I've had several ideas for my next post but somehow just never seem to have the time to sit down and put any words to paper. (or whatever the equivalent is in the electronic world) One of the verses that is most used to explain why being transgender is considered by many Christians and Christian Churches is Deuteronomy 22:5. And I must admit that I allowed this verse to drive my thoughts on this subject matter for many years even as I struggled with my own need in this matter. What I realized when I started to study this passage for myself (and many other Christians conviently forget also) is that there are 29 other verses in Deuteronomy 22. No one pays any attention to the other 29 verses. They have been discounted in modern society and the modern church, for good reason I might add. Stoning those taken in adultery seems to have been discounted by Jesus himself. Yet that is also a verse in Deuteronomy chapter 22. It's left asking the question, who is it that picks and chooses which verses in the Bible apply today and which ones can safely be ignored?
I've thought about this for some time and struggled with it but I realized that Jesus taught that there was something more important than taking every verse in the Bible literally. Jesus taught us about the importance of Love, Compassion and forgiveness. He said nothing about homosexuality but said a lot about the way we treat our fellow man (or woman). He taught that our love for God should impact our attitudes and our concerns. He showed us what forgiveness looks like when he forgave even those that drove the nails into his hands.
Perhaps this is the area of life that we in the Christian community need to focus on. Just perhaps we as Christians need to focus on being kind, compassionate, to help each other in their time of need, to be more proactive in helping the poor. Maybe, just maybe we need to spend less effort telling others about their sins and work on being more Christlike. So often it seems to me that this is the biggest thing missing in American Christianity, Christlikeness. Christ like love, Christ like compassion, Christ like caring for others, Christlike forgiveness of each other.
I've included a link to another blogger that put my thoughts to words so much better than I can. rachelheldevans gluttony
