Faith Challenges: It Ain't All Comfort

Why do we seem always to miss the point when teaching Bible stories to children? It’s almost like we only care to teach them the most trivial aspects of the story at hand. We transform the story of David and Goliath into something far removed from determining who was the true God determining the outcome on the battlefield. We transform the story of Jericho into a wall falling down, rather than relying on God to do the impossible. We transform the stories of Samson as though to say that God wants men to be exceptionally strong, losing sight of just how Samson abused God’s power for his own purposes. We get to the story of Zacchaeus, and it’s all about how short he is and how he had to climb a tree to see Jesus. Not only are the kids cheated by the way we tell these stories, they grow up to be adults who have never reflected theologically on any story in their lives. The story of Jericho is about trusting God against insurmountable odds. It is about following through in ...

One of the most vile bits of popular theology I keep hearing is, "It's God's will." Excuse me, but not everything is God's will. If everything is God's will, by definition, sin does not exist. The God Jesus revealed does not exist in the worldview of the blanket statement that everything is God's will and design. I know that most people who resort to propagating the phrase and sentiment may mean well, but I'm pretty sure they have not thought it through. I am responsible for my inactions, my attitudes, my words, my decisions, and my actions. I have agency. I am more than a puppet on God's string. Some of the same voices who spew the notion that all things are God's will turn around and quickly tell others they are heretics, abominations, and God will spew them out of God's mouth. If everything is God's will, then why would God do so? The two concepts are at odds with each other. If what I am doing is condemnable by Go...