Two weeks ago, as I was beginning my nephews' Bible lesson, the eight year-old was trying desperately to get me to skip the chapter on Abraham. He claimed that he and his brother had already read it during the week. I hardly believed him and presented the challenge that if he could tell me one thing about Abraham and what he had "read", we would skip that chapter and move on to the next.
Older brother sweated nervously as his Sunday school fate lied in his baby brother's questionable sense of recall. You could practically hear the eight year-old's brain shuffle as it rolodexed through stored memory, grasping for any tidbit he could recall on Father Abraham. He gasped suddenly and answered, very matter-of-factly, "Abraham Lincoln freed all the slaves."
Older brother then slapped his own forehead in disappointment and we retreated back to Genesis 12.
That week's lesson was just the introduction to Abram, Sarai, his promised legacy of becoming the "father of many nations" and ending with he and Lot's land dispute.
They had dodged a bullet for one week, but the next Sunday I was met with the same dread after we had finished up chapters on the destruction of Sodom, the dismissal of Hagar and Ishmael and the birth of Isaac.
I was beginning to understand the distress that had been plaguing the boys ever since I'd mentioned the "A" word. I then realized that they knew the story of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac was approaching. They had remembered something about Abraham from past lessons and suddenly I was being treated as if I were forcing them to watch a horror movie in Bible class.
This is probably the biggest struggle I face when taking on the role of these kids' spiritual advisor. Trying to teach them everything I can about God while they're still young enough that I can hold their interest. But, then coming to terms with the fact that, sometimes, the Bible is just pretty gross.
There's animal sacrifices all over the Old Testament, murder, rape, genocide, plagues, those sickos in Sodom who begged to molest a pair of angels, dogs eating Jezebel, demon possession, suicide, the cruelties and abuses that Jesus and the other martyrs faced and, let's see, the entire book of Revelations!
I grew up in church singing songs about "There's power in the blood" and "Nothing but the blood of Jesus...", chewing on unleavened bread that represented Jesus's flesh and drinking grape juice that represented His blood (eww, blood... more blood!) and constantly hearing about a lake of fire that all my unrepentant friends were on the verge of being tossed into. Often creeped out, tormented and lying awake at night dwelling on these things; but never brave enough to simply ask:
Why so much horror? Why all the blood?!
I recently asked the oldest living Christian I know this and explained how I come to dread teaching the kids these things when I know one of these difficult chapters is approaching.
I got the typical biblical answer of "Only blood can atone for sin." [Leviticus 17:11] That we all are sinners. [Romans 3:23] That we cannot be saved by works. [Ephesians 2:8-9] That our sins have earned us death and only through Jesus's perfect sacrifice can we be forgiven and see Heaven one day. [Romans 6:23, Hebrews 9:11-18]
I knew this. I've heard all the same Sunday school answers my whole life... but what I really meant was why why?
Why blood? Why something so messy and revolting? What was God thinking?!
I prayed on this and what was pressed on my heart was a question of an answer:
Does it even matter why?
The Bible tells us that we're not supposed to understand everything while in our human minds on earth. [II Corinthians 4:18] Do we really need to? Does our faith have no value without complete comprehension of all things holy?
I know mine does! I may not have all the answers, but I can guarantee my faith is real. God has proven to me several times over His existence, that He is here for my benefit and I have seen His love and protection at work in my life. Constantly! I don't need the whys. I just need God!
It's a "don't knock it 'til you've tried it" journey that no one can relate to unless they're willing to personally experience it on their own.
So, I've chosen to educate the kids in a very different manner than what I was presented with as a child. They have come to love God and Jesus outside of all the blood and Lake of Fire talk. They chose salvation and Christianity before they had even heard me utter the word "hell". (And, believe me, the first time I read a verse with that word in it, they covered their mouths and pointed at me as if I'd just cursed at them!)
I don't skirt the issues, but don't focus on them as a main ingredient to our beliefs. There's so much more that our faith has to offer. We won't understand all things while on earth. But, we will live a great life here with God as a part of it. That's the most important part of my faith to me. Not just dodging hellfire.
That said, I'm not for omitting Scripture that makes me uncomfortable either. It's all in there for some reason. Even if we don't yet understand why.
On a practical level, when a chapter on blood sacrifice comes up and is upsetting to the animal-loving kids, I remind them that in the biblical days, everyone slaughtered their own meat. Sacrifice wasn't a thing of gore like it is to our modern mindsets, but an act of giving away the purest of their goods to God. This wasn't just a blood sacrifice, but an act of offering back to God something that was true goods and currency in their day. On these lesson days, we are always sure to thank God that he chose for us to live in the days post Jesus's resurrection, relieving us of the bloody duty.
If you have any tips, guidance or funny stories about navigating the gory biblical stuff, please feel free to leave your comments in the designated field below. Teachers must always remain students if they're striving to be good ones. And, I know my readers and myself would love the additional insight.
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