On Homosexuality
Over the last few months I've been wrestling with a lot of personal theology. One of the issues I've been evaluating is homosexuality and transgender. I've abandoned my idea that God intended everyone to be with a member of the opposite sex. I've evaluated the six or seven verses dealing with homosexuality. I believe it's judgemental for me to tell someone who they are naturally attracted to. But this is a small issue compared to what I'm about to talk about. I've been studying the Gospel according to John since I've been in London (not as diligently as I would like), and I see two messages over and over: 1) "Love as I love you" 2) "Ask for anything my name and you will receive it." I'm going to focus on the first one. It does not matter what you believe morally about homosexuals, they are still a group of people the church and Christians should reach out to and love. Sadly, I see judgement and rejection many more times than acceptance and love. As a Christian, I am part of the church. But I am disappointed with it. (After reading Shane Claiborne's book, I've worked to eliminate the word and concept of churches from my mind.) I believe if the church functioned as Jesus instructed, the poor would be taken care of, crime would be lower, suicide rates would decline, standard of living would rise, and the government would/could be small. I don't want to get political, but with Jesus’ church, a libertarian government would work fantastically.
This gets me finally to my view on transgender. For the longest time, I did not believe God would create people who were in a body that was not meant for them. They would not be in a situation that only money AND condition of living (i.e. you couldn't live in a 3rd world country) could fix. But today I had an epiphany. I didn't feel like putting in my contacts, and randomly I thought, "Today I am going to see the world the way God intended me to." Then I thought, can't it be the same for transgender people? I have a hard time as a straight person telling a transgender person what they feel is wrong. I have a hard time telling a homosexual that they are not naturally attracted to the same sex. It's just not something I really have any authority on.
Believe it or not, the iPod has been a valuable tool in my spiritual growth. A lot of the growing I've down in the last few months is because of listening to podcasts from Revolution church and Tony Campolo. Those are my thoughts right now.
This gets me finally to my view on transgender. For the longest time, I did not believe God would create people who were in a body that was not meant for them. They would not be in a situation that only money AND condition of living (i.e. you couldn't live in a 3rd world country) could fix. But today I had an epiphany. I didn't feel like putting in my contacts, and randomly I thought, "Today I am going to see the world the way God intended me to." Then I thought, can't it be the same for transgender people? I have a hard time as a straight person telling a transgender person what they feel is wrong. I have a hard time telling a homosexual that they are not naturally attracted to the same sex. It's just not something I really have any authority on.
Believe it or not, the iPod has been a valuable tool in my spiritual growth. A lot of the growing I've down in the last few months is because of listening to podcasts from Revolution church and Tony Campolo. Those are my thoughts right now.