The Bible Says
CONSIDER SUPPORTING THE WORK OF LGBTQIA+ FAITH ACCESS. ALL OF MY WORK IS AVAILABLE FOR FREE, BUT YOUR GENEROSITY MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO CONTINUE. THANKS!Not a day goes by that I don’t get a message from someone telling me that I am an abomination. Oftentimes these messages come riddled with bible verses attempting to prove their point. There have been times where I receive hundreds of messages in a single day damning me to hell. When I first came out as a trans woman there were many times that I would have phone calls of people yelling at me. These people would tell me that I was deceived, and should turn from my sin. These conversations have a predictable pattern. They begin with a quote of scripture held completely out of context, and framed in the way they want to be sure to prove a point against me.
However, here's something I've learned over the last couple of years. Almost anytime somebody wants to make a point they can find a verse for it. Just as viciously as I receive scriptures telling me that I am wrong for being transgender, I could send an equal amount of scriptures back at someone telling them how they are wrong. I could dig up an equal amount of bible quotes and make the case for my queerness. So here's what I've learned the most about the Bible.
I constantly hear people say; “the Bible says…”However I have a challenge to this statement. The bible doesn't say anything. The bible reads. The bible is interpreted and communicated by a human mindset.. There are multiple times in Scripture that Jesus quotes scripture and quickly tells people to do the opposite. What we need to understand is that scripture is interpreted by people and communicated how they want in a moment. The Bible doesn't specifically tell us anything it is in the eye of the reader.
We need to change how we approach using scripture to speak to other people. Telling someone ”the Bible says”... is a lazy and incorrect statement. What if we could begin changing our language to say things like ”what I interpret from scriptures example is… “ Statements like this can open up conversations rather than simply just try to end them. Approaching a conversation and using scripture within said conversation, should be the beginning of our discussion, and never the end. The more I read scripture. the more questions I have. Let us find our way to open conversation with a scripture passage, and not end them. Let us stop speaking for the Bible and just own what we are trying to say.
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