4/28/2020 0 Comments Church and the Spirit of the LawSo, I've been doing a lot of thinking, studying, and discussing with others. What have I been doing this about? Whether going to church is necessary or not, and living by the spirit rather than the letter of the law.
Let's discuss church being necessary or not being necessary as I feel that this is a good starting point for the spirit of the law. Anyway, very long-time readers, and what I mean by that are readers who have been around since near the beginning of my blogging career know that I have a very bad history with churches. My family being dragged through the mud due to the head pastor's ego, being taught that I was a Hell-bound sinner for being trans, and not only that, my existence is why horrible events like 9/11 happened, and pastors pretending I don't exist because I'm trans, etc. Church has helped ruin my mental health and has been a hinderance to my spiritual walk in every way. So, am I expected to continue subjecting myself to this? I am I expected to continue walking into a place that has been historically abusive to me because I'm supposed to according to many? Many would argue, "yes." These people will cite Hebrews 10:23-25 (NASB) "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." For them, these verses are a slam-dunk argument, that you are in fact, required to go to church. I would argue that they are dead-wrong. I would argue that this does not necessarily mean strictly a church, but any gathering of believers, even just a few friends. After all, Matthew 18:20 (NASB) says: “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” So, I would take that verse, combined with the passage from Hebrews to mean any gathering of Christians is valid if they are spiritually edifying each other, and no, that does not mean there has to be a time of singing or a pastor preaching. It can just be a few people discussing spiritual matters on a Discord group for example. As long as you are building each other up spiritually. A church setting does not matter. What matters if being built up in a way that benefits you. If going to church harms you, then don't do it. For me, the thought of going to church depresses and stresses me out. But, if going to a church is beneficial to you, then that's what you should do. You need to do what works for you, and don't feel forced to do something because somebody said that you're "supposed" to do it one way. Many will never understand that church is not a viable option for some. Now, let's say that I wanted to go to church, here are my options in my city: 1. Affirming churches. I've been to every single openly affirming church in my city. Without fail I found them to be nothing more than political centers where the Bible may or may not be brought up every now and then. The sermons feel like they were written for a MSNBC opinion show rather than a church sermon. So, those churches aren't an option. 2. Non-affirming churches: I think the reasons why I wouldn't go to these churches would be obvious. They wouldn't respect me or build me up in ways needed. So I don't even have a church that I could go to if I wanted! Anyway, moving back to the spirit. Obviously, some would argue that my interpretation of Hebrews 10 isn't accurate as it seems to be talking about a gathering of believers for corporate worship. And now I'm going to seemingly contradict my earlier statement. Yes, it is discussing corporate worship and pushing us towards it. Now, that said, that's the letter of the law. How I interpret it is by the spirit, which is a lot more spiritually healthy. Remember, we as Christians are not bound to rules, and we are bound to do what's spiritually beneficial to us. I doubt God would want us to be going to church if it's spiritually harmful. So, I have made the conscious decision to live by the spirit of the law. Live by what spiritually benefits me, not by what I'm "supposed" to do according to other Christians. Any rule that a Christian tries to push, well, that's not Biblical, it's not what we're bound to. We are free in Christ. If something is harmful to you, then you shouldn't do it, but that doesn't mean you should enforce that on others. If something is beneficial to you, that doesn't mean you should enforce that on others. Something that may be harmful or beneficial to you might not be so for others. For example, my transitioning has benefitted me greatly, especially mentally and spiritually, but transitioning would harm the vast majority of people, so I wouldn't try to force everyone else to transition. Extreme example? Yes, but I think it gets the point across. Anyway, that's my two cents on the topic.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHi! I'm Anna, a currently transitioning transgender woman! I started my blog "Ramblings of a Trans Woman" as therapy for gender and identity issues and abuse from my parents and church. Hopefully, someone else out there can get something from this. If you want to talk, just get in contact with me, there's plenty of ways how and we'll discuss the best way to talk! Archives
June 2022
CategoriesAll 2020 Abuse April 2020 Christianity Febraury 2020 Love Marriage |