We Need the Hard Texts

J.A. Medders has a wonderful piece for preachers entitled “Pastor, Your People Need the Hard Texts.” While he’s speaking to those who speak regularly from the pulpit, his point applies just as well to those leading small group studies. And to those studying God’s word for themselves, who are inclined to skip the weird or uncomfortable parts of the Bible.

Medders focuses on the disturbing narrative of Genesis 38, which includes sexual deviance, deceit, abuse, and neglect. We tend to be much more comfortable with Genesis 39, where the good guy resists the wiles of sexual temptation. But we need the grisly reality of Genesis 38 just as much.

The story of righteous Joseph ghosting Potiphar’s wife is no stranger to podcast feeds and pulpits. But if we aren’t careful, we could fall into the heinous error of communicating only one situation of sexual sin—a man resisting the advances of a woman—and then inadvertently paint women as the reason sexual sin happens. There’s a reason why #ChurchToo exists. We need a wide-angle lens for identifying sexual sin. And Genesis 38, in context with Genesis 39, shows us the sexual sin of men—Onan and Judah—and the sins of abuse and neglect that Tamar endures.

This is quite important stuff. Check it out!