In light of the tragedy in Orlando a couple of weeks ago, I thought I would write a little something here to combat the hateful religious rhetoric that is all over the place lately.
So I have been secular for most of my life. My parents never raised me in a church, and other than going to the churches that my friends went to after a slumber party, I never really went, or had much interest in going. I considered myself somewhere between spiritual and agnostic, and loved the history of the earth based religions (like Paganism) because they showed value of the Earth that we live on.
I honestly can't say when I became a Jesus Follower (I have a little trouble calling myself a Christian because of the baggage and drama around it), it was probably around 5 or 6 years ago, and it wasn't until this last October that I wanted to start going to church.
I'm going to say here that I don't think you need to go to church to be a good person of faith or a good person, it was just something that I wanted, mostly for 2 reasons:
1.To learn more about my faith. I can only do so much at home by myself.
2. To be around and meet new people. I often felt (feel) lonely, so just being in a room with a bunch of people once a week for friendly conversation and song is nice.
The hunt for a good (for me) church was hard. Most churches were very adamant about their beliefs in regards to the LGBTQIA lifestyle. A lot of them said that they believe in the marriage between one man and one woman, so those were quick for me to dismiss.
And then a lot of them said that they allow people of the LGBTQIA community because they love the sinner not the sin.
I have a HUGE problem with that phrase: "Love the sinner not the sin." It STILL says that they are doing something wrong. I didn't feel comfortable joining a church that still held these beliefs. I believe in love. I don't care who you love, as long as its between two consenting individuals. I don't think its a sin, I don't think God condemns it, or cares actually.
So when I found my church, and they openly accepted and celebrated people of the LGBTQIA community, I was thrilled. My church walks in the pride parade, we don't hide behind the "love the sinner not the sin" phrase.
Loving the sinner and not the sin is easy when you don't think of love as a sin.
My church does not promote hate. My church celebrates people. In fact, the pastor starts every sermon with:
"Whoever you are, Wherever you are in life's journey, you are welcome here, and more than that, you are celebrated."
So I have been secular for most of my life. My parents never raised me in a church, and other than going to the churches that my friends went to after a slumber party, I never really went, or had much interest in going. I considered myself somewhere between spiritual and agnostic, and loved the history of the earth based religions (like Paganism) because they showed value of the Earth that we live on.
I honestly can't say when I became a Jesus Follower (I have a little trouble calling myself a Christian because of the baggage and drama around it), it was probably around 5 or 6 years ago, and it wasn't until this last October that I wanted to start going to church.
I'm going to say here that I don't think you need to go to church to be a good person of faith or a good person, it was just something that I wanted, mostly for 2 reasons:
1.To learn more about my faith. I can only do so much at home by myself.
2. To be around and meet new people. I often felt (feel) lonely, so just being in a room with a bunch of people once a week for friendly conversation and song is nice.
The hunt for a good (for me) church was hard. Most churches were very adamant about their beliefs in regards to the LGBTQIA lifestyle. A lot of them said that they believe in the marriage between one man and one woman, so those were quick for me to dismiss.
And then a lot of them said that they allow people of the LGBTQIA community because they love the sinner not the sin.
I have a HUGE problem with that phrase: "Love the sinner not the sin." It STILL says that they are doing something wrong. I didn't feel comfortable joining a church that still held these beliefs. I believe in love. I don't care who you love, as long as its between two consenting individuals. I don't think its a sin, I don't think God condemns it, or cares actually.
So when I found my church, and they openly accepted and celebrated people of the LGBTQIA community, I was thrilled. My church walks in the pride parade, we don't hide behind the "love the sinner not the sin" phrase.
Loving the sinner and not the sin is easy when you don't think of love as a sin.
My church does not promote hate. My church celebrates people. In fact, the pastor starts every sermon with:
"Whoever you are, Wherever you are in life's journey, you are welcome here, and more than that, you are celebrated."
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