You’re Taking That Out Of Context!
Scenario #1: A single mom is in a small group with a first-year seminary student. The young man just completed an introductory course in biblical hermeneutics. During the group’s sharing and prayer time, the following interaction unfolds:
MOM: I have been really struggling to make ends meet. But just this week I found a verse that has really given me confidence and peace about my finances: ‘And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 4:19).
STUDENT: You might wanna be careful about claiming that verse as a promise for your personal finances. As the context of Philippians indicates, that is a specific promise Paul gave to a local church because of their sacrificial financial contribution to his missionary efforts. It is not a generic promise to be claimed by just any individual Christian struggling with his or her finances.
Scenario #2: Later that week the same student finds himself in a discussion with a friend:
FRIEND: My parents are considering a divorce. My father is unwilling to go with my mom to counseling to work on the marriage. My mom has her issues, too. I have been real discouraged. But I came across a passage in Matthew that really gives me some hope. Jesus says, ‘ I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them’ (Matthew 18:19-20). Would you claim this verse with me and pray with me for my parents’ to go to counseling together, and for their marriage to be healed?
STUDENT: Uh, I’m sorry, I really can’t do that. You see, that verse has nothing to do with your parents’ marriage. Matthew 18 is about one brother sinning against another and about the authority of the church exercising discipline towards a brother who refuses to repent. You’ve taken that verse out of context.
Now what’s the problem here? Well, maybe you’re a seminary student with a hermeneutics class or two under your belt and you’re saying, ‘Hey, there’s no problem at all! Those verses ARE taken out of context.’
Yes, they are. But the above situations are not the places to say so.
Scenarios like these really do happen in our churches. Bible students at times get excited about the new things they are learning. Some of them just can’t resist doing a little ‘hermeneutical law enforcement’ among their brothers and sisters at church. But responses like these (accurate though they are on paper) only serve to discourage less informed Christians, by undermining their confidence in their ability to understand God’s Word.
There is another reason I am slow to correct individuals in my church who claim ‘the right promise from the wrong text.’ In my thirty-plus years of church ministry, I have often seen God greatly honor the faith of such persons and respond in the affirmative to their requests.
As it turns out, hermeneutical sophistication is not an all-or-nothing proposition. It’s a continuum, a matter of degree. At one end of the spectrum are brand new Christians who come to the text with faith, but without a clue about authorial intent, literary context, or any of those other precious tools in the seminarian’s hermeneutical toolbox. At the other end of the spectrum are professional Bible scholars like myself. We have circled our way down the hermeneutical spiral, again and again, and we’ve had gads and gads of Gadamer.
But here’s the point: None of us gets it right all the time! Not even the brightest and most skilled exegete. Yet God still uses our imperfect understandings of His Word—no matter what our hermeneutical I.Q. happens to be at any given moment—to transform us and to transform the people we serve.
None of this is intended as an excuse to ignore the importance of accurately dividing the Word of God. I wouldn’t be teaching exegetical methodology in a seminary, if I didn’t think that good hermeneutics matters.
I offer the above comments simply to remind us (a) that acquiring a degree of hermeneutical sophistication is an ongoing process in all of our lives, and (b) that God delights in responding to our faith, wherever we are in the learning process, when we hold His Word in high esteem and live our lives according to the light that He has given us.
How can we help our people to properly interpret the Bible and avoid wrongheaded readings and applications of Scripture? I can think of a couple ways:
- Through Our Preaching — People who hear their pastor(s) accurately interpret and apply the text on Sundays will be more likely to read their own Bibles in context during the week. Good hermeneutics is not a cudgel to wield in the halls of the church against perceived individual ‘offenders.’ It is a spiritual discipline to be modeled Sunday after Sunday, as a pastor feeds his flock.
- Through Church Electives — Some pastors offer courses in Bible interpretation as part of their church’s adult education program. This is another great way to help our people learn good hermeneutics.
Both the pulpit and the classroom provide settings where proper biblical interpretation can be modeled and taught as life-long practices. This is far better, in my view, than directly challenging the faulty interpretations of personally meaningful passages that people happen to be clinging to in times of crisis.
I close with a great story about John Wesley. Apocryphal? Genuine? I’ll let you decide. But I can almost guarantee that you have hardly heard Scripture misinterpreted at all until you hear this one! It goes like this:
In the days of John Wesley, lay preachers with limited education would sometimes conduct the church services. One man used Luke 19:21 as his text: ‘Lord, I feared Thee, because Thou art an austere man’ (KJV). Not knowing the meaning of the word austere, he thought the text spoke of ‘an oyster man.’ (!)
The preacher proceeded to explain to his congregation how a diver must grope in dark, freezing water to retrieve oysters. In his attempt, he cuts his hands on the sharp edges of the shells. After he obtains an oyster, he rises to the surface, clutching it ‘in his torn and bleeding hands.’ And then the preacher gave his punch line:
‘Christ descended from the glory of heaven into sinful human society, in order to retrieve humans and bring them back up with Him to the glory of heaven. His torn and bleeding hands are a sign of the value He has placed on the object of His quest.’
When the sermon was over, twelve men came forward to receive Christ.
John Wesley happened to be present at the meeting. After the service, an upper-class gentleman who was also there cornered John Wesley to complain about ‘these unschooled preachers who were too ignorant even to know the meaning of the texts they were preaching on.’ The Oxford-educated Wesley simply said, ‘Never mind. The Lord got a dozen oysters tonight.’
Sometimes, when we’re up to our ears in the delights of theological education, it helps to be reminded that, when all is said and done, from God’s perspective it’s all about the oysters.
Comments
Steph Gaskins Aug. 26, 2011 at 11:49 PM
So good! I remember you also teaching not to refer to the Greek word unless absolutely necessary so as to not undermine people's confidence in their own Bibles.
pastor(s) = love the added (s) :)
Agam Aug. 31, 2011 at 12:30 PM
In addtion to these excellent principles, sometimes we are too narrow in our hermeneutical exactitude.
I'm not sure I agree with the seminary student about the Matthew 18. Just because the immediate context of the passage is about church discipline does not mean for instance that Christ's promised presence is invalid or absent when two or three come together for some other Christ honoring purpose.
Thanks again for the pastoral insights.
Christopher Sep. 1, 2011 at 12:24 PM
GREAT reminder, Dr. Hellerman. Reminds me of a pastor who talked about coming out of seminary with a lot of truth, but with little love. Part of loving people is knowing how to be sensitive to people in these sorts of situations.
Dan Westman Sep. 3, 2011 at 9:00 AM
Dr. Hellerman, thank you for this great reminder. It reminds me of the importance of continually praying for humility and a gentle spirit.
Tim Sep. 5, 2011 at 12:03 PM
How can we help our people to properly interpret the Bible and avoid wrongheaded readings and applications of Scripture?
Both answers given to this question demonstrate the thinking that God funnels His interpretive wisdom through one man - usually called "the pastor". In the institutionalized form of church this is largely true because this system pedestalizes the one and dumbs down unpaid believers to a large extent, just like the illustrations in this blog scorn the unlearned man. I know, that there are men in in this system gifted by the spirit and self taught to build the saints in their use of God's word, yet they are lulled into not using their gifts because everyone else is busy being "loyal" to "their pastor". This reality demonstrates complete disregard for "the body of Christ" that God himself put together. God's commands regarding the body are being "nullified".
I know there is a place for those with special training, but the way they currently dominate, is tragic, the results being perpetual dependency rather than reproductivity. It needs fixing. There is a way that the scriptures describe.
Joe Hellerman Sep. 7, 2011 at 5:10 PM
Tim,
Great points and well taken! You are right. Anyone in the church with any degree of hermeneutical sophistication can and should model proper Bible interpretation to others in the body of Christ.
I had to chuckle, a bit, though. You would have no way of knowing, of course, that I minister in a church that has pastors (plural), instead of a sole/senior pastor figure. And only 3 of our 8 pastors are paid at all, only one full-time.
So I'm with ya, brother. Keep them comments a-comin'!
Joe
Tim Sep. 7, 2011 at 11:46 PM
If this is your experience, why did you answer your question pointing to only one gift? Are the gifts of mercy, giving, helping, etc devoid of solid spiritual interpretive enablement?
By one look at 99% of worship gatherings in America, and in countries where Americans have planted the churches you would have to conclude only the pastor gift has anything to offer the saints from the word. Most saints seem perfectly happy with their place as mutant priest who does not offer one word of personal expression of truth.. They are only good for narthex chat.
Joe Hellerman Sep. 8, 2011 at 7:04 AM
Tim
Of course teaching gifts are only one part of the mix. And if the post was about the priesthood of all believers, it would have been appropriate to say as much. But the post is not about that—it is about Bible interpretation. And a teaching gift (with some training) is particularly important for helping others learn the skill of proper Bible interpretation. A person with a gift of mercy may very well articulate a particularly appropriate application of a text in dialogue with another Christian. But s/he will not help anyone situate a thorny passage in its historical and cultural context. Bible interpretation—and not the priesthood of all believers—is the topic of the post.
Tim, you seem to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder. Your biting comments ('mutant priest'...'narthex chat') tell me a lot about your own church experience but contribute next to nothing to healthy dialogue here.
Tim Sep. 9, 2011 at 1:54 PM
Yes, this post is about all believers (royal priests) growing in their reading, interpreting, and speaking the Word of God rightly divided to each other. I am suggesting that your conclusion that the pastor or that gift, is the focal point for developing interpretation is not accurate. You agreed, saying "You are right. Anyone in the church with any degree of hermeneutical sophistication can and should model proper Bible interpretation to others in the body of Christ."
I am asking if pastors are leading in the interpretation of scripture as you suggest, and the gathering of believers is dominated by only their personal expression, the saints are almost completely silent in personal expression of truth, this reality demonstrates a gross misinterpretation of the scriptures on what God designed to happen, based on multiple scriptures. The "royal priests", who are supposed to "proclaim the glories of Him who called them ...." not stay silent. They are to "consider how they can spur one another on to love and good works, not giving up the habit of meeting..." etc. It does not happen when the saints are all together and the pastor is in charge. He is not helping with his weekly Bible lecture. He is making it worse. They are deepening dependency rather that building reproductivity so that their "students" are "fully trained to be like them." Luke 6:40, 2 Tim. 2:2 When a pastor leaves after 20 years, no one has been "fully trained" to do anything he can do, not even talk about the bread and the cup, in many situations. This is not God's design. It is not good for protestants to return to the false practices of their Catholic forefathers.
My statement is biting because it is true and it is a tragic situation that is protected by many and said to be godly. The scriptures are full of biting rebukes and corrections to gross error among God's people. This is key to functional dialogue. If my statement is not true, then correct it. Believers must be fully freed to read, interpret, and speak God's truth in two-way communication. No one is error free. The whole body must be vigilant.
When I read about and look to see the rampant error, whether misinterpretation or complete ignoring of scripture by pastors around our country, when I am not given any Biblical basis for one gift to be in charge in this area, I have great difficulty accepting this system of ekklesia.
Acts 17:11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Here are even unbelieving Jews checking Paul's use and interpretation of the scriptures daily, coming to a place of faith. If only today, saints were seen as "more noble character" rather than "people with an agenda" when they compare what they are told with the scriptures daily, and seek to bring "rebuke and correction" when it is needed.
Robert Hagedorn Sep. 10, 2011 at 4:24 PM
Is Saint Augustine's exegesis of the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Genesis correct? Do a search: First Scandal.