Text and Context

What’s your favorite scripture?

Most of us, me included, gravitate towards passages that give comfort, assurance, or reason to trust. I’ve never heard anyone quote what Jesus said in Matthew 7:23 as one of their top ten: “Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” We understandably want comfort rather than confrontation, but that mindset can lead to misunderstanding.

God loves me and cares for me faithfully. There are many, many passages that affirm those core truths. I need to often be reminded. But it’s also important that I understand that God often describes what He means in more detail before or after our favorite verse. And it’s not necessarily what I would assume. For example, I heard a story about a Northern woman getting a job in the rural South. One day at lunchtime, she was inundated with work and didn’t feel she should take the time to go out for lunch. A co-worker was going out, and the woman asked if the co-worker would pick her up a sandwich and bring it back. The co-worker said, simply: I don’t care to.” and left. The woman was devastated because to her, the answer meant “I don’t want to.” Not only was the woman hungry, but more importantly, she worried about being able to work effectively with cold, mean co-worker— One who wouldn’t even try to offer an excuse like, “I don’t have time— Sorry! Just a blatant, –at least as the woman understood--“ I don’t want to take an extra 30 seconds for you.” A while later, the co-worker returned with sandwich in hand. The conversation that resulted showed the woman that “I don’t care to” really meant “I don’t mind at all.” It was necessary to dig deeper for the context of what the idiom meant in that particular culture. The words isolated from their context resulted in misunderstanding.

When life seems out of control, I often think of Jeremiah 29:11:

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

At first reading, this passage seemed to give a promise for a rosy future. I want to prosper! I want God to bless me with a bright future! And He does! It’s just not necessarily in the ways that I would imagine. The context of these incredible promises was that Israel was beginning a long period of exile to Babylon. Sin had resulted in discipline and it was important for exiles to remember that, in spite of the present pain, God’s long term plans and promises remained intact. Out of context, the verse seemed to mean that they (and consequently me) would avoid difficulties that brought short term harm. The context is that God’s faithfulness transcends current circumstances. Although they couldn’t return to the Promised Land, their children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren would. If you or I misunderstand God to promise that life will always be pleasant based on scriptures such as this, then we will come to believe that either God is a liar or that we are somehow disqualified from enjoying His promises..

I’m not a Biblical scholar. It’s important to have scholars searching the nuances that knowledge of original languages and culture can bring. Those who do that can deepen our understanding and enrich us. But the intended audience of the Bible has never been the scholar. It’s always been “us” –the Israelites, the Church, the seekers. The majority of difficulties that we have in understanding are the same as woman in the story. She made a reasonable assumption of what her co-worker meant, but until she had a conversation with her, she didn’t and couldn’t understand the context. Until we begin to dialogue with scripture, we will be stuck in misunderstanding. If we don’t understand what a person says, we might ask, “What did you say?” The actual words, the ‘text, is the starting point. If we still don’t understand, we might say, “What do you mean?” The surrounding life events, culture, and other things said that modify or enhance the meaning of the words is the context. Whether in life or scripture, text and context are the keys to understanding. It often takes some effort to dig out the context, but it’s well worth the effort.

If you don’t believe me yet, just ask the husband whose wife just said she was fine after a tough argument and he took the words at face value without looking at her face and body language. I’m sure he eventually found out he didn’t understand at all.