In an article with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Trudy Robinson, the lead pastor of the First United Methodist Church of San Diego, stated that love is the answer to the questions of gender and sexuality in Christianity.
Diverse Opinions on Faith
Robinson suggested that there are numerous questions regarding faith, and many individuals claim to possess the answers.
However, she advised caution when dealing with such people.
She stated that if they claim to have the answers, it implies that there is only a single correct way to interpret things, and it's suspicious if their way is the only one they advocate.
According to her, during Jesus' lifetime, there existed various viewpoints on faith held by groups such as the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and Zealots, who debated the interpretation of Judaism.
After Jesus' resurrection, many gospels were written, but only four of them were included in the official Christian canon.
According to Robinson, this means that there were not only one but four different perspectives on how to present and convey the story and teachings of Jesus.
Robinson mentioned that the church underwent significant divisions due to differing interpretations of the faith.
The Great Schism, which occurred a millennium later, caused a split, while the Protestant Reformation, 500 years after that, led to the shattering of the church due to the many ways faith was understood.
For Robinson, this indicated that there has never been a single interpretation of faith.
She went on to say that disagreements over faith can lead to conflicts that result in casualties, a concept that is difficult to reconcile with Jesus' teachings.
According to Robinson, Jesus summed up all the commandments into two, which were to love God and love one's neighbor as oneself.
Love Commandment
According to Robinson, her knowledge of transgender people is based on scientific evidence.
She believes that sexual anatomy and gender identity are established through separate processes occurring at different times and along distinct neural pathways before birth.
She stated that many biological factors could cause a discrepancy between the two.
However, Robinson acknowledged that there are various interpretations of science, and people tend to view older scientific theories as outdated and sometimes question the credibility of modern science.
She admitted that her understanding of the subject matter may be flawed, just like anyone else's.
However, she stated that Jesus did not command his people to be correct but to love one another.
Robinson stated that she decided to pay attention to the accounts of youngsters who felt that their physical bodies didn't align with their gender identity from an early age.
She also noted the stories of their parents, who felt bewildered, anxious, but above all, affectionate.
She believes that these individuals were not going against Jesus, as they acted with love, and neither is she.
Robinson noted that Christians have a history of expressing their opinions.
However, in turn, they sometimes cause harm not just to the people directly involved but also to those who witness them abandoning Jesus' commandment to love one another.
With this, as Good Friday approaches, she believes that it's essential to remember how Jesus did not resist when the soldiers came to arrest him in the garden of Gethsemane.
Instead, Jesus spoke of forgiveness, care, and grace.
For Robinson, Jesus believed in only one way, which is not to have opinions but to love one another.
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