Serving as a juror for a murder trial proved to me the soft or “delicate” nature of some members of our first-world culture. Then at work I discussed one aspect of last week’s trial and a female engineer covered her ears and hurried away—it was too much for her.
The Bible does NOT avoid hard content. The realities of life on earth have always included wars, massacres, murders, rapes, genocide, and violent crimes. Biblical writers address it, gazing at humanity’s evils with an unflinching eye. Consider Judges 19-21:
A man on a journey is taken in for the night by a host, when “all of a sudden, perverted men of the city surrounded the house and beat on the door. They said to the old man, bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him!” Judges 19:22.
At first, this sounds like Sodom & Gomorrah—but this is a DIFFERENT time when perverted men beat on a door demanding to rape the guests.
The traveler gave the men his concubine and they raped her until she died. Then the husband took her home, sliced her remains into a dozen pieces, and mailed her twelve parts to cities all over Israel. It was a shock, the nation raised an uproar (the desecration of the corpse went viral), and soon Israel rallied its troops and destroyed the city of perverted rapists.
Is that story hard to take? Perhaps. But you have to at least give the Bible credit for NOT being some Pollyanna, pie-in-the-sky fantasy.
The message is NOT: FOLLOW GOD AND LIFE WILL BE A BOWL OF PEACHES AND CREAM.
The message is NOT: FOLLOW GOD AND ALL YOUR PROBLEMS WILL BE OVER.
God does not take us out of this sometimes cruel world. Instead, he leaves us in it, giving us the message, the love, and the POWER to reach people struggling against the chains of evil and addiction.
God, give us courage, love, and hope to share with others. Use us to bring great light to a world of great darkness.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 