The schoolyard game of ‘telephone’ can produce strange results. A phrase is whispered into the ear of one child, who then whispered what she heard into the ear of another. After the message is passed through 20 people the person who last heard it states what she heard. Is it the same as the original? Generally not. It gets garbled in transmission! Sometimes I feel like God’s Word is treated like that. He gives a perfect Word to us, but when we transmit it to others we run it through our filters and preconceptions until what they receive is nowhere near what He says.
When Dad died from cancer and then my Mom was diagnosed, I started to hear some of the strangest messages purporting to be a ‘from the Lord.’ Using isolated Bible verses and often not so sound methods of interpretation of the Word of God, well-intentioned Christians declare: “God is going to raise you up.” Usually that is accompanied by some condition: ‘if you repent of your hidden sin,’ or ‘if you have enough faith to receive your healing,’ or ‘if we can get enough people to pray for you,’ or ‘if…’ Being a lover of His Word, I am equally appalled and angered by the widespread abuse of the sacred text. When people mangle His Word, they do not create faith. They create confusion and diminish the glory of God!
A very strange paradox is that the very people who claim to ‘love God’s Word,’ and who hang onto the 1611 translation of the Bible called the ‘Authorized’ or ‘King James Version’ – so called because it was authorized by King James of England as the first widely distributed English translation of the Bible – are often guilty of the worst misinterpretations and misunderstandings of the Bible. Frequently they fail to account for the vast changes in the English language over 4 centuries and do not take advantage of the benefits of Bible scholarship that have allowed us to understand the Text more accurately in terms of context and nuance. Thus they read the text with good intent but do not ‘rightly divide the word of truth.’
Take that verse as an example. The KJV says - "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV) So what is the first thing commanded in that verse? It means that God likes it when you hit the Book, being a real student, right? Well that’s a great idea, but that not really what the word ‘study’ meant back in 1611. The meaning of study back then was ‘work hard.’ A little digging into the text reveals that the actual command is ‘to be diligent, to work hard!’ So, newer translations give us the verse more accurately: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, NIV)
Love the Word of God and like the ancient Jews who were called ‘people of the Book,’ handle it with care and reverence. Before you run off to tell somebody what God said after you read one verse, out of context, and with little understanding; take time to listen to the Spirit and to learn how to understand what God says. If you are a student of the Word, you will find that the Truth you find there is challenging, comforting, convicting, and never failing.
Here’s a word from the Word. Receive it with joy and submit your mind and heart to the Author of it.
"Remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.
It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." (2 Timothy 3:14-17, NLT)
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