Taking God Out of Context

I am sure you have had the experience. You say something that someone else twists all around to mean something you never intended. Depending on the severity of it all, you can feel pretty violated by such a flagrant act!

God has had that experience as well. Millions and millions of times more than we have. I doubt he enjoys it any more than we do. In fact, it is far more serious to take God out of context than it is a human being. Because, well, He is God and we are not. His words are the words of the creator of the universe, not the words of his created ones.

In Matthew 4 the devil takes God out of context when he quotes Psalm 91 to get Jesus to jump from the highest point of the temple. Yes, even the devil takes God out of context. It isn't a good thing to do!

I have noticed over the years that we actually soften our language about this. I often hear people say, "You are taking that scripture out of context" as if the scripture is the entity being taken out of context. If someone took N.T. Wright or Francis Chan out of context would you say "you are taking that book out of context" or would you say "you are taking that person out of context"?

Words and communication are personal. When we take God out of context, it is personal. We can't really soften the impact of it by saying "You are taking that scripture out of context" as much as we are actually taking God out of context when we do that.

Let's keep in mind to always mind the context of the passages we are studying to be respectful of the One who inspired the words we have in the Bible. Once we make up our mind to find a way to make the Bible say what we want it to say we are doing the same thing Satan did in Matthew 4. That is not good company!