2 Cents

Want to infuriate an author or speaker?  Quote their words out of context and use them to make a point the author never intended to make.

I'm convinced we do this a lot with the Bible.  However almost every time we make this mistake we're not aware we're making it.  We have good intentions but we've overlooked something very important.

Quoting Bible verses to ourselves and others is extremely helpful - encouraging one another to be more faithful... finding strength to say "no" to temptation... reminding ourselves of God's love for us when we're feeling especially unloved.

But the negative side of this is that we can often take verses out of context - most of time accidentally.

What's the big deal?

Well, sometimes taking a verse out of context weakens its power or robs it of the fullest sense of meaning it was intended to communicate.

Ever heard this verse?

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."

That's an extraordinarily uplifting and positive verse, is it not?  But do you know the context?  That statement comes in the midst of Lamentations chapter 3 - a portion of Scripture describing the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. where God has allowed hundreds of people to be murdered.  Those left alive are going through horrible suffering in things like famine and homelessness.  They have resorted to murder and even cannibalism.  Lamentations actually recounts women boiling and eating their own children.

So when we take Lamentations 3:22-24 (above) out of context, it's still true and it can still give us a sense of hope and joy, but the full meaning of hope in the midst of horrible, horrible suffering is lost.

At other times, however, taking a verse out of context can do great harm to the meaning of a text as God and the original authors intended.  It can actually change meaning and communicate something that was never meant to be there.

For example, people often like to quote 1 Corinthians 2:9 to convince others that we cannot know anything about the glory that awaits those who trust in Christ.

No eye has see, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.

But if one only reads on to the next verse they will clearly see...

but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.  (1 Cor. 2:10)

So context is extremely important.

Here are a few verses that I see quoted out of context way too often.  Check yourself on these and how you're using them in everyday conversation:

•  Matthew 7:1
• 2 Chronicles 7:14
• Isaiah 55:8-9
• James 2:24
• Galatians 3:28
• Ephesians 5:22
• 1 John 4:8