When Scripture Gets Ugly...

What do you do when scripture gets ugly? Toss it out? Ignore it? Run to your go-to apologetic source for the fastest escape route? In my opinion, to have a strong faith you've got to face the crazy passages head-on and see how they work on you. Here's one example that I wrote recently for Rev. David Owen-O'Quill's new online project dare2seek.org:

Remember when Jesus calls his neighbor a dog to her face? Yes? No? You may not. It’s one of those really troubling and really ugly passages of New Testament scripture (Matthew 15) that I have not always been aware of – or really allowed myself to dwell on. Most pastors will gloss over it or focus on the faith of the woman who begged for God’s favor in that moment (ultimately winning it). The NIV titles the section, “The Faith of the Canaanite Woman,” but it could just as easily be titled: “Jesus Calls Foreigner a Bitch.” So what’s up with the image of God insulting a desperate peasant woman from a foreign tribe?

Keep reading at: http://www.dare2seek.org/2011/10/11/beautiful-blemishes-redeeming-jesus-most-ugly-words/

P.S. This post brought about my first experience being called a heretic by a reader - so you know it's got to be good! ;)