Social standing blog

I grew up in the United Methodist church. My immediate family tends to view the Bible as both a metaphor and a true story. My church community also sees the Bible as a combination of true and metaphorical.  I have increasingly come to see the Bible as a metaphor.  The Bible, off course is often read during church services. As such I have become fairly familiar with it.  There have been many important people in my life who have helped me to see the Bible as a call to service. These people include my youth leaders, my parents and grandparents, my friends and my pastors.

One particular theme that stands out to me is love. The Bible seems to always say to love others above all else.

I am a Methodist. Each church has at least one pastor.  The United Methodist church has several districts. Each district is headed by a super intendant. The districts are divided into conferences, which are headed by an elected bishop. The United Methodist church, as a whole has what is known as general conference. General conference meets every four years, and they publish the Book of Discipline. This book helps to define the church’s rules and standards. In the book of discipline there is a section called The Social Principles. This helps to define the church’s stance on particular issues such as marriage, suicide, adoption and many more issues. All of these things and people are authoritative in the church I belong to. The Methodist movement was founded by John Wesley and his younger brother Charles. So, the writings and teachings of these two are also considered authoritative.

I am a Caucasian. I am German and English. Luther and Lutheranism have had a significant impact on German culture, while the Church of England is the most significant church in England.  The Methodist church is actually a break away from the Church of England. I identify as a cis-gendered woman (meaning I identify as a women, and have the lady parts).  Women tend to view the Bible in many different ways, some see that women should be submissive and good wives all others focus on the comments of love and acceptance. I personally notice the love and acceptance portions, and I cannot help but notice how many strong women in the Bible there really are. Also, I desire to become a lawyer and do not believe that women were meant to be submissive to their husbands. My family is also wealthy. For me, this is a call to service, because Jesus said several times that the weak are the most blessed, and he also taught that helping the poor is helping him.

I am also a very liberal Democrat. I am a feminist. I believe in the equality of marriage and a person’s right to make health decisions for themselves. This means that I view the Bible as a call to service. I also see the Bible as a form of protection for all types of people. I believe that the most important message in the Bible is to love others, no matter what life choices they have made. I regularly watch the Evening news with Scot Pelly. The tragedies that I hear about are truly scary and rather disheartening. This influences my reading of the Bible because I believe that we should do more to prevent tragedy and I believe the Bible would support this.

The most important factors in how I read the Bible is that I am a United Methodist and I believe in service to others. I am not at all surprised by any of this.