Ep. 6 | How to Weaponize the Bible for Your Own Personal Use

Speaker: Jesse Turkington

Summary: The way we treat the Bible reflects how we think about God...

--
contact@parableministries.com
https://www.parableministries.com
https://www.instagram.com/parable_ministries/

--

Music created by Chad Hoffman
Artwork created by Anthony Kuenzi

Jesse’s Personal Notes:

How to Weaponize the Bible for Your Own Personal Use

Introduction

Hey welcome to Pickled Parables. My name is Jesse. We’re entering into a new topical series. This is called the Do Not Series or the Do Nots. We only have three of these planned but each one focuses on some bad practices that Christians may encounter or that we may personally practice. 

I want to present these topics with a self-awareness. This series is called the Do Not’s because these are things that we should not do yet sometimes people do them. And I want to have this self-awareness throughout this little series because I think it would be helpful if we angled our perspectives into a light that could help us understand the problem and really, why it’s a problem.

So, please be aware, I’m not advocating for these things but I am presenting it with a spotlight so that we can clearly see the problem. 

So, with that in mind, please enjoy this hot take on how to weaponize the Bible for your own personal use. 

- Transition -

Let’s set up a scenario. Let’s say we’re in a disagreement with somebody and despite the heated argument, there’s not going to be a clear winner. 

But you know of something just might let you have the last word. As we all know, if you can’t win the disagreement, then you might as well control the ending.

So you pull out a Bible in dramatic fashion, and you flip over to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in the book of Matthew, and read out with all sorts of sarcasm:

“Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1)

 Now, not only did you turn to a source that many people consider to be authoritative (the Bible) but you quoted a statement that Jesus Himself made. And the great thing about this quote, is that when isolated from the rest of Jesus’ statement, it could be interpreted to mean that nobody really has authority to declare what’s right or wrong. 

So, for this example, in this metaphorical disagreement, you may not have won but you invalidated their side of the argument and you had the last word, because what could a person say to that. 

The 3 Steps

So, I want to talk to you today about how you can weaponize the Bible for your own personal use. You can do it with three easy steps. 

 Step one: Don’t be afraid to use only part of a biblical statement. 

If we were to take the verse that we used for our scenario then we would see that it was at the end of a sermon (Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount). And not only was it at the end of a collected thought but it was the beginning of a full statement. 

So, the value of only taking the beginning part of that statement is that we’re then able to control its meaning.

The interpretation becomes dependent on the individual. 

This takes us to step two then which is: Take things out of context. 

The framework of this statement; “Judge not, that you be not judged,” is that it’s the beginning of Jesus’ summarization of His sermon. 

Jesus had just given a detailed message and He was summing up the main points that He wanted to be communicated. This is the full statement:“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:1-5 ESV)

Jesus was calling out hypocrisy and this holier-than-thou attitude. He was presenting the mindset needed for those who wanted to apply His teachings. 

He continued on and with another now-famous statement: 

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12 ESV)

 Meaning, that this is the attitude or the mindset behind all of the Law and the Prophets. Jesus was presenting the conclusion of his sermon; the things needed to apply His teachings. 

 Now, none of this is useful for people who want to use the Bible as a weapon. So, that’s why we would need to take a portion of Jesus’ statement and then remove the context from it. That allows us to apply a new, more fitting meaning to it.

Like for instance, the simple statement of, “Judge not lest you be judged,” gives the impression that no one is able to correct another person about what is wrong or right because if you judge somebody then you’re going to be judged by somebody else. 

 It becomes a circle and it levels the playing field. No one has authority over another person. 

It has the potential to knock somebody down a peg or to protect yourself from unwanted criticism. 

Now, step three (this one isn’t always needed but it can be helpful) is to paraphrase the statement. 

This is great, especially if you’re having a hard time making a Bible verse say what you want it to say or if you need to apply new meaning to it. You can change the words a little, maybe move some words around a little bit, and that way you can get more flexibility out of them. 

Here’s a fairly common example of what this could look like: “The love of money is the root of all evil.” Ok, that sounds like something the Bible might say. 

This is from 1 Timothy 6:10. 

What it actually says is:

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:10 ESV)

This paraphrase may not sound like much changed but that’s why it works so well. Because if you wanted create an absolute statement about how money can ruin your life then this is how you could say it. With the power of scripture behind you. 

What Paul is doing here is that he’s giving Timothy a warning – letting him know about a danger. But if you wanted to go further than Paul then you could make it sound more pertinent. 

You may actually have good intentions with this one but you still you’d have to practice these three steps in order to control the meaning. 

And that’s how you do it! With three easy steps, you can make the Bible say whatever you want.

What’s the Attitude Behind This?

Ok, on a more serious note, this is a real thing. This is a real approach that people have toward the Bible. 

So, we need to ask, where does this come from? What’s the attitude behind this? What’s the problem here and why is it a problem? 

As noted earlier, the Bible is considered to be authoritative to many people and so there’s a power that it holds. That’s not the reason for the Bible’s power, but it’s definitely an effect of its power. So, since the Bible has an influence over people it has the potential to be commandeered and misused. 

Now the attitude needed for this misuse, is one of self-interest. And that’s frightening, because that’s something we all have. We all carry this attitude, especially in the west. We live with a focus on personal fulfillment and happiness. 

And strangely, we often come to the Bible hoping that it will reinforce and encourage the way we want to live. So, often we take what we like from it and leave the rest. 

But then there are those who take it a little farther. These people take the Bible and become proficient with wielding its influence over people. They manipulate not only the words of the Bible but the people who respect it.

This is more than a misuse; this is an abuse of scripture. And the attitude behind this practice is one of individualistic gain. 

This is the problem. Weaponizing the Bible for our own personal use is like using medical tools to injure someone. The Bible was not designed to be a weapon. 

How the Bible Should be Used

The Bible was designed to glorify God and to instruct His children. 

The appropriate approach that we should have towards the Bible is one of respectful interest, a mindset focused on the message of the text. 

Simply put, we should let the Bible speak for itself. 

In the States, the Bible has become a cultural icon for many people. In courtrooms we swear on the Bible, we can find one in every hotel room, we know quotes from it. It’s the best-selling book in the world. It’s known, the Bible is very well known but it’s rarely understood by the public.

That’s because there’s nothing like it. The Bible is filled almost ten different types of literary genre. Meaning, that it has a lot to say and a lot of different ways of saying it. The Bible has history, poetry, proverbs, wisdom books, prophecies, the gospels and the epistles. 

It took over a thousand years to write! That means that around forty different people had a hand in writing it. Which is amazing because it’s completely and utterly impossible for forty people removed from each other to write a book that communicates a unified message without contradiction. Yet, that’s what we have. 

The Bible tells a unified story from its beginning pages to it’s very last. And that story is told through history, poetry, proverbs, prophecies, the gospel accounts and epistles. 

When allowed to speak without interruption, the Bible has a beautiful message to share.

And we’re given a hint as to what that message is by a term that the Bible uses when it refers to its own writings; the Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God because it communicates what He wants to be said.

That’s the reason why the Bible is considered to be authoritative by many people and Parable Ministries included. Because the words of the Bible were directed and inspired by God Himself.

So, when we come to the Bible, we’re not coming to our grandfather’s artifact. We’re coming to a book that is brimming with life-changing stories. We’re coming to a book that applies to every aspect of life. This is a book that holds a divine invitation. This book is the Word of God. 

So, when we weaponize the Bible for our own use, we are taking something that is very good and using it for something that is very bad. 

- the end

Conclusion

Hey, thanks for listening today. This little series might step on a couple toes in the coming weeks. But it’s really important to reaffirm the Bible’s purpose.

The way we treat the Bible reflects how we think of God. Are we trying to take God and make Him fit into our lives or are we willing to submit ourselves into His eternal plan? 

If you’re interested in thinking more about this idea, we have a meditational on our website that talks more about the value of the Bible. You can look it up at parableministries.com. If you go to the resources tab, you’ll see an option for meditationals and the title is called the Word of God.

 Next time, we’ll look at church and the importance of Christian community.

Thanks again for joining me! In closing let me read from Hebrews 4:11-12.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:11-12 ESV)

So let it be.