Latest / Rooted & Real With Keenan / Reading the Bible Without Misusing It: When Feelings, Fear, and Context Collide
Transcript
- Keenan: All right, y'all. Welcome back to Rude and Real with Keenan. So, you know, we talk a lot about mental health, faith, relationships, and what it looks like to live honestly in the tension of what we feel and what is actually true. So today we're gonna keep going talking about the Bible. and I wanna talk about something that Christians say we value tremendously. But something I think sometimes we handle poorly, and that's the Bible. More specifically, how do we read the Bible without misusing it? Because here's the uncomfortable reality of the whole thing. You can believe that the Bible is true and still interpret a passage incorrectly. You can quote a Bible verse and still use it in a way that the verse was never intended to be used. You can have. Sincere faith and still allow fear, anger, shame, politics, trauma, personal preferences, or your current emotional state to influence what you think scripture is saying. And sometimes the most dangerous biblical interpretations aren't coming from people trying to undermine Christianity. They're coming from people who sincerely love God. And that's why Paul tells us in Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2:15. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, correctly handling the word of truth. That phrase matters. Correctly handling the word of truth. Because if scripture can be correctly handled, it can also be incorrectly handled. And that's what we're going to be talking about today. So here's the one-sentence myth I want to challenge. If the Bible verse speaks to me. Whatever it means to me must be what God is saying. That's not necessarily true. And I understand why we think this way. Sometimes you're going through something difficult, you open the Bible, you read a passage, and something jumps off the page at you. The experience can be meaningful. God absolutely uses scripture to convict us, encourage us, challenge us, and remind us of the truth. But there's an important difference between this passage is affecting me personally, and my personal reaction determines what this passage means. Those aren't the same thing, keep in mind. The Bible was written for us, but most of it wasn't originally written directly to us. Paul's letters went to specific churches around what was going on then. The prophets spoke to real historical situations. The Psalms came from particular experiences. Jesus spoke to actual people living within the first century Jewish culture. So before asking, what does this verse mean to me? You need to ask this. What does this verse mean? Period. Question mark. Then we ask how that truth applies to our lives. Meaning comes before application. And that one distinction can prevent a tremendous amount of biblical confusion. So imagine someone sends you a text message that says this. Fine. Period. Do whatever you want. Period. What does that mean? You have absolutely no idea. Maybe they're angry. Maybe they're genuinely giving you permission. Maybe it's sarcastic. Maybe they're joking. Maybe you asked whether you could order pizza instead of tacos. Maybe your spouse just found out you spent $8,000 without talking to them about it. Same sentence, very different meaning. What determines the meaning? Context. We understand this naturally in everyday communication. But sometimes we forget when reading scripture, we grab one sentence out of Romans and one sentence out of Proverbs and one sentence out of Jeremiah. And then build an entire life philosophy around it without asking what came before it, what came after, and who was speaking, who was listening, and what problem was being addressed. So we'll go all the way back to the Old Testament. Nehemiah 8.8 gives us this beautiful picture. They read from the book of the law, they read from the book of the law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that people understood what was being read. Notice what happened there. They didn't simply read the words, they helped people understand the meaning of the words. Biblical interpretation matters. This is where mental health and biblical interpretation intersect in a really interesting way. In cognitive behavioral therapy, we talk a lot about cognitive distortions. You may have heard me say that before. These are patterns of thinking that can cause us. To interpret situations inaccurately. And those same patterns can sometimes show up when we're reading scripture. Not because scripture is distorted, because we are interpreting scripture through the human brain. Our emotions can affect our interpretation. Let's take a look at a few examples. So, like emotional reasoning is one, and it sounds like this I feel it, therefore it must be true. Maybe you feel guilty. So you read the passage about repentance and immediately conclude God must be angry with me. But feeling guilty does not automatically mean you are guilty. Sometimes guilt is appropriate. Sometimes guilt is produced by shame. It's produced by anxiety, perfectionism, or unrealistic expectations. That's why feelings require evaluation. Your emotion is real, but your interpretation of that emotion may not be. There's a huge difference in saying I feel condemned and saying God has condemned me. Big difference. They're not interchangeable statements. Feelings provide information. Yes, they don't automatically provide truth. Another one is catastrophizing. So something difficult happens, and your brain immediately jumps to the worst possible out. Someone loses their job, a relationship becomes uncertain. A medical test comes back abnormal, and their child starts struggling, and suddenly they're searching for scripture, trying to look for signs that God is punishing them or that something terrible is about to happen. That's not biblical interpretation, that's anxiety looking for confirmation. And anxiety loves confirmation. It can take almost anything and turn it into evidence. Another cognitive distortion is the mental filter. That's when we focus exclusively on negative information while ignoring everything that doesn't fit our conclusion. Someone struggling with shame can do this with scripture. They notice every passage about sin, every warning, every judgment, every command, but somehow they barely notice grace, mercy, forgiveness, restoration, adoption. Compassion, the pace, the patience of God. The result isn't a more biblical understanding of God. It's a filtered understanding. Fortune telling is another one. It's not the crystal ball kind. In CBT, fortune telling means predicting the future as though you already know it's going to happen. This relationship is going to fail. I'm never going to change. My child is headed down the wrong path and won't come back. God is closing his door because he doesn't want me to succeed. Maybe, but how do you know? How do you know for sure? Some Christians spiritualize predictions. Instead of saying, I'm afraid this won't work, we say, God told me this isn't going to work. Those are different statements. Be careful about attaching God's name to things that might actually be your anxiety. So imagine someone is sitting in a counseling room and saying, I don't know. I'm I know I'm supposed to forgive. So I guess I have to let this person back into my life. That's an important statement because there are several assumptions hiding inside of it. Forgiveness equals reconciliation. Forgiveness equals trust. Forgiveness means removing boundaries. Forgiveness means pretending the offense wasn't serious. But those ideas are things we have to ask ourselves if they're actually taught in scripture. Not necessarily. Forgiveness and resculation and reconciliation are related, but they're not identical. Trust can be damaged, boundaries can be appropriate, consequences can exist. You can forgive someone while acknowledging that the relationship may never return to what it was. If we take a biblical command like forgiveness and interpret it carelessly, we can unintentionally tell someone that faithfulness requires repeatedly placing themselves into harmful situations. That's why theology matters here. That's why context matters. That's why wisdom matters. A biblical verse should never become a shortcut that keeps us from thinking carefully. So here's another mistake. Pretty common. Opening the Bible randomly and expecting the first verse we see to answer whatever question we're asking. Should I take this job? Should I marry this person? Should I move? Should I quit? Should I confront someone? And we basically turn the scripture into this divine magic eight ball that we shake up and see what the response is. Open point read decision made. Now, could God use a passage you randomly encounter? Sure. Of course. God is not limited by your Bible reading method. I'll say that. But that doesn't mean random verse selection is a reliable system for decision making. Christian decision making normally involves things like scripture, wisdom, prayer. character, circumstances, wise counsel, wise res responsibility. And sometimes accepting that God hasn't given you supernatural certainty. Sometimes two options are both morally, morally permissible, and you have to take and you have to make a wise decision. That's uncomfortable because uncertainty is uncomfortable. But uncertainty does not mean God has abandoned you. Sometimes faithfulness looks like making the best decision you can with the information available and the trusting God about what happens next. So here is your 32nd feelings versus trust moment this week. Maybe your feelings say because I'm anxious, something must be wrong. The truth says anxiety tells me that my nervous system perceives a threat. It does not automatically tell me that the threat is real. Maybe your feelings say, because I don't feel close to God, God must be far from me. The truth says my experience of God's presence can fluctuate without God's character changing. Maybe your feelings say, because I made a terrible mistake, I've ruined God's plan for my life. But the truth says my actions have consequences. But Christian theology does not teach that God's sovereignty is so fragile that one human mistake destroys his ability to redeem a life. Feelings matter. Feelings deserve attention, but feelings don't get a final vote. So, how do we read the Bible responsibly? Here's a simple framework. Ask these three questions. Number one, what did this mean to the original audience? Start there. Who wrote it? Who received it? What was happening historically around the world? And what problem was being addressed? What kind of literature am I reading? Is it poetry? Is it history? Is it wisdom literature? Is it prophecy? Is it a letter? Is it a parable? That's a quick Google search on the passage you're reading. And that information matters. We don't need, we don't read poetry exactly the same way as we read historical narrative. We don't read Proverbs exactly the same way we read Paul's letters. For example, Proverbs generally describes how wisdom works. They aren't necessarily unconditional guarantees. Train up a child in the way he should go. That doesn't mean that faithful parenting mathematically guarantees that every child will make every correct decision for the rest of their life. Wisdom literature describes patterns. Understanding genre protects us from conclusions scripture isn't making. Question number two: What truth does this passage teach? Once you understand the context, ask: what is this teaching about God? Is it teaching humanity? Is it teaching sin? Is it grace? Is it wisdom? Relationships? Justice? Faith? Suffering? Hope? Obedience? Don't immediately jump to what does this mean for me today? Right now? First ask this. What truth is actually being communicated? Because scripture isn't primarily a book about you. It's a revelation of God. And ironically, once we stop making every passage immediately about ourselves, we often discover a much richer application. So, question number three: how should this truth affect my life? Now we get practical. James 122 says this: Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Biblical interpretation isn't complete when we understand something intellectually. Truth should eventually affect how we live. Maybe the application is behavioral. Apologize, forgive, set a boundary, tell the truth, stop gossiping, help someone, rest, seek reconciliation. Maybe the application is internal. Challenge resentment. Release control. Practice gratitude. Reject shame. Trust God's character. Sometimes. The application is simply sit with the truth longer. Not every biblical reading needs to produce three action items before breakfast. Sometimes scripture changes us slowly. Psalm 119.11 says this I've hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. There's something psychologically powerful about internalizing truth. What we repeatedly think about shapes the mental pathways we use. What we rehearse becomes easier to access. If I spend all week rehearsing, I'm failing. Nobody respects me. Everything is going wrong. I can't handle this. Those thoughts are Start to become automatic. But when scripture becomes part of our mental framework, we introduce another voice. Not fake posity, not pretending suffering doesn't exist. Truth. And biblical truth is often much more emotionally sophisticated than the cliches we've used. Psalms are perfect examples. Writers say things like: I'm afraid, I'm exhausted, I'm angry, where are you, God? Why is this happening? How long will this continue? That's not weak faith. That's emotionally honest faith. Biblical faith doesn't require emotional denial. It brings emotion into the conversation with truth. That's a major difference. We also need to talk about what happens when we use scripture against other people. Sometimes we don't need the Bible for a translation. We read it for ammunition. We find verses that prove our spouse is wrong. Our parents are wrong, our children are wrong, our denomination is wrong, our political opponents are wrong, everybody is wrong. Conveniently, we're doing great. That's usually a warning sign. Jesus repeatedly confronted people who knew scripture but had hearts that missed what scripture was pointing towards. Knowledge itself doesn't guarantee maturity. You can memorize scripture and still be arrogant. You can understand theology. And still treat people terribly. You can win a biblical argument and damage a relationship. Truth matters. But the way we carry truth matters too. Ephesians describes speaking truth and love. Those two things belong together. Truth without love becomes brutality. Love without truth becomes sentimentality. Sentimental becomes sentimental. Christian maturity requires both. There's another subtle form of misuse I want to make sure to mention. Using scripture to avoid dealing with emotion. So if someone says, like, I'm grieving, and immediately respond with God works all things together for good. True verse. It's in the Bible. Potentially terrible timing. Or something like, I'm scared. God hasn't given us the spirit of fear. Or something like, I'm overwhelmed. Then they could say, I can do all things through Christ. Again, the verses aren't the problem. The problem is what we're doing with them. Sometimes we're using scripture to shut down an emotion rather than helping someone walk through it. Jesus knew Lazarus was going to be raised, and yet John tells us Jesus wept. Knowing the truth didn't eliminate grief. Knowing what would happen next didn't prevent Jesus from entering into human sorrow. Sometimes the most biblical response to someone's pain isn't immediately giving them a verse. Sometimes it's sitting beside them, listening, crying, and allowing Scripture to speak when the person is ready to hear it. So here's the question I want you to wrestle with this week. When you read scripture, are you allowing scripture to challenge your beliefs or mainly looking for scripture that confirms what you already believe? That's a tough one because we humans like to seek confirmation. It's in our nature. We notice evidence supporting our existing beliefs and overlook evidence challenging them. Psychology would call this confirmation bias. And Christians aren't immune. If I already believe that God is is disappointed in me, I'll notice versus that sound corrective. If I already believe my political worldview is unquestionably biblical, I'll notice versus supporting my side. If I'm angry with someone, suddenly every passage about justice becomes extremely interesting. That's why humility belongs at the center of biblical interpretation. Sometimes we need to approach scripture saying, God, show me where I'm wrong. And that's a dangerous prayer because it's probably one of the healthiest prayers we can pray. So here's something simple you can try this week. Pick a passage, any passage, Old Testament, New Testament, whatever. Not 20, not 100, not 10, just one. And read it really slow. Then write down four things. What does this passage actually say? Not no interpretation yet, just observations. What's happening in context? Read what comes before and after. Look at who wrote it and who received it. And number three, what truth is being communicated? Summarize it in one sentence. What response does that truth? Summarize it in one sentence. And then number four, what response does that truth invite from me? Maybe it's behavior, maybe it's repentance, maybe it's comfort, maybe it's patience, maybe it's simply remembering something about God. This approach slows your brain down, and that's often helpful spiritually and psychologically, because anxiety. Wants immediate answers. Wisdom is willing to slow down. So the Bible is powerful, but the goal isn't simply to quote more scripture. The goal is to become people who are increasingly shaped by the truth scripture reveals. Paul tells Timothy to correctly handle the word of truth. Nehemiah shows people explaining scripture so others can understand it. The psalmist Hides God's word in his heart. James tells us not merely to hear scripture, but to live it. Put those together and you get something important. Read carefully. Understand honestly. Apply wisely. Live faithfully. And remember, your emotional reaction to a passage matters. Your personal experience matters. Your questions matter. But none of those things determine truth. Our job isn't to force scripture to validate everything we think. Our job is to allow truth to reshape us. So before you use a Bible verse to make a decision, correct another person, or judge yourself, ask this question. What does this passage actually mean in context? Then ask this. Am I reading this passage or am I reading my fear, anger, shame, or assumptions into it? Sit with that this week because learning to distinguish between what I feel and what I assume and what is actually true isn't only important for mental health, it's an essential part of spiritual maturity. So thank you all for spending time with me. I'm Rune Ru with Keenan. If this episode helped you, send it to somebody who wants to take both their faith and their emotional health seriously. And wherever you're listening, Follow, subscribe so you don't miss the next part of the foundation of truth. Until next time, stay rooted, stay real, and keep pursuing truth.