Christianity involves people from many different walks of life, who may share the same fundamental beliefs, yet have their own minds and think freely, however loud or quiet that may be.

The full diversity of Christianity is not being displayed because of the resounding voices of some. I, for one, consider myself a smaller voice, who may not be heard from all the rest.

For me, Christianity was always the blanket covering a very diverse crowd of people in the small Assemblies of God Church that I grew up in. There were those who did speak loudly and their views were recognized the most. However, I feel the majority were those with quiet voices – whose views often went unnoticed.

And today, I find they remain the same.

Christianity has enough sects with varying ideas and beliefs; I might go as far as to say they have more than some other religions in the world. However, the vastness of the Christian religion lends itself to the smothering of quieter voices in the faith.

Friends Community Church Sacramento is a small Quaker church that differentiates itself from the rest of the Christian denominations because the way that the Quakers take communion is in silence, said member William Aguirre.

“Our hearts and our minds are turned to God himself,” Aguirre said.

Jennifer Hodgkins, senior criminal justice major at Sac State and a regular attendee at Capital Christian Center, said she does not believe the same as all other Christians.

“I believe everybody’s relationship with Christ is different and that God created us with different minds,” she said.

Some Christians simply get more exposure. Whether by holding up a sign saying “repent of your sins,” or shouting their faith from a rooftop -or rather a television- some Christians have the spotlight on them and others do not. And these Christians are not wrong in their efforts, but non-Christians should not see us all as the same sign-holders or ground-stomping Christians because it is simply not the truth.

P.C. Walker, a local pastor at First Covenant Church, admits that there are some Christians who are more vocal, that might just speak for the minority and not the majority.

“When you’re on that big of a platform, non-Christians see you and they think: ‘This must be what Christians are like,’” Walker said.

There are many well-known Christian churches and church leaders, and much of society looks to these people as examples, but Christians who are not as familiar may have a different message that far outweighs those at the top.

Not all of us have to spout out about our beliefs. One way that Christians could speak up is simply through their actions. Expressing yourself by living your life and not someone’s idea of the life you should live, speaks just as loudly.

“How you live your life will actually be a larger testimony and make a larger statement than any sign or any post,” said Eric Knopf, a college pastor at Capital Christian Center church.

Consider those such as Mother Teresa and even Jesus Christ whose lives are well recognized not because of their prominence, but because they had a message that was far different from the rest.

Christians who are quiet should begin speaking up – regardless of what venue they choose – because their message may have just as much of an impact as those who are the loudest.

If those with smaller voices would speak up, then maybe people would see the diverse ideas and beliefs that are among Christians.

When the smaller voices become louder, it shows people that we are not all the same. Perhaps then, one of us will be heard.