Taking Verses Out of Context

Taking Verses Out of Context

There was a man who wanted to get guidance from God. He sat down with his Bible, closed his eyes, and flipped the Bible open. Then, he put his finger down on the page. When he looked at it, the verse he landed on said, “Judas went out and hanged himself.”

The man assumed that this was not God’s guidance and tried again. He closed his eyes, flipped open his Bible, and put his finger down on a page. When he opened his eyes and looked at the verse he was on, it read, “Go thou, and do likewise.”  Very frustrated, the man tried one more time.

That’s Out of Context

He closed his eyes, flipped open his Bible, and put his finger down on a page. When he opened his eyes and read the verse his finger was on, which said, “What thou doest, do quickly,” He closed his Bible and determined that this was not a way to get guidance from God.

That’s Out of Context!

You have probably heard people claim, “That’s out of context.” This happens a lot. Some politician will say something, and what was said is quoted in the media without the context if came from. Or, maybe a sports fan cheering for his favorite football team will call out, “Destroy them.” He doesn’t mean that literally, but you could take it out of context and brand him as a very violent person.

Do you know the most important feature for the price of real estate, such as a house?  Location, Location, Location. It’s the same with reading. The problem with the man’s procedure, besides anything else, is that it ignores context.

This happens a lot. Paul wrote that, “I can do all things by the one who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). If I take this verse by itself, and ignore the context, I could understand it to mean that I can run a three-minute mile or successfully jump over a twelve-foot high jump bar. No one has done either of those. Is this verse promising that?

Or, maybe I can take it to mean that I can sit down tonight with my Bible, and memorize the entire thing as I read it one time through. It may be that someone with a photographic memory can do that, but it’s certainly not me.

In fact, I have trouble memorizing verses. Tell me a verse or scene and I can usually tell you where in the Bible it is, but I don’t have the whole thing memorized by any means.

There are all sorts of ways this verse can be misapplied. I can get a job at the first interview I have. If I was single, I could find the perfect spouse on my first date with any woman.

Paul does not mean any of those things. Certainly, God can enable a given believer to accomplish what seems like an otherwise impossible task, like leading an entire people group to faith in Jesus, but Paul’s statement is not a guarantee of success in everything.

So what does it mean?

Rather, Paul makes it clear what he has in mind. When Paul wrote Philippians, he was probably chained to a Roman soldier in a house he was renting at his own expense in Rome. He was awaiting a trial in front of the Emperor Nero.

People had to come to him. He could not go to them. It’s hard for me to imagine that, but I’m sure it was very unpleasant, and indeed, painful.  I would not be a happy camper. In a U.S. context, we expect to have comfortable lives.

The preceding context of Phil 4:13 explains it. Paul was writing to acknowledge a financial gift from the Philippians, although it can seem like thankless thanks. He wrote, “Not that I speak from lack, for I have learned to be content in all situations. I know both to have little and I know to have much. In everything and in every way, I have learned to cope, both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to lack” (Phil 4:11-12).

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Paul Learned Contentment through Christ who Strengthened Him

Paul stated that he had learned to be content with much or with little. Contentment is a challenge to me. When things are going well, I can feel contented, Under hardship? That’s much harder. Yet, Paul learned to do what I’m still working on. He could be content in all things through the strength that he has through Jesus the Christ.

Discontentment is Easy

For me, at least, the temptation to complain is huge. I wanted someone else to win the U.S. Senate election in California. I want to be free of the pain in my neck. I’m not as physically capable as I was thirty years ago. One of our sons has autism and I pray for God to heal him of it.

Not Paul. He had plenty to complain about. He spent two years, according to the end of Acts 28, under house arrest. Paul was always chained to a Roman soldier.

The soldiers assigned to Paul would have kept a close eye on him. If he escaped, they would be executed. The soldiers, on the other hand, got to hear Paul preach and teach continually for two years. Talk about a captive audience!

How did Paul learn to be content? He went through many difficulties, like those listed in 2 Cor 11:23-28, such as multiple beatings, being shipwrecked, and even floating in the sea for a day. None of that sounds fun. It could leave one very bitter. What was Paul’s secret? How could he or anyone else be content in the midst of all these things?

Paul’s Secret for Finding Contentment

Paul focused on Jesus. He focused on belonging to the risen Lord, who had saved him and loves him, who has redeemed him and chosen him to be his own.

This focus is a tool for learning contentment. If we understand what Paul said about believers in the risen Jesus, loved, called, chosen, redeemed, and sealed with the Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit of God, we can take the long view.

Note that Paul said he learned to be content. He did not simply wake up one day and say, “Whatever happens today, I’m content.” For many, Paul’s experience might have left them bitter. “God, you told me to preach, and I did that. This is the consequence.”

Almost every day, I have some sadness about never getting a full-time teaching job. However, I’m learning to replace that thought with the truths of Eph 1:3-14 and pray for God to open the eyes of my heart and see things his way. You can do that too. The King of kings and Lord of Lord, who holds the universe together, offers you the strength to look at who you really are and what God has in store for you.

I can look at myself and think, “I failed in academia, spent tons of hours and lots of money for an occasional adjunct professor gig. That’s not what I trained for.” I’m confident, based on what I’ve read, and what a search committee chair told me, that it’s my eyes and the academy is controlled by ableism. They only want “normal” people.

Regardless of the reason, however, I failed at a very important goal. I invested a lot to reach it, and feel like it will never be okay. It’s hard to be content if I only look at that failure, which is not even my fault.

 Instead, I can remember who I truly am before God. See Eph 1:3-14.  You and I are God’s beloved children, chosen before the universe existed, to spend eternity with him on a new earth that is free from pollution and starvation.

Put those truths before your eyes mentally.  Then, remember that, while you may be suffering now, and want to escape, if God does not grant escape, it’s only for one earthly lifetime. When you go to be with Jesus, it will be forever in a new body. We will always be able to go to Jesus physically, and talk, and maybe even tell jokes. I imagine that Jesus and his disciples told jokes. Laughter is God’s creation, after all, and therefore, it is not unspiritual to laugh.

Whatever is coming in the next life, whether before or at Jesus’ second coming, I think it will be amazing. So, when you long for something to change, and you pray for God to change it, but he doesn’t, and you can’t find anyone who can, consider Jesus. Remember what he has done for you. You can have confidence that one day, he will make things better.

I can’t figure out how, but based on Rom 8:28, “God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes,” I can rest and be content. I know that God will somehow make it serve my good and his purposes. If you read on in Romans 8, you’ll see that God has good things in store for us.

God’s ultimate plan for you in this life is not for you to be happy, but to become like Jesus. If, like me, you live in the United States, you’ll likely see life through the lens of U.S. culture. We want to be comfortable. We want a god who will be our divine therapist and guarantee our happiness.  The early Christians never believed that life should be easy and always comfortable.

The idea that God wants us to be happy all the time is a myth. Instead, he offers us joy that has its basis in what God has done in and through Jesus for believers. Whether my circumstances are great or hard, God offers to us peace and joy. Joy is not happiness from happenings. It is a gift from God, one of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5.

Therefore, in order to be content, you cannot rely on your own abilities or willpower or sweat. It doesn’t mean that you need counseling to get you to believe in your own resources. It is all about God giving you his peace and joy. As you then focus on Jesus and belonging to him, you can experience contentment by making Jesus your focus. Is this easy?  Not in my experience, However, it is possible.

We might not be used to relying on God this way. That means that learning to be content in every circumstance is probably a growth process. We can learn to be content by depending upon God’s resources. This is easier for my wife. This fits her personality better, but for me, it is work. 

It probably won’t happen all at once, like the person who prays, “I want patience and I want it now.” Instead, to borrow from Eugene Peterson, it comes from “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.”

May God grant all of us the wisdom and strength to wait on him to learn contentment.

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