On the journey of becoming Christ like

Just a young gay women living in Japan on the journey of figuring out how to be a Christian.

[diannaeanderson]

I just discovered your tumblr and I LOVE it! Having been raised in the purity culture/conservative evangelical world I relate to so much of your writing. As a result of my current views, I end up with much pushback from my conservative friends and family. In a recent conversation re: Leelah Alcorn/transgender individuals I kept being thrown the verse regarding "God knit you in the womb" and therefore your biological sex can't be a mistake. How would you respond to that?

I let this ask sit here this afternoon because I wasn’t sure how to respond to it. I’m still not quite sure, but I’m going to take a crack at it and then toss it over to my trans colleagues who have a lot more to say on the topic of queer theology from a trans perspective than I ever could.

I think, for me, the notion that needs to challenged here is the idea that trans people are some kind of “mistake” (and if God makes no mistakes then trans people can’t really exist or some such nonsense). That’s the premise we have to accept if we’re going to move forward.

What if trans people aren’t “mistakes”? What if God created them with these differing views on gender and with these different perspectives on purpose? What if what if trans people aren’t “destroying” God’s creation, but taking an active role in fulfilling it by transitioning? (and not all trans people transition fully with regard to HRT/surgery). What if the notion of being trans is the human being partnering with God in discovering themselves, discovering who God created them as? What if it’s not a mistake?

That’s all I got for right now, but I know my trans and NB readers will have much more to say. Go at it, folks!

[becoming-christ-like]

https://caitlinsong.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/trans-theology-on-trans-individuals-inclusion-and-christianity/

Not trans, but this is in good starting point on trans theology written by a trans women.

[becoming-christ-like]

Love not sin

I seen this writing many times in many different forms. When in something that is trying support LGBT people, but often as part of what they say they say we are all sinners. Now this is probably just bad phrasing, but saying that we should love everyone regardless of gender or sexual orientation and then in the same breath saying we all sin. This ends up leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I can assure you LGBT people know they are sinners they have told that many time often in regards to their gender or sexual orientation. We do not need to be reminded. We need love. We need to be told that nothing will separate us from God's love. We need to be told that our our identities are God given and God blessed.

We have had enough of being told we are sinning, we need to know we are loved.

[becoming-christ-like]

Why support systems are not just some hippie idea

Today I realised how important support systems are. For all of you are saying yes of course jusr remember I still have some teen spirit in me that says I should be able to do everything myself. So today while I was out fabric shopping I noticed that my bike tire was getting low. With the help of my friend we made it to a bike shop and my friend who has better Japanese was able to translate and talk me through it. She even helped my to buy more expensive (by college student standards) groceries to help me feel better. I know God put her there for me today other times. She has helped me realize and see what a difference and importance having a support system feels like.

[greater-than-the-sword]

Ok real talk I don’t understand how a person can call themselves a Christian and be in good conscience a supporter of LGBT.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

-Romans 1:21-32

[becoming-christ-like]

As someone who is both a Christian and gay I do support LGBT rights. I think to simply go off one (or six) passages of the Bible that have been translated many times is not enough when we are talking about something so important as rights.

Here is a very good blog post about the subject and there are also other books on the subject. It is also important to keep mind the very idea of sexual orientations did not exist at the time the Bible was being written. They thought the reason men had sex with men was because of a overabundance of lust, not how we understand it now which is because of sexual orientation.

Please understand this is a larger and difficult issue so please do not act like that one passage is comprehensive enough to cover and understand the whole complex issue.

[becoming-christ-like]

What are you serving for? {Faith + Feminism on justice}

When speaking for the oppressed what are you serving for pride, glory, or God?

I was reading "Speak up for the people who have no voice, for the rights of all the down-and-outers. Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and destitute!" Proverbs 31:8-9 The Message. I was thinking about this and speaking up, but also the failures of this, what are we serving for? For our own pride or glory or actually for God. This does not have to be on purpose, but we can easily fall into the traps of pride and glory.

First for glory we saw this with the Pharisees where they wanted to get glory for their faithfulness. In this same way we can be searching for glory in our good works instead of serving people.

The second issue is pride. Too often when we are speaking for the oppressed we are speaking over them and we use our own ideas not theirs. This is a two fold example of pride. By speaking over the oppressed we are feeding our pride by making ourselves the center of attention over the oppressed. As the privileged we do have a responsibility to speak out, but not so much that we are speaking over them. The other part of pride is the thinking or assuming that we (as very privileged people) have the right answers. Oppression is complex and manifests itself in many different ways so from any outside view we will not see or know it all. So coming from that position and saying we have all the answers is very prideful. The answers that we come up with may not be relevant and may not help them because we don't know all the issues they deal with coming from a place of privilege.

The best way to serve the oppressed is to listen and understand them then stand with the people not in front of them. Then only speaking for them when no one else, including them, is and working to make spaces safer for them. In this quiet and respectful way of serving that is when will be doing it for God.

[becoming-christ-like]

simple and easy vs complex and real

Two or so weeks ago I was in my ladies bible study and I brought the topic of homosexuality up with them. All of them agreed it was a sin and those people were just confused. Then this last Sunday my pastor talked a little about the sin of homosexuality. I am not out to anyone at my church, so it was not directed at me, but it still hurt.

I was lucky to grow up in a liberal church, so this is the first time I had to face homophobia in the church. It is difficult. These are people I have gotten to know and worship with. I am trying to love them, but it has made me face something. People are complex and real with both good and bad. They can not just be reduced down and it makes it so much harder.

While I love these people and I know they love me too. They might not accept part of who I am. I might never be able to share my love of someone with them. I doubt if I will ever come out to them, which makes me sad. I am still trying to understand why God led me this church. I am wondering how this experience will change me and this church.

I know my first lesson has been that us people are not simple or easy we are complex and real; overflowing with emotions and striving to love one another through it all.

[becoming-christ-like]

How to talk to a gay or queer person about your (conservative) views on homosexuality

Recently there have been some articles on how to react to someone who comes out to you, but something that has been missing is if later you want to talk to someone about your views of sexuality.

Think

Think about their situation and what they may have gone through. Most gay and queer Christians have had to wrestle with their sexuality and their faith. This means if you do talk to them about your views this will not be the first time they have heard it and this in fact may be a sore subject because of all the people who have talked to them about it.

Ask

If you thought about that and do want to talk to them about it. Then first you should ask them. Say something like, "I would like to talk to you about my views on homosexuality, would that be alright with you?" This is very important because if this topic is sore one for people they may not want to discuss this with people and this shows that you respect their choice. If they do say no, accept it and move on to another topic do not go on regardless and do not punish them for that decision.

Talk

If they say yes talk in a gentle manner about your views on homosexuality. Do not say it is the views of the bible or of God that can make them feel attacked by what you are saying. Other people have different views of homosexuality and it is presumptuous to say you have the right view.

Listen

When you are done ask them for their view and listen. This may help to give you a new understanding from a person who has dealt with this.

This was a quick little guide about talking to a gay or queer person about your views. I hope it will be of use of some of you. I wrote this as a gay person on how I would hope that some one would talk about it to me.

If you have experience in this tell me what happened and what you wished would have happened.

Edit:

I found an amazing verse to go along with this.

"Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with-even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently." Romans 14:1 MSG

[becoming-christ-like]

Marriage

There has been a lot of discussion recently on same gender marriage and its relation to the church. I want to put out a reminder for anyone talking about marriage especially in the religious sense.

Religious marriage and legal marriage are different and should be treated as such.

In America we have the separation of church and state so if churches will marry (or not) people of the same gender that should not effect if the couple can be legally marriage in the eyes of the law. So when we are discussing our church's stand on the issue then we should clarify if we are talking about legal or religious marriage.

I personally think that churches should decide for themselves if they will allow couples of the same gender to get married with their blessing, but I think it is very wrong and against human rights if the government is allowed to discriminate against a group because of their sexual orientation.

[becoming-christ-like]

"Nothing, not heaven, hell or, earth, not even the gospel should stand in the way of you loving your neighbor."

A very wise quote from my pastor

[becoming-christ-like]

Quick history + why I started this blog

I thought I should start off this blog by writing up a quick history of my faith. I was born into a Lutheran family and was baptized when I was a baby. I grew up in a city around Seattle and was confirmed there. Then I moved to Japan to start to college and I tried going to a Japanese services, but could not connect. So for the first two years of college I did not have a church. Then in December of 2013 I read A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans that really brought me back to my faith. That is also when I started following her blog. Then there was the World Vision crisis in early 2014 that broke my heart and taught me how to forgive even when it is hard. Then I got back to Japan just before Easter and I wanted to find an English church and I have! I am now getting use to a new church and which is more conservative then before for me. Now I am active and happy in my church.

Now why I started this blog. I have been reading and follow various Christian blogs recently and I really enjoy it so I wanted to give it a try. I will be talking about anything and everything that has to with faith and Christianity for me. Both the joys and the struggles.