How To Read The Bible in Context by Dave Smith

My wife Angie and I have conversations all the time. But it’s not surprising that 5 minutes into the conversation, one of us will say these words, “What are you talking about?” We seem to be using the same words but they have completely different meanings. For you see, I am primarily a “thinker” and she listens as a “feeler.” Our internal dictionaries are wired differently.

I submit to you that the same thing is true in the Church today. She finds herself in a modern day Biblical fog. We may employ the same words as Jesus or Paul, but their meanings over time have been slowly severed from their biblical moorings. The original biblical meanings have become lost in our contemporary lexical definitions. These shifted words/meanings now dictate what we will hear from the Biblical text. Equally they prevent us from experiencing the world as Jesus did. Or even coming close to dialoguing with the real Apostle Paul. He looks and sounds much more like us than a first century Jew. 

Words Matter: Recovering the Biblical Meaning

Philip K. Dick (in his 1978 essay “How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later”) made the following statement on the meanings of words: “The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.” Now, we are not accusing the Church of intentional mind control through the revision of words. But her passion to get their gospel word out and to convince/convert more and more people has created the unintentional consequences of removing words from their ancient context and making them mean something entirely different from the biblical writers. 

Words such as “gospel” and “salvation” and “Church” no longer have the robust meaning breathed into them by the Spirit. In our attempt to make the gospel more approachable and culturally relevant, we have at that same time domesticated its meaning. It has become a term more focused on us than on Jesus. A “Gospel message” in today’s language means, “A proclamation where hearers were made aware of their sin and that Jesus is the only means to find forgiveness?” True but truncated. A Biblical definition of Gospel is that Jesus is King of the Universe. His Kingdom now rules. The Gospel finds its primary definition in Him. 

The same effect can be found in the modern concept of salvation. These days salvation is often seen as a synonym for Gospel. A Gospel message results in an offer of salvation and those that believe will go to heaven when they die. True in modern parlance but marginal at best by biblical standards. God’s rule and His offer of salvific grace is not primarily focused on heaven as our home as much as it is the restoration of humans to reflect the glory of the Imago Dei, culminating in a flourishing life in the here and now. “Are you saved and going to heaven” should not be the question of our day. Rather, “are you a small working model of New Creation and do you reflect the Image of Jesus in such a profound manner that people are hungry for the life you now live?” Yes. Words Matter and their robust definitions bring hope to most people.

Context Matters: Learning to Read the Bible in Its Original Setting

The reformation of the Church will not come about by merely handing someone a better theological dictionary. Certainly, it will help to some degree since biblical word meanings come from a deep reading of the sacred texts. Nevertheless, a more foundational issue is that we in the church have accepted the practice of reading the Bible “out of context.” 

By “contexts” I first mean we neglect or plead ignorance to the historical and cultural contexts of the Bible. Second, we pull passages out of the larger literary context from which it has been placed by the inspired author and treat them like self-sustaining entities. Finally, we return to our modernization of ancient word meanings. Simply put, words mean what the ancient authors wanted them to mean. There was no such thing as a dictionary in antiquity. Words were defined by the culture in which they arose or by the literary context in which they found their narrative or poetic home. Yes. Words Matter. Even more, Context Matters. 

Handing someone a dictionary is informative. Passing out Bibles to people can be life-changing for them. But will it fuel a reformation? What might be missing? Our contemporary devotional reading practice needs redeeming. Most Christians today unknowingly read their modern world into the ancient text of the Bible. In layman’s terms, we read and immediately apply, without traveling through the often-neglected step of “interpretation.” This is the essential work of a historian in search of age-old truth as we ask the fundamental question, “What did this text mean to its original recipients?” Without this intermediate step of interpretation, we are assuming that the Bible was written directly to us in our modern-day world, not to people and churches of biblical antiquity. 

We practice what many have experienced during a typical Bible Study. Five people sitting around a table. The Bible is read aloud and then one after another people share, “What did that passage mean to you?” And “to you?” And “what about you?” Then, from all the shared opinions, we seem to choose what appears to be the best answer from the mix of voices. 

May I share the danger in this approach to Bible reading. First, we are affirming that there is no stable meaning to a biblical text. It changes each time a person reads the passage, resulting in a whole range of meanings. The peril of this is that Jesus will be calling us to abandon all for the sake of Him and His gospel. 

But may I humbly ask, which gospel? Which of the 4-5 meanings will you put your trust in?  Words Matter. Contexts Matter More. 

Second, as we approve this reading scenario, we are also saying, “just read and then guess what Jesus meant.” May I urgently state, “I do not care what you think the Bible says!” The inspired person in your conversation with the Bible comes from the writer of the Biblical book. Matthew is inspired. So is Mark, John, Luke, Paul, and Peter. Reading in context means we need to ask and answer only one question, “What was the writer’s original meaning?” We must follow a simple and linear approach to the Bible; read, interpret, and then apply. When we abandon this Bible reading plan, we become ripe candidates for a muddled gospel. Dennis Kinlaw quoted the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple saying, “If your concept of God is wrong (which comes from inadequate Bible reading), the more religious you become the more dangerous you are to yourself and to others.” (Let’s Start with Jesus) Developing sound and solid Bible reading skills may be the most vital starting point to the reformation of the Church. 

We do not want to trample upon a believer’s devotional reading of Scripture. Heaven forbid. People should encounter Jesus through His word on a regular basis, out of love and obedience. This should be regular and daily if possible. Millions of Christians around the world practice the “Daily Office” where the word and prayer is engaged up to three times a day (morning, noon, evening). Additionally, evangelicals across the globe read through the Bible regularly to hear from heaven and obey. But I might call this a “First Reading” of Scripture. It’s your first encounter with the text. As a disciple, as a student of the Word, we should push forward and engage in a “Second reading” of the text. We go over it again and again, examining its literary context, the cultural background from which it arose, and the meaning of its ancient words. The overarching question which should undergird this Second Reading is “What was the author’s original meaning as revealed from the literary, cultural and linguistic (word meaning) contexts? A “Second Reading” or a disciple-making approach must investigate its meaning as it was originally intended to be heard, interpreted and applied. We honor the text when we read it in context. Words Matter. Context Matters More. Even more so in the Bible.

The Word Incarnate in Us Matters Most: Becoming Disciples

The fog has now taken on global proportions as Bible sales are at record levels. Hunger for God’s truth is found everywhere. But biblical illiteracy has surpassed them both. We want to hear God’s voice, but the Church is not offering the necessary interpretive tools. The biblical story that illustrates this best is the encounter of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). 

Philip approaches the Eunuch as he is sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah out loud. Philip asks the right question, “Do you understand what you are reading.” He does not ask him, “What it means to him.” He asks the Eunuch about Isaiah’s meaning. Profoundly, the Eunuch responds, “How can I unless someone explains it to me?” There are two questions housed in those words. First, I need someone to help me interpret this difficult passage. But second, and even more revealing, the word for “explain” is not asking for a mere explanation. It is the word for “guide.” The Eunuch is not asking for a commentary answer to Isaiah’s rich yet difficult meaning. He is asking for a guide or what we may call a mentor to help grasp what Isaiah the prophet means as his truth is lived out by a Christ-follower. 

The Eunuch does not need a dictionary or commentary. He needs a role-model. The same word is used in reference to the role of the Spirit, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears (John 16:13).” I need a Spiritual guide to help me in the process of living out the Word. This is the cry of countless people in the Church today. 

This is precisely what is lacking in the church today. We are handing out Bibles by the case. We have access to limitless commentaries. What the Church must recover is our call to be Spirit-guides. First, we must teach clergy and laity alike how to interpret the word. But second, how to apply the word as its truth takes up transformational residence in a human being. What does it mean to be a Christian who lives by the guidance of the Spirit, where “He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears.” Words Matter. Context Matters More. The Word Incarnate in us Matters Most.  

One final shortcoming of our contemporary approach to the word is found in the phrase, My personal daily devotions. Our privatized time with the Lord has many benefits. But we must confess that it is indeed a modern invention. In the ancient world, encountering scripture was a public event with interpersonal accountability. Genesis 2:18 should be applied across the Church with Bible reading, “It is not good for man to be alone.” 

John Wesley fostered this personal accountability and required members of his new movement to participate in what were called Class and Band meetings in the mid-1700’s. With this in mind, let’s reflect upon a pertinent event in Church History. In the 1730-40’s, the US Colonies experienced the First Great Awakening. It was primarily initiated and led by George Whitefield. Yet when he died, the “revival” quickly ended. However, during the same time in England, the Wesleyan-Methodist movement continued long after the death of John Wesley? Adam Clark, an early historian of Methodism, reflected upon this, 

“It was by this means (the formation of small groups) that we have been enabled to establish permanent and holy churches over the world. Mr. Wesley saw the necessity of this from the beginning. Mr. Whitefield, when he separated from Mr. Wesley, did not follow it. What was the consequence? The fruit of Mr. Whitefield died with himself. Mr. Wesley’s fruit remains, grows, increases, and multiplies exceedingly.”

In fact, in correspondence with an old friend later in life, George Whitefield himself confessed, “My brother Wesley acted wisely—the souls that were awakened under his ministry he joined in class [meetings] and thus preserved the fruits of his labor. This I neglected, and my people are a rope of sand.” 

John Wesley’s own words confirm this practice. From his journal entry in August 25, 1763 he wrote, 

I was more convinced than ever, that the preaching like an Apostle, without joining together [in class meetings] those that are awakened, and training them up in the ways of God, is only begetting children for the murderer. How much preaching has there been for these twenty years all over Pembrokeshire! But no regular societies, no discipline, no order or connection; and the consequence is, that nine in ten of the once-awakened are now faster asleep than ever.

Words matter, but they need a lived out, incarnate context to bear fruit for generations to come. In the end, what might be the best way to define and describe the work of Spirit-enabled guides (aka disciples) and the overall focus of the Church in these days of Re-Formation:

The primary mission of every church is to create a culture of Christo-formity (aka; read, interpret, apply His Word and become just like Him) so that every believer will embody and reflect the indwelling Presence of Christ (Imago Dei) to a dark yet hungry World.