To my fellow Rams:

I am a Christian. And if you’ve seen the growing spectacle that is the saga of the plaza preachers, you might not believe the three words I’m about to say, and I don’t blame you.

I love you.

I won’t tell you that by yelling at you, by screaming about your supposed sins in your face as you walk by, or by holding up a sign that says you deserve to go to Hell.

There is something inherently contradictory – and wrong – with the tactics used by the preachers in the plaza. To present the “gospel” in a condescending way is not to present the gospel at all. This is not the heart of Christianity. It’s actually something much different – a blatant misrepresentation of everything these people claim to stand for. As these people stand on the stump in the plaza, attempting to place themselves on a physical and mental pedestal while looking down and yelling and condemning the people they want to believe their message, they contradict the very character they’re speaking about.

My study of the Bible has shown me a much different God. I believe that God meets you where you’re at. God doesn’t try to make himself look intimidating, waving his condemning signs in your face and screaming at you for all the sins you’ve committed. God gets on your level. That was the reason for Jesus — He got down to my level and your level and then even lower still. He opened His arms and offered His free gift of eternal life.

I’m not trying to preach, and I’m not saying Christianity is rainbows and unicorns … it’s not. But it’s certainly not the picture communicated by these “preachers” who continue to increasingly populate the plaza. Christianity, as I see it, is life in abundance because the Creator of the universe has decided to have relationship with you and love you.

My goal is not to shove my view of Christianity down your throat. My goal is to apologize on behalf of the Christian community at Colorado State. I’m sorry for this repeated occurrence. It makes me sad to see the hatred inspired by these people almost every day, and I wish I could personally converse with every single one of you who stand around them listening and providing your own opinions. When I see these people spewing hate, I am rattled to the depths of my soul. I’m sorry that this is the image of Christianity on our campus, because this is certainly not the image of the God that has changed my life.

Whether you believe in God, completely hate him, or just don’t care, I love you. No matter what you’ve done — no matter how much sex you’ve had, how much alcohol you’ve consumed, how much weed you’ve smoked, or how many hard drugs you’ve done — I love you, and Jesus does, too. I love you because you’re a human being and deserve to be loved, no matter what. Your life has worth and purpose.

If you have any questions about this, Christianity, or anything else, please ask me. Let’s be friends. That’s what Jesus would have done. I’m glad you’re alive.

-Nate Lake