What parts of the Bible make you uncomfortable, and why?
My Old Testament Exegesis professor asked us that question in class the other day in the context of a discussion about monotheism in ancient Israel and today. We talked about how, for the most part, the people of Israel weren’t monotheistic, but instead worshiped any number of foreign deities in addition to their God. Many of the passages in the Old Testament that talk about God’s uniqueness are not descriptions of Israel’s thought at the time as much as they are exhortations towards a particular belief system. Throughout the Old Testament, and particularly in Isaiah 40-66 (the passage this class is dedicated to) God is repeatedly summoning his people to monotheistic belief.
Later in the lecture the conversation turned from monotheism in the ancient world to monotheism in 2009, and we talked about the various false gods that we have a proclivity to worship in our churches and in our private lives. As you can probably imagine, it didn’t take long for us to come up with a list of false gods we tend to worship in church. Our false gods are not made of wood or stone, but they are objects of worship nonetheless.
My professor then went on to say that discomfort is something that we should make more seriously when we read the Bible. We should ask ourselves the question, “what parts of the Bible make us uncomfortable, and why?” The answer to that question can give us insight into our own false gods. My professor said that it is through the uncomfortable parts of the Bible that God is trying to break down the false gods that we have built up. Conversely, the parts of the Bible that we presume affirm and endorse our own beliefs are dangerous. When we misappropriate Scripture to reinforce our beliefs as an American, or a Democrat, or a Republican, or a man, or a woman, or a rich person, or a poor person, etc., we really run into trouble. That is evidence of our false worship.
I believe that discomfort is an important part of spiritual formation. I know that I come to the Bible with various presuppositions and biases that come with being a male, a Caucasian, a Protestant, an American, a young person, a graduate student, a married person, a political moderate, and person whose allegiance is distracted by any number of cultural narratives that seek to be formative for me. It is through allowing the Bible to confront those presuppositions that I can begin to be formed less by my presuppositions and more by the voice of God speaking through the Scriptures. To quote my professor, “We need to learn to take the Bible’s critiques of us seriously.” Discomfort is thus not something to be afraid of, but is in fact a wonderful gift that God gives us.
It is through acknowledging this discomfort and being broken by it that we learn to submit ourselves to God and subsequently be carried by him. If the Bible does not make us uncomfortable and it does not confront our presuppositions or beliefs, that probably says something about the way we are reading it.
So then, I invite you to reflect with me on the questions, “what parts of the Bible that makes you uncomfortable?”, “why?” and, “what are you doing about them?”
