After preaching at Memorial Baptist Church (Columbia, MO), The Christian Post interviewed both myself and Kevin Glenn, the pastor of the church.
Here’s the link to the article: Mo. Pastor Takes on ‘God Behaving Badly’ in 9-Part Sermon Series.
CP is the top-ranked website for Religion and Spirituality. (Yes, this is more Shameless Marketing that readers of my blog have become accustomed to.)
Kudos to Kevin Glenn for being willing to “take on” this topic at his church. Most churches, pastors, Sunday school teachers, even seminary professors are afraid of the problematic texts of the Old Testament (the Canaanite slaughter, the smiting of Uzzah, Elisha calling down bears on the boys). We don’t really believe what Paul says that “all Scripture is inspired and profitable for teaching” (2 Tim. 3:16).
But by ignoring these texts we aren’t helping Christians get to know God and his word better. These problematic texts don’t just go away.
We’ve got to stop ignoring the difficult parts of the Bible. Otherwise Christians will only encounter them when they are:
1) Reading through their Bibles on their own and have no one to talk to. Confusion.
2) Talking to atheist, agnostic or seeker friends who bring them up in a debate. Embarrassment.
3) Sitting in a religion class taught by a follower of the New Atheists. Frustration.
To be prepared for these situations, we need to study and discuss these texts, to preach and teach them. If we believe that God inspired these texts, then he must want us to learn from them.
Kevin’s church will be prepared to deal with these difficult situations. Are you?