Barfing the bible

Have you ever been in pain or at a crossroads or standing at the edge of fearful transition… then had some well-meaning person quote a random bible verse without context or care? 

It sucks, right? And kinda makes you understand why so many people have concluded (wrongly) that the bible is just a crutch for people who aren’t honest about real life. 

I call that “barfing the bible.” And what I mean is, 

Let’s not be people who just vomit sunday school solutions with a scripture to the hurting. It’s careless. It can make matters worse. And it’s not what Jesus did. 

Jesus knelt down to the level of children. Jesus asked what the paralyzed man wanted. Jesus’ miracles were mostly hands-on… and his lessons came from relevant, day-to-day first century context. He was there, connected, aware, compassionate. 

So why are we afraid to enter into the mess of real life? Offering disconnected cliche bible verses is like tossing bread out of the back of a truck with sanitary gloves. Instead, let’s honestly engage in the human struggle.

Don’t fix them. Fit yourself into their story. 
Don’t solve it. Show them that you struggle too.
Don’t downplay it. Move downward to a level of honest care and compassion. 

This is the Jesus way.