Top 10 Bible Passages They (Probably) Won’t Read in Church
Maybe Some…But Most Probably Wouldn’t Dare
Fair warning: if you’re comfortable identifying yourself as a “traditional Christian”, this article is likely going to make you uncomfortable.
I’ve struggled with that label myself, as I’ve gone into more detail in other pieces on Medium, particularly with as much of my adolescent identity being wrapped up in atheism, intellectualism, and denouncing faith as “blindly trusting in an invisible being” .
Between the experiences I’ve survived, and my longstanding lack of interest in participating in the world I’ve been born into, I’ll admit I can still play things a little fast-and-loose when it comes to toeing the proverbial line between honest inquiry and bordering on blasphemy. Maybe part of me is still hoping He’ll get sick of my mouthiness and take me out.
I’ve come to appreciate God on a deeper level than 16-year-old me would’ve ever thought possible, but I still struggle.
To clarify, I don’t struggle with faith in His existence, rather with always trying to comprehend more than I need to, and forgiving myself for falling short of a perfect standard, as we can always be expected to do in our fleshly silliness.
I’ve found profound peace and comfort in reading the Bible, and in personally reconnecting with Christ after my years as a nonbeliever and a Sunday School reject. That said, there have been some verses I’ve come across in my reading it for myself that have stirred up curiosity, shock, and admittedly, a bit of dissonance.
This is not intended to pass that dissonance along, or cause anyone to doubt God, but to hopefully help prompt deeper thought, reflection on the contexts of these verses, and encourage people (particularly those who might not otherwise) to dust off their Bibles and read them for themselves instead of leaning so much on the commentary of others, from either side of the theological fence.
I may well be accused of “cherry-picking” here (as if the church doesn’t do that to suit its own narrative) but I’ve been accused of worse. I’ve seen churches do some wild application of Bible verses, while ignoring some entire books and mistreating the poor, which if you pay attention throughout the Bible, is a big no-no.
So, without further ado, let’s dive right in. These will be provided from the New Living Translation (NLT).
10. Luke 14:26
“If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else — your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.
No matter how you apply your hermeneutics, this Jesus quote takes some mental gymnastics and flexibility. The best interpretation I’ve come across is that it is the potential cost and level of commitment one must have to truly follow Christ, but yikes! HATE? I thought Christ called us to love one another? This is already confusing.
9. Hosea 1:2
When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”
I imagine Hosea must’ve felt like “I mean…could we not illustrate this some other way?”
This seems like a bizarre way of making a point, but it’s not as if scripture is without other…weird sexual cultural markers.
8. Ezekiel 23:20
“She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like those of a horse.”
Within its context, this is part of a peculiarly descriptive metaphor for Samaria and Jerusalem committing spiritual adultery by following other gods, but even so, this seems… odd to include. Sounds like projected insecurity more than divine revelation to me, but maybe I’m biased.
Is having big meat supposed to be a curse?
Well, enough “naughtiness”, let’s get into the parts those tax-free megachurches will hate, shall we?
7. 1 John 3:17
“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”
Shots fired, Joel Osteen.
As far as the Bible and the story of Jesus is concerned, withholding or hoarding wealth is often treated as grievous of a sin as any of the behavioral ills that the church points a finger at and condemns.
The next couple are from Job — a relatively popular story, but the actual content of the Book of Job itself feels like a far cry from the way it’s often recounted, at least in my experience.
The “retelling” usually goes like this:
- God makes a “bet” with the Devil to screw with one of his best guys
- The Devil screws with Job, trying to make him curse God
- Job adamantly refuses, stays ultra-loyal Mr. Positively-Praisin’-guy, while his buddies encourage him to keep pushing through and cheering him on in his faith.
- The Devil gives up like Swiper being told “No swipin’” too many times and then God restores everything’s of Job’s that was lost as a share of his metaphysical bet winnings.
What actually happens within Job’s story is…distinctively different and more nuanced than this simplified interpretation. I encourage you to read the whole story for yourself.
6. Job 21:4
“My complaint is with God, not with people. I have good reason to be so impatient.”
And then…
5. Job 24:1–4
“Why doesn’t the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment? Why must the godly wait for him in vain? Evil people steal land by moving the boundary markers. They steal livestock and put them in their own pastures. They take the orphan’s donkey and demand the widow’s ox as security for a loan. The poor are pushed off the path; the needy must hide together for safety.”
As we frequently see in the biblical stories, honesty, fairness, and integrity in economic practices is at least as much on The Father’s radar as behavioral righteousness. As we saw earlier, sometimes trusting God takes the form of marrying a prostitute — doesn’t always look like “wisdom” or “righteousness” from an earthly perspective.
4. Nehemiah 11:31
“We also promise that if the people of the land should bring any merchandise or grain to be sold on the Sabbath or on any other holy day, we will refuse to buy it. Every seventh year we will let our land rest, and we will cancel all debts owed to us.”
How many Christians do you know who consciously avoid shopping on Sundays, or who are pro-debt cancellation?
Funny how forgiveness is fine when it’s their sins, but if it’s a student debt?
“Whoa, hey there… you gotta work that off.”
Money, like technology, is a useful tool, but a lousy god.
3. Amos 8:4–6
“Listen to this, you who rob the poor and trample down the needy! You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales. And you mix the grain you sell with chaff swept from the floor. Then you enslave poor people for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.”
Once again, how money is made and distributed is at least as much a part of the morality God emphasizes throughout Scripture
2. Obadiah 1:15
“The day is near when I, the LORD, will judge all godless nations! As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you. All your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads.”
This one might make it in to some churches, I’ll admit, but in such a way that they seem to exclude themselves. Paul’s letters are often also handled in this paradoxical tone of “But WE’VE got it right, so we’re not worried!”
Christ’s mission was not to save Caucasians, straight men, or whatever other group you may associate with being the most obnoxiously evangelical — it was to redeem humanity from sin.
1. Luke 11:46
“‘Yes,’ said Jesus, ‘what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.’”
If churches consistently functioned in the way they’re supposed to — providing for the sick and impoverished, housing the homeless, caring for the widow and orphan — their tax-free status would be more reasonable, but as they currently exist, it’s easy to understand why more and more people perceive churches as a scam artist’s paradise. According to a Gallup poll this year, church attendance is dwindling over the last two decades, from 42% of American adults to only about 3 in every 10.
I’m not saying they’re all floundering models of chicanery — some churches do a great job stewarding the wealth with which they’re blessed, provide wonderful community outreach, and inspire people to ask:
“Who was that Jesus guy? He causes you to want to do this for me?”
Meanwhile, others heap shame on the poor, blame them for their own predicaments, tell them to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps”, and only encourage “performative holiness” on Sunday mornings while asking for tax-free handouts, instead of welcoming and healing authentic brokenness.
