Photograph by Jon Tyson via Unsplash

It is no secret that the church in America is going through a remarkable transition. The great “dechurching” started slowly in the 1990s, picked up speed in the 2000s, and went to warp during the pandemic. By some estimates, nearly a third of Americans consider themselves “None of the Above,” or “Nones,” when asked about their religious preference.

Many dechurched for ordinary reasons (e.g., they moved to a new town). Some, however, have dechurched in reaction to their upbringing in evangelical churches and call themselves “exvangelicals.” These are often individuals who found a disjunction between the expressed theology of those churches and their practice. I knew many of them as students, and they shared with me their varied reasons for disillusionment. Some were told they must believe the earth was 6000 years old and created in six 24-hour days. Some said their church emphasized “sexual purity,” only to see numerous sex abuse scandals within their own churches and elsewhere. They were told that Jesus loved everyone; only to find there was no place for them or their friends if they were LGBTQ. They were told that Jesus called them to “love their enemy,” and then they were called unpatriotic if they didn’t unquestioningly support violence in defense of justice.

Some left those churches but continue to make the world a better place through their work in various nonprofits. Some found church homes in other denominations, but they still struggle with trauma regarding the Bible. This book was often cited as the basis for their exclusion and is now forever associated with their pain.

I have a doctorate in Biblical Studies and taught Bible intros for over 20 years, and I recognize the biblical text can be difficult to read. I believe that this is the word of the Lord—from Genesis to Revelation. While I understand why people look upon this ancient text with suspicion and even resentment, I believe that this book is an ally to the concerns my exvangelical friends have. For example,

• The Bible challenges us to creation care at the beginning of the story, and tells us that creation has been waiting for us to live into that calling since the start (Romans 8:19-22)
• The Bible challenges us to love our neighbor—whom Jesus reminded us even included the person we hate the most in the world (Luke 10:25-37)
• Trusted scholars (most recently David Gushee and Richard Hays) have shown us that when read in context, the biblical text is welcoming and affirming to our LGBTQ neighbors.
• The Bible challenges us to treat the immigrant and refugee as a full citizen. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
• The Bible challenges us to design political and economic systems that sustainably prevent wealth disparity and oppressive debt (Leviticus 25:8-13)

• While as Christians we are not bound by the ancient dietary restrictions of the Torah, we need to think theologically about food. Is it appropriate for a culture to spend billions developing food with no nutritional value so its people can eat gluttonously without consequence while people go hungry?
• While we are not bound by the ancient prohibition against wearing clothing of “blended material,” we should be thinking theologically about our clothing. Is it right to have sweatshops paying subsistence wages halfway around the world so I can purchase a discount T-shirt?
• While leprosy is not a common concern in my community, the commands in Leviticus to do what I can to ensure the health of my neighbor has application in a world where Covid and other illnesses circulate and incapacitate.
• While the practice of the “year of Jubilee” (Leviticus 25) would be difficult in contemporary industrialized societies, we should be thinking theologically about our political and economic systems to create a sustainable economy that prevents wealth disparity and does not trap individuals in long-term, predatory debt.

It hurts me to know that people cause pain to others in the name of my Savior. It hurts me further to know this text that I weekly thank God for has been misused and continues to be misused to cause pain and trauma in people. In a sad irony, the Bible was written by the outcast and the marginalized and is misused to create outcasts and to marginalize. It is my prayer that my hurting exvangelical friends can find comfort and even allyship with the Bible so that they might one day say with renewed conviction: “This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.”