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The Bible's Rough Neighborhoods: Navigating The Scary Stuff In Scripture

Many years ago, as part of my freshman orientation during the first week of college in inner-city Philadelphia, someone from the school took out a map and showed us all the “rough neighborhoods” surrounding the campus so we would know the places we should avoid if we wanted to stay out of trouble. These were the spots they said, that smart people never traveled through.

Most Christians don’t really want to talk about the fact that the Bible has some pretty rough neighborhoods too; scores of verses and passages that are confusing, shocking, and downright dangerous as we seek to understand and comfortably fit them within a tidy belief system of a God who is good and perfect, and whose ways are without flaw.

Many pastors, authors, and professional speakers understand this all too well, and as a result most of them carve out a comfortable career path through only the clear, simple, and easily explained stuff; heavy on Jesus and the Psalms, along with Paul’s less controversial letter excerpts; sprinkled here and there with some heavily edited character sketches from the Old Testament (the PG-13 airline versions), and some go-to, cherry-picked verses that “preach well”.

But take a quick survey of the Scriptures just outside of these popular, well-traveled safety zones and you find some stuff so sexually charged it would make Miley Cyrus blush, and varieties of violence so brutal it would challenge Quentin Tarantino’s aesthetic sensibilities. Our sacred text features apparent moments of God-directed genocide, rampant Patriarchal polygamy (Esau, Moses, David, Solomon, etc), excused rape, God both participating in and perpetuating violent war, bizarre and punitive purity instructions, women treated essentially as currency or property in marriage, and all sorts of seemingly unchastised misconduct among the leaders of God’s people; murder, sexual assault, and racism to name a few.

Believers come to this library of writings from an incredibly diverse set of roads too. Contrary to what people outside of Christendom think, there is a vast continuum of opinion regarding Scripture. Not all those who follow Jesus have the same understanding of just what the Bible is or how to interpret it; not by a long shot. Some cling steadfastly to it literally as “God’s Word”, the inerrant utterances directly from the Creator’s mouth to the hands of its authors. Others see it as an accurate historical mirror of a flawed, ancient people trying to find and follow God, while still other quite large segments of the Christian population seem to view all the books and even the verses within them as almost isolated experiences, which vary in importance, relevance, and veracity depending on their own criteria.

So when we all arrive at these very difficult passages in the Bible our responses vary greatly too. Some of us decide not to worry about making sense of every single thing, choosing to trust in a God who is well beyond our understanding. Others find in the “warts-and-all” nature of them, a comforting admission of our own flawed humanity and need for a God who can redeem it. Still others choose to see the deeper truth often buried under thick layers of time and culture.

However for some, these challenging areas of Scripture actually serve as the doorway of their departure from the faith; things they cannot reconcile or make peace with or explain away. For them, this closer look yields a separation, sometimes a permanent one.

The diversity of opinions on what the Bible is, as well as the incredibly varied reactions to the messy stuff within its pages, all underscore just how vast and complex a library of writings we’re dealing with here and why it all matters. We don’t need to deny the troubling and complicated areas that are there and we don’t have to hide all the stuff that doesn’t make for nice needlepoints and coffee mugs. Faith is not a simple pursuit, though we might wish otherwise. It is instead, the pursuit of a God who is as sprawling and enigmatic and elusive as the words written about Him. Some mystery can and always will remain no matter how much we study and how deeply we pray, but that shouldn’t dissuade us.

Too many Christians prefer a blissful ignorance regarding these tricky spots in Scripture; never getting too close to the dangerous areas of the Bible and hoping that by not reading or talking about them that they can sidestep the difficult questions from within and without that they birth. It’s a sort of “don’t ask-don’t tell” spirituality where they stay in the sweet spot of what they can explain and understand, and what seems right to their modern eyes and sensibilities. It’s safe there but not entirely real either. It’s the religious equivalent of a gated community.

Here are some healthy ways to approach the intimidating, confusing, or scary stuff we might encounter in Scripture:

– Separate the Creator from the Creations. The Bible often make claims about the character and nature of God, and other times it speaks of a flawed and failing humanity. These are important distinctions to make as we read and reflect. Often it is helpful to view the problematic passages of Scripture in this light, stopping to notice whether there is specific commentary or warning offered regarding human behavior, or whether this behavior is simply being described. In one instance, Scripture may be telling someone’s story so that we have context and other times it may be using that behavior as a teachable moment.

– Diversify your influences. Depending on our view of the Bible and our faith tradition is general, most of us have a cozy comfort zone of authors, pastors, and theologians and we usually stay there exclusively as we read and study. Two of the great truths of our story, are that all people are made in the image of God and that He can and will speak to His people through the unlikeliest of characters. Dare to move outside of the small set of voices you normally allow to speak into your life, even purposefully listening to those whose opinions might really rub you the wrong way. It may give you a richer, more balanced, multifaceted understanding of Scripture and of the incredibly complex God it speaks of.

– Read, reflect, and return. Often, we happen upon a passage or book that brings us to an impasse. Something in it either angers or confuses or bothers us, and we decide that we’re done with it for good. However, one of the beautiful mysteries of the Bible is the way that it continues to speak as we grow and change and learn. It is important to continually revisit those challenging passages and doctrines, and allowing ourselves to view them with fresh eyes and the wisdom acquired over time. Instead of closing the book on those areas that have created tension in you, return there again and again, and welcome what a new perspective may bring. The Word is “living an active”, which means the fresh nourishment to be found there is constant.

– Change your agenda. We read the Bible for all sorts of reasons; to answer nagging personal questions, to bolster a theological position, to gain insight when making decisions, and to learn the history of our faith; yet rarely do we read it simply to hear from God. Intentionally change the intent you approach Scripture with, especially when it comes to the difficult passages. Instead of always reading them to crack a code or solve a religious quandary, simply come prayerfully and open-handed and allow God to surprise you. Both information and inspiration are valuable.

I’m not afraid of the entire Bible even when it confounds or stretches me or shakes me, because there is nothing to ever fear in digging deeper. It will always yield greater proximity to the truth, no matter what we find in the process.

The funny thing about those Philadelphia neighborhoods around school that I was warned to stay away from: I didn’t. I purposefully walked down every intimidating street, around every inhospitable looking corner, and into every scary alleyway, and I found there the diverse richness of the city; one I grew to love even more because I saw it more fully.

Regardless of your theological stance, may you continue to brave the Bible’s “rough neighborhoods” and find the blessings of a wider, deeper view of God along the way.

 

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