Jesus wouldn’t have gotten all 5-star Amazon reviews. Certainly the Pharisees would have been in the 1-star crowd. But there are others in the New Testament who would have given him bad reviews.
“0/10. The guy came into town and put demons into all my pigs. I lost tons of money. He did great harm to our community. Would not recommend an invite.” –Pig Farmer from Mark 4
“Healer? Yeah, right. He came into our town and had a long line of people waiting to be healed. He healed a few people, then he just up and left, leaving several people without any healing. If you’re going to be promoted as a healer then consider scheduling your time better so you have a chance to heal everybody, this selective healing stuff communicates the wrong thing to people.” –Crowd from Luke 4
“Not only would I like my money back, but I’d really like somebody to pay for my roof. Home insurance doesn’t cover that stuff.” –Homeowner from Luke 5
“Legalist. Not about grace at all.” –Rich Young Ruler
“He is an incredibly insensitive teacher. We had a tragedy where a tower fell on 18 people in our community. He uses it as a sermon illustration and tells everybody that if they don’t repent then they too will perish. Come on dude, way too soon to be making a point like this.” –Galilean Daily News
“He’s pretty much a drunk who likes to hang out with prostitutes all while calling himself a teacher of people. Apparently his “good news” is that you don’t even have to try to follow the Law. No thanks. We had almost a century of exile because of this thinking.” –Pharisees
The Point of the 1-Star Reviews in the Bible
Imagine reading through these 1-star reviews as a contemporary of Jesus. It might be somewhat difficult to discern the truth because each of these 1-star reviews has a pinch of truth to them. Jesus was around parties and people of ill-repute. He did tell those who asked about the Galileans that they should repent or perish. He did give law to the rich young ruler. He was partially responsible for a guy losing his pigs, another dude losing his roof, and a whole line of people did get sent home without healing. But that was never the full story.
While the pig farmer gives Jesus a 1-star review the demon-possessed guy gives him 5-stars. For every rich young ruler who cannot get out of his law-based way of thinking you have a multitude of others who are overwhelmed by grace. In many of the Gospel narratives there is someone who “gets it” and someone who walks away, ready to write up that 1-star review.
The Gospel writers have done this, I believe, in order to push their listeners into a decision. Will we be the pig farmer, who—just as Jonah—mourned the loss of the lesser thing and missed the greater? Or will we see Jesus for who He really is and respond accordingly? There is a bigger story going on than losing your pigs, or selling all your stuff, or even towers falling upon people. God invites us to see the bigger story.
How This Relates to Trauma
These questions are especially pertinent to those who have endured trauma and still experience trauma responses. Allow me to explain.
Trauma responses likely seem insensible to the outside observer. What does a trauma response look like? Note first that there are different types of trauma and I’m simplifying here for the sake of discussion. I also labored over whether or not to share something from my own story or simply make up a story that would make the same point. I decided on telling some of my own story because in this particular article I’m hoping to speak tenderly to those who may also have a trauma response.
There is much more to tell in this story (background information that goes back years prior) but I’ll tell a simplified version to explain trauma. A few years ago I had a really difficult stretch of pastoral ministry. In one particular month I had 1-2 people per week come into my office and either aggressively yell at me or passively attempt to shame me. That’s where the door bell comes in.
I didn’t realize it at the time but I was developing a trauma response to the sound of a door bell. Whenever I heard it I became anxious and fearful. My heart rate would swell and I’d develop a bit of panic. That’s a trauma response. But I didn’t even know this was happening until I was put in an entirely different situation. The door bell rang and I had zero reason for a trauma response. I was no longer in the same situation. There was no threat. But my body told me there was a threat whenever the door bell rang. So I panicked.
Door bells caused me harm. Or did they?
Imagine that I wrote a 1-star review of this particular door bell. “There is something shrill and particularly annoying to the beep. It’s so bad that it causes me to become anxious and start to sweat. I’d recommend a different door bell.”
But the door bell wasn’t the problem, my trauma was. I’d have given a 1-star review to something because it triggered me—but the door bell didn’t do a single thing wrong. Nor did the person ringing it. Thankfully, after a few months of safety the door bell hardly even elicits a response from me. There is healing.
Conclusion
I have had to learn this lesson over the years (and this extends far beyond door bells): simply because someone harms me it does not by necessity mean that they are harmful. The little phrase “by necessity” carries much weight in that sentence. It might mean that they are harmful. But it does not necessarily. And this is a point which those of us who have trauma history have to reckon with.
I am the one ultimately responsible for my triggers. I am the one who has to work through all the trauma. That, of course, stinks. It doesn’t seem fair that even though you were the one who was traumatized you also have to be the one who lives with the scars and the one who can become culpable for how you respond.
The enemy means for trauma to push us into giving Jesus a 1-star review. And it can do that. But there is a bigger story being told. Jesus, who endured mounds of trauma, walked through darkness to give us light. He bore our shame to make us whole. Yes, he cast demons into a bunch of pigs and it caused a guy to lose his farm—but it made another human being whole. Trauma doesn’t get the last word. Jesus does.
“He has made me whole. 5-stars.” –Mike Leake, someday.
