Did Jesus really say that?<\/p>\n
Recently I was scrolling through the channels to find some cure for my mental lethargy when I encountered a popular TV preacher.\u00a0 This fellow is often enlightening and always entertaining so I stopped to listen. His topic was the strategic thinking of Christ and how we often view life\u2019s events like isolated incidents, while the Lord sees the whole.\u00a0 I was encouraged by the message in spite of the fact that he was dressed like a senator from the Star Wars movies. Then he jumped the shark. He quoted Philippians 2:5 where it says, \u201cHave this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,\u201d and proceeded to tell us to think like Jesus and get the big picture.<\/p>\n
I changed the channel.<\/p>\n
If you know your Bible, you\u2019ll know that Philippians 2 deals with humility and service.\u00a0 The reference above deals specifically with Christ leaving His Glory to come among us to die for us.\u00a0 There are other examples of humility there; but my topic is not Philippians or humility, but how we use scripture.\u00a0\u00a0 You cannot take a statement from its context and use it elsewhere unless the speaker\/writer does it or it is done by another biblical writer.<\/p>\n
Think about this.\u00a0 A dad takes his children to the local kids\u2019 game and pizza place for a special treat because he got a big raise.\u00a0 Once inside and ready to play games, he says, \u201cI love you and want you to have all you want.\u201d\u00a0 The kids have a great time and remember the special day the rest of their lives.\u00a0 Months later, the kids decide to apply Dad\u2019s promise at the grocery store, get their own cart and load it with chocolate, candy, and soft drinks.\u00a0 When they get to the checkout counter, they are disappointed when neither mom nor dad will pay for all their goodies. \u201cYou promised, Dad!\u201d they protest. \u201cDon\u2019t you love us anymore\u201d?<\/p>\n
Christians and pastors do the same thing all the time. They take a scripture out of its context, apply it where the Lord never did, and run around saying how the Lord spoke to them.\u00a0 Only the Lord has enough patience to deal with it.\u00a0 Kids might make the mistake in my illustration, but they should soon grow mature enough to sense that something larger is going on.\u00a0 That mature discernment is missing in many of our churches because preachers like my brother above need scripture to reinforce their point.<\/p>\n
His point was valid and preachers are allowed to draw conclusions, so he probably didn\u2019t need to misapply the verse he did.\u00a0 But folks, those conclusions need to be judged by scripture; and we cannot begin to do that when we don\u2019t teach how to read it and apply it in the first place.<\/p>\n
This world is a treacherous place, physically and spiritually, and it is not getting better.\u00a0 The Bible has the answers and wisdom we need, if we read it to find out what the Lord said, rather than to find something we want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Did Jesus really say that? Recently I was scrolling through the channels to find some cure for my mental lethargy when I encountered a popular TV preacher.\u00a0 This fellow is often enlightening and always entertaining so I stopped to listen. His topic was the strategic thinking of Christ and how we often view life\u2019s events … Continue reading Don’t Twist That Book!<\/span>