Ever been misquoted? Or has anyone ever made a caricature of a position you hold? How do you feel? Angry? Bothered? Or Dismayed and disappointed?
Perhaps you are guilty of the same, as I am, often.
A misquotation occurs when a word is taken out of context or used as a proof text. Think of it as a bone removed from Adam’s rib and fleshed with strange skin, and then publicly presented as Adam. It is a form of character assassination.
The scenario I present is common in Ugandan Christianity. It is called ‘taking Scripture out of its context.’
Whether we do it intentionally or not, most of us have misquoted the Bible, at one point or another.
Think, for example, of how many times when, before citing a biblical text, you have pondered the historical, cultural, economic, social-political and textual context?
I see the look in your face!
Yet, without these how do you follow the flow of the author’s thought? How often do we, when quoting Colossians, begin with Paul— the man in his times— intentionally following his twists and turns? Can you imagine him in that cold Roman cell crafting instructions, engraving eternal wisdom in papyri?
Sit next to him, smell the ink, and see the secretary make necessary revisions for the preciseness of language and salvation of parchments. By whose hand is he sending the letter and why?
When you pick up Galatians, again, do you try to understand who the audience is? Where did they live? What situations did they face that occasioned Paul to write? Do you feel the angst and anger as he rebukes their foolishness in abandoning the message He so laboriously preached to them?
When we read God’s Word, we must intentionally ask such questions.
Be a diligent student of Scripture — a disciple. Barefooted, step onto that rough murram road through time and culture, geography and customs, literacy and politics, with the text’s grammar as your guide. Navigate the linguistic and social-economic differences until you arrive at the passage’s destination.
Desist from assuming that Colossae is Kampala. Rome is not Nairobi, and a 1st-century Jew is not a 21st-century Muganda. Be curious to find out as much as you can about the conditions surrounding the book you are reading.
The more you learn about the audience and author, the better you will understand the message of the text, and the easier it will be for you to apply the teaching of the text to your times.
Does this sound strange and overly complicated for no reason?
Just imagine coming from work and finding a note slid through the crack under your door. It reads: he is dead. I am sorry.
Imagine for a second that you don’t know the author. Who is dead? A relative? A sick person you visited last week? Your pastor? Your cat or car? And why is the person sorry? Did he/she kill him/her/it? Are they remorseful or sympathetic?
These and many questions are asked to place the note in context. Otherwise, you will panic in confusion, with no idea where to start or what’s wrong. You need the background to know the ‘who’ and ‘what’ and ‘why.’
Now, it is said, rightly, I think, that context is king.
This is because, without context, we cannot avoid misquotation and misunderstanding.
Context clarifies and concretizes the meaning of words.
Another example is in order.
Suppose you see the words: John is running in next month’s race. What does it mean? Is John an athlete? Or perhaps a politician? The word ‘running’ alone will not help you. Neither will ‘race.’ And who is John anyway?
You get my point. Words must be understood in their context.
For this reason, as Christians, we must be diligent enough to study Scripture in its setting. This way we will avoid picking and playing God’s Word to our convenience.
As students of Scripture, we must follow the text on its own determined track, through the forest of words, discerning the author’s choice of tenses, prepositional phrases, adverbs, and infinitives, until we arrive with the text at its determined destination.
We should resist plucking verses from their pages. Leave ‘touch not My anointed’ attached to its referents- the whole nation of Israel. Desist from misquoting ‘as He is so am I’ until you figure out what John is saying in context. (Read my article on this here).
In short, be as a student should be: sturdy and studying. Do not mould the Bible according to your mind. Let it shape you instead. This way, you will be less liable to misquote God.
I have always told the students I disciple: one thing I dread most is misquoting God. Every time I speak, I picture God, seated in the audience. And I ask myself whether He is in agreement with what I am saying about Him, or shaking His head, as a Man groaningly protesting my professions.
‘Have I,’ I wonder, ‘taken one word from the text, like a bone removed from Adam’s rib, and fleshed it with strange skin— my opinions— and then publicly presented it as God’s Word?’
My fellow Christian, ‘God says’ must be words that heavily weigh on your tongue.
As James warns, ‘Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak’ (James 1:19). And again, ‘Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly’ (James 3:1).
If being misquoted grieves us, imperfect beings that we are, what about God who is Perfection? O that we are so careful as to never attribute to Him what we have not diligently confirmed as His. May we endure the hard work of interpreting His Word correctly.
These thoughts troubled my mind this morning as I reminisced about Him— the misquoted God.