Published on 12, July, 2020
Is there anybody out there who feels they so much want to fit in with everyone else but struggles to at church. Does your church open and understand your autism. What can we do to change struggles we have in a busy church environment? Autism christian bible study groups etc? I am thinking at random. What are your thoughts and what are your struggles?
What I have learnt is that a small church is better than a larger church, as in a small church it is essentially a big family and so it is easier to be oneself. That we should pray about everything including how to fit in and should ask God how he wants us to serve at church. For me that meant becoming the main meeter and greeter on the door, which was a massive ask but I have now been doing it virtually every week for 9 to 12 months as it shows me love for our father in heaven.
Small group bible studies are ace and ideally should have no more than four people in them. In the one I run on a Monday night there are three of us, myself who is openly autistic, a grand mother who has autistic kids and may be on the spectrum as a result, and a special needs lecturer who I also suspect is on the spectrum. We study bible passages line by line, look at different translations, look at the original greek and various concordances in order to try and get an in depth handle on each passage. Often our discussions move far from the start, so for instance on Monday we were looking at why the shepherds were in the nativity, which ended up leading onto whether Mary, Joseph and Jesus went to Eqypt from Bethlehem or Nazareth.
The hardest part for me at church can often be tea and coffee afterwards dependent who is around to chat with.
What I find more difficult is my own personal prayer life and my attitude towards money and sin.
I would be interested to know more about what you mean by attitude to money and sin. I struggle with this as an autistic person because sometimes I feel like the things that help me might be sinful and then I get caught in a knot because Im like, I dont want to go against God and do wrong things but also I need to do the things that help my autism. I havnt found a solution yet
How would anything that helps you be considered sinful? Some Christian get worked up about all sorts of vices that don't make sense. Jesus said "love God and love your neighbour as yourself." Everything that doesn't fit in with this teaching is nothing to worry about.
Thank you for your reply, it really comforted me
I'm just repeating what is preached, in the hope of encouraging someone who is struggling. I'm not going to engage in debates over whether individual things the Bible says is right or wrong, or I could be here for years!
Theology and faith are infinitely complex and personal matters. It is not wise to try and traduce matters to a point of abject simplicity........."love your neighbour as yourself" is not a good tenant for individuals who don't treat themselves with care and love. Many folk hate and abuse themselves thoroughly all the time.