Hi, newbie here and overwhelmed by the multitudes of topics! Sometimes I don't feel like a real Christian and I have trouble finding a place where I fit in. Let me know if any of this sounds familiar to you and if you know of any profitable discussion groups and resources for encouragement, articles, and in-depth discussion of the Christian walk.
- About me: I'm in the USA and was raised Evangelical but interested in moving away from that.
- I believe in taking the Bible seriously without necessarily taking it literally, and in fact in some contexts, taking the text literally is precisely NOT how it was meant to be interpreted. But I give the Bible the benefit of the doubt and I believe it is divinely inspired.
- I am a traditionalist regarding sexuality; but also I believe strongly that it is not my place to be militant or judge the way someone is living their life. There are many people who both claim to be Christian, and have non-traditional views of gender, so who am I to say that their faith is not sincere or that they need to be convicted? Only the Lord knows their heart.
- I am deeply uncomfortable with the entanglement of politics with church, on both sides of the political spectrum. You should not have to subscribe to a particular political viewpoint to feel welcome at church. The church should preach the Bible from the pulpit as a general rule, not become a vehicle for the pastor's pet topics.
- I am deeply uncomfortable with an emotional approach to living in faith, for a couple of reasons. Evangelical pop worship music is full of professing our love for the Lord, and I don't really know what that means. I honor the Lord and believe He is worthy to be glorified, but love? I'm generally uncomfortable with emotion and am very reserved in most areas of life. There is this general feeling of trying to manufacture an emotional experience in worship, and to say you "felt" the Lord's presence, and if that didn't happen then it wasn't fruitful worship?
- Related to 4, I don't think I've had a personal transcendent encounter with the Lord - something that couldn't be explained, or divine intervention, or a miracle of some kind. I've never experienced anything like this. On the contrary I have prayed and asked the Lord to show up and He hasn't.
- I want to discuss the Bible and the Christian walk in a more rational way based on reason, versus based on emotional experience. I'm not looking for people to quote Bible verses and platitudes at me, but to actually engage in a thoughtful way about theology and praxis. I want to have a discussion or read an article and come away uplifted and have increased my knowledge. Max Lucado can take a hike.