It's all about context... or maybe it's just the blood pressure

Since when do we as believers have the right to wrest a verse out of context, apply it to ourselves because it "means something special to us," AND then go on to tell others how they should apply this out-of-context verse to their lives too because it's meant so much to us, and because there's such a great "scriptural" principle behind it???

Since when?? Since last Wednesday night!! I'm just having a hard time believing I heard it from the pulpit. It's been one thing to recognize it as it's happened over the years, it's another thing entirely to hear the practice excused from the pulpit!

Two Wednesday nights back it was "now you may hear some things tonight that don't sound just right at first. That's one thing. Just don't throw the baby out with the bath water." Well, excuse me, but if the bath water is so dirty that you're in danger of not noticing the baby in said bathwater, is it OK if I question why you're putting the baby in that bath water to begin with??

I don't know what version you're reading, but my Bible still says: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Eph. 5:25-27) There's just no dirt in *that* water!!



Now, to give context to this rant, you have to know that we've been watching Gothard/IBLP's Financial Freedom seminar (as presented by Jim Sammons) over the past 8 Wednesday nights. So when Pastor was excusing taking Scripture out of context, he was not speaking of himself but of others.

Presenting a sound financial principle as a "good idea" is one thing. Wresting scripture from context to support your point is quite another, or at least it was in the hermeneutics classes I took.