Does the Bible Make You Uncomfortable?

Does the Bible make you uncomfortable? It should.

Surprised? Millions read the Scriptures for inspiration, encouragement, hope and comfort. They read it for solace in times of trouble. And that’s good. We need that.

But a big chunk of the Bible was written to correct us, and nobody likes to be corrected, right? There are things in the Bible that should convict us. Things we need to know and do, but that can be uncomfortable to hear.

The truth is, if we read the Bible, parts of it will make us uncomfortable.

Here’s why that’s actually a good thing—and why you should let it.

If we want to live a right and good life, then we obviously have to avoid doing evil. Yet within each of us there is the potential—even the tendency—toward selfishness, pride, corruption and evil. We have to exercise self-control over these tendencies. We have to resist evil and actively do good.

But what if we read what the Bible says about good and evil, and we don’t agree?

There are some standards, as defined in the Bible, that used to be almost universally accepted as good or evil. But that’s changed. What the Bible says is wrong, many today say is good and should even be celebrated.

So, hearing the Bible can make some people uncomfortable and even angry. Increasingly, this is causing some to marginalize and discredit the Bible. There’s an active attempt to muzzle the Bible.

Bible bans and disagreements about morality

The Bible has actually been making people uncomfortable for thousands of years.

People don’t like to be told that their ideas, thoughts, feelings or actions are wrong, even when the correction is for their own benefit and blessing. Marxist, Fascist and Communist governments have tried to ban the Bible. They wanted to shield their people from what they thought were dangerous messages from Scripture—messages that threatened the government’s authority and secular ideology.

To be sure, there are some principles of biblical morality that nearly everyone agrees with, such as don’t murder or don’t steal (though some will make exceptions even to those basic rules if they feel it is justified).

But what about other principles of biblical morality that many today don’t agree with?  

A growing number of people say that the Bible is dangerous and even a threat to society. That it’s misogynistic, racist and homophobic, and that it teaches bigotry and prejudice.

It doesn’t, of course. It teaches morality, and that’s no threat to society! It’s an essential standard for society.

But that doesn’t stop those who take offense at the correction of Scripture.

Why we should listen to the Bible

The Bible tells people what’s right and wrong, what’s moral and what’s immoral, what’s sin and what isn’t sin.

Why should anyone listen to the Bible?

Why should you listen?

When God sent prophets to His people, to correct them and to warn them—words that made them uncomfortable—they tried to kill the prophets because they hated their message and didn’t want to listen.

Most of those of Christ’s generation refused to hear His words, and ended up having Him killed. They were offended by His teaching—especially when His teachings conflicted with their ideas and practices.

Jesus said of His generation, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37, emphasis added throughout).

What God wants

God didn’t send the prophets or give His law because He wanted to make people’s lives miserable. He wasn’t trying to oppress them. They were sinning—making their own lives miserable and bringing curses upon themselves. God was trying to call them back to the way of life that leads to peace and happiness. He wanted to bless them.

But He couldn’t bless them if they were living in sin. They needed to stop sinning, to repent, to do the right thing. They needed to start listening to God, who loved them and wanted to pour out His blessings on them.

Just as He wants to do for you.

Sadly, many wanted to continue in their sinful ways. They didn’t like being told they needed to change. Those were uncomfortable words that they weren’t willing to hear.

Two ways

Here’s what the Bible shows: Left to our own devices, we will choose the way of sin—of harmful actions that make our lives and the lives of others worse. God, though, wants something better for us, and He shows us a much better way—His way.

But we have to trust that God’s way is best and right in all circumstances. Why? Because “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 16:25). In other words, when we rely on our own ideas and feelings to guide our path, the result is destruction.

We have 6,000 years of recorded human history that shows this to be true. It’s a record of wars and failures, of people thinking this way or that way is best, yet always ending in the same trouble.

Our Creator, though, does know the best way. Paul explained: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The Bible is the only source that is fully and truly inspired by God and can be completely trusted to guide us in life. Other books can provide helpful information and be useful—but only the Bible is truly inspired by the Creator of life as the guide to life.

The human viewpoint

The problem is, that’s not the way everyone sees it. The Bible is often seen as the trouble.

But the real trouble is sin. People don’t like to be told that their ideas, thoughts, feelings or actions are wrong, even when the correction is for their own benefit and blessing.

So, we remain stuck, blinded in error, unwilling to consider that God is right. God is telling us the way that works. The way that is in our best interests, even if we don’t see it at first.

The bottom line

If the Bible isn’t the inspired Word of the Creator God, then it’s just a collection of myths and fairy tales.

But if it is the Word of God—if these pages are filled with the life-changing lessons and instructions of Almighty God—then it doesn’t matter how uncomfortable His instructions make us. They are truth—truth that we desperately need.

If you have wrestled with this question, we urge you to download our booklet Is the Bible True? You don’t have to wonder or doubt, and this booklet will show you why.

God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). He doesn’t tell us things to hurt us. He tells us things to help us.

So when we read the Bible, sometimes we’re corrected for the things we do, and the bad or wrong attitudes we might have, and even for some ideas and beliefs we might hold that aren’t right. That can be uncomfortable, but it’s for our own good.

When a parent corrects a child, the child may not like it at first. The parent can lovingly explain and teach the child the right way to go. It’s what a parent does—and it’s what God does as our Father.

God’s challenge for you

God has a challenge for you. Is there something you think you don’t like about what the Bible has to say? Don’t just dismiss it. Give God’s Word a fair hearing, and you might be surprised.

If you come to the Bible with your mind already made up, based on what you think you know about God and the Bible, you’ll never see it honestly.

People can wrest and twist the Scripture “to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). If you want to make the Scripture seem to say something you want it to say, rather than what it really says, you probably can. But that’s not being honest, fair or reasonable.

God shows us the way that’s right—the way that works and produces right results in our lives today and, ultimately, in His family for eternity.

There is much in the Bible that is comforting, reassuring and uplifting. And we should read it for encouragement, inspiration, reassurance and hope. But we must also read it to be instructed, taught and corrected.

If we do, the Bible will challenge us and even make us uncomfortable as it shows us how to live and grow. If we take the Bible seriously, it will challenge us to change our motivations, beliefs and actions.

The question is, Will you let the Bible challenge you and change you? Or will you reject God’s Word when it makes you uncomfortable? Will you let God’s Word correct you, so that your life can be better?

Because it can be better.

Study this important subject further in our booklet Change Your Life.