Friday, June 15, 2012

Misunderstood Bible Passages, Part 25 of 47

TEXT: "Submitting to one another in the fear of God. Wives, to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just 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. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband" (Ephesians 5:21-33).

IDEA: To misinterpret or misapply a passage of Scripture always has consequences.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize the dangers that may grow out of bad exegesis.

We have been talking about the consequences of misinterpreting or misapplying Scripture:

Do you think misinterpreting or misapplying the Bible is done very often?

Do you think that well-meaning Christians do that? Why?

I. We often come to the Scriptures assuming that we already know what they say or should say.

One reason we do this is that we read the Bible for "nuggets." We read until some sentence jumps out at us and we feel it speaks to our condition.

Suppose I am facing a final exam in a course for which I haven't studied, but I read Philippians 4:13 which seems to tell me that I can meet any challenge I face with success in the strength of Jesus Christ.

Is that really what Paul is talking about? What is he saying in this passage?

We read the Bible to support what we already believe or WANT to believe. "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27) means that before I can love God and others, "first of all I must love myself" (Compare 2 Timothy 3:1-4 to make this assertion absurd).

Sometimes it's wise to ask yourself what you WANT to believe when you read a passage; then work against your assumption.

I want the Bible to speak to me and not get it to say what I want it to say.

II. We read 21st-century analogies or interpretations back into the Bible.

Ephesians 5:21-33 seems straightforward, but it has sometimes been misinterpreted and misapplied:
"Submitting to one another in the fear of God. Wives, to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just 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. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."

We started reading this passage at verse 21.  Does it matter where you begin reading this passage? Why?

The "headline" tells us a great deal about what Paul says about a Christian marriage. It might surprise you.