Weird, Crude, Funny, and Nude: The Bible Exposed Kindle Edition

Weird, Crude, Funny, & Nude: The Bible Exposed is a romp through fifteen passages of the Bible that are either weird (like Matthew 27:51-53 and the dead who come to life and walk around Jerusalem after Jesus’ death and resurrection), crude (like Ezekiel 29:19-21), funny (like Balaam’s talking donkey in Numbers 22:21-41), or involve nudity (like the young man who runs from the Garden of Gethsemane in Mark 14:48-52).

These are classic go-to passages for exasperated youth leaders trying to wring some drop of interest from their junior-high bible study groups. Elisha’s ultimate fighting bears (2 Kings 2:23-25) and Ehud stabbing the fat King Eglon (Judges 3:12-30) are classics in the youth minister’s repertoire. Other passages Tom deals with are more obscure, but more fun as a result – like the only fart in the Bible (it’s in Chapter 8; you’ll need to buy the book to find the reference).

But Tom’s genius lies in much more than just being able to pick out some parts of the Bible that are more exciting than a genealogy. The aim is not just that young people might read some funky parts of the Bible, but that they would read the Bible, hear the voice of God, come to faith in Jesus, and live transformed lives as members of God’s kingdom. Weird, Crude, Funny, & Nude is a demonstration of the truth of 2 Timothy 3:16. All scripture, including those parts that are weird, crude, funny, and involve nudity, is useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness. Tom ably demonstrates how these passages of the Bible teach us about Jesus, correct and rebuke our empty ways of living, and train us in righteous living, so that we would be equipped and ready for the good works that God calls his people to do.

Tom gets it. He gets what teenagers find interesting (particularly what teenage boys find interesting). He gets how to explain theological ideas in ways that teenagers will understand. He gets the issues that are important in teenage life and what the Bible has to say about them. He gets how to receive the Old Testament as Christian Scripture in light of the ministry of Jesus. He gets how the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus changes everything.

This is a book that a lot of people should buy and read. If you’re a parent of teenagers and you’d like them to learn to love the Scriptures, love Jesus, and live lives of faith and faithfulness, then buy this book and leave it somewhere for them to find. If you’re a youth leader and you’re trying to learn how to communicate God’s word in ways that are engaging, relevant, and grounded in the gospel, then buy this book and learn from Tom’s example. If you really want to know where the only fart in the Bible is, then buy this book and turn to chapter 8.

Walter Brueggemann argues that the church engages with the Bible with a degree of “unguardedness”, particularly toward those texts that we find objectionable. “They are our texts and must be voiced”. Following the example in Weird, crude, funny, & nude difficult texts of the Bible can not only be voiced, but heard, understood, and embraced as useful.