Ignoring passages that hurt people

I often save things that I find inspirational to share later... I wish that all of my fundamentalist friends would read and digest this...

"Jesus consistently ignored or even denied exclusionary, punitive, and triumphalist texts in his own inspired Hebrew Bible in favor of passages that emphasized inclusion, mercy, and honesty. For example, referencing two passages from Exodus (21:24) and Leviticus (24:20), Jesus suggested the opposite: “You have heard it said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you . . . turn the other cheek” (see Matthew 5:38-39). He read the Scriptures in a spiritual, selective, and questioning way. Jesus had a deeper and wider eye that knew which passages were creating a path for God and which passages were merely cultural, self-serving, and legalistic additions."

Richard Rohr January 7, 2019

When people use scriptures to exclude or judge people, they are not following the way of Jesus.  Just because something is in the Bible does not mean that it is helpful.  Jesus ignored passages that hurt people.  We should do the same.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.