbor as I wished to be treated. I heard about a man who welcomed the poor, the sinners and the outcasts. I saw a God who created humanity and loved us all. I came to believe in the possibility of a life greater than this one; and I began to feel that this life need not be after death. In other words, I want to strive to help make the world more like the Kingdom of God I have discovered in my faith, just as I want to emulate the life I have seen in Jesus.

By this point, my faith truly oriented my worldview, and it still does to this day. Today, I am a Christian — whether I want to be or not. I believe that there is a God who loves humanity — all of humanity. I believe in the importance of community and I try to see all people — those near and those far, those similar to me and those strange to me — as my neighbor. I believe that this God calls us to love one another, to form relationships, and to rejoice in reconciliation, not death. And I believe that a better, more peaceful, more whole and more understanding world-community can be a reality on Earth.

Perhaps this belief is the ignorance that I saw someone speak of on Facebook. Yet, I cannot help but think that my feelings are not born of ignorance but of a meaningful and true message taught by faith. Further, given that forging such a world quickly is unlikely, I know that the church should continue to be a place where this image is hoped for and proclaimed. In a world often tainted by fear and anger, the Church — and the Christians who make it — holds the critical responsibility to challenge people to work for the world Jesus proclaimed. In short, the church is called to be God's partner in proclaiming that world.

I still believe that someday that world will be a reality.

• What does my routine say about me?
• Women of the world
• Life beyond the edge of campus