Courageous Joy

Thoughts that have made me go HMMMM……

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about. WHY do wonderful Bible teachers sometimes feel the need to take Scriptures out of context to prove a “point”? I’ve run into this three times this week and frankly it is discouraging. I’m doing two studies and both very Godly women have done this. I went to read the study notes in my Bible on one of the passages and found that the commentator had done the SAME thing!

It takes more than doing a word study to “accurately handle the Word of Truth”. You MUST look at context. You must consider what the whole Word of God has to say about the topic. You must admit if something is used literally or figuratively. You must not torture Scripture. All Scripture must agree. Scripture does not contradict Scripture. I’m sad to run into this THREE times this week from trusted teachers/leaders.

I actually agree with most the points being made by the authors – I think – but they really begin to cloud the issue for me when they begin to fling Scriptures at me without considering context. I have a hard time hearing the message or wanting to even continue the study when a teacher does this. The Word does say that teacher’s will receive a stricter judgment…..it’s not a good idea to try to strengthen an argument with less than accurate handling of the Word. I suppose it’s my ministry within a chapel setting that has led me to present both sides of an argument as fairly as possible and trust the Holy Spirit to apply the Word exactly as needed. I don’t know.

It’s ironic that one of the studies had these quotes in it – great quotes – right before she went on to present one side of an argument. Is it deceptive for a teacher who knows both sides of an argument to only argue her side strongly and not present the verses that would weaken her argument? Oh well – I ran into this with this author with some of the more Calvinistic doctrines. It’s really OK not to agree with everything an “expert” teaches…maybe some days “my eyes will be open” and I’ll agree with her…..maybe some day her eyes will be opened…and most likely all of our attempts to “get theology” right are amiss…God has all the pieces of the puzzle and knows exactly how they fit together…we’ll probably get a good chuckle or a sob when we see how all these “hard doctrines” mesh in heaven….I’m betting that NO camp has it all sewn up. It just bothered me to read strong comments without any balance in the study, go to my Bible and find that the commentator there had done the SAME thing on the OPPOSITE side of the issue…and combined with the other study that is throwing verses totally out of context to support a viewpoint….it really was to much this a.m.

Here’s the challenge – a great challenge: “Where does your theology come from? Do you believe because of men’s teachings and experiences or because you have dug out truth from God’s Word yourself, precept upon precept? {snort – hint hint} We forget that no one person has a corner on all the truth. Therefore, we need to be like the Bereans who, after the apostle Paul taught, searched the Scriptures to see whether or not what he taught was in keeping with the Word”.

We simply MUST be women of the Word.

Ah – it all throws me back at His feet. It all causes me to abide in Him and to allow His words to abide in me.

As for teaching…well often if one articulate person voices her opinion strongly it will drive those who think differently to remain silent. I’m blessed that in my classes ladies will speak up and disagree with the author and challenge each other to consider all sides. Really – this is better. I’d rather have the questions out in the open than buried…so I’ll consider to point out questions if no one else has the nerve to voice their opposition…and the Holy Spirit is so faithful to guide us each to truth.