The interpretation and application of scripture The interpretation and application of scripture carries a significant and tremendous responsibility. When attempting to hear and discern the voice of God, we should approach His Word, with such an understanding. It is easy to pick a scripture and wrongly apply it, and misinterpret it; therefore missing the voice of God. This is dangerous for it can lead people astray, and formulate erroneous teachings and doctrines. It is of concern that people seek to creatively share scripture, peddling their teachings as “revelation”, when in fact it is steeped in error, and is a literal raping of scripture. In such an instance it ceases to the voice/word of God and becomes the voice/word of man. I recently attended a church service in one of Harare’s sizeable ministries. The young pastor titled his message, “Dealing With The Root of Your Problem”. He proceeded with a scripture from Genesis where Adam, and Eve ate the fruit of the tree. He tied it up with a New Testament scripture, where Jesus cursed the fig tree and it dried and died from its roots upwards. The preacher presented his thesis, or should I say revelation: he concluded that God did not deal with the tree in Genesis and that the fig tree that Christ cursed, was the tree that Adam and Eve ate off in Genesis. The root of the problem was not dealt with in Genesis, so Christ had to deal with the tree. He proceeded to say that, that is why all evil potions and spells come from a tree, so we need to deal with trees in our lives. It does not require a theologian to detect the flawed thinking and error in scriptural interpretation here. Jesus says, “Greater works shall you do”. A very popular scripture indeed. A scripture which in most instances has been interpreted to exclusively mean miracles. I challenge that notion, and suggest that the greater works are to be understood in the context of global transformation. The transformation of this world as we know it so that conforms to the ideals of the Kingdom of God. May we preach scripture with a heart that earnestly seeks to hear the voice of God, in its simplicity, for therein lies the power. May we not be beguiled by erroneous teachings peddled as revelation. May we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth, and strengthen our exegesis and hermeneutics. One of the reasons we are in this mess is that we have developed not taken the development of our minds/intellect seriously. We have spiritual experiences that we cannot process because of an underdeveloped mind. Let us be like the Christians of Berea, who demonstrated discipline and mental dexterity. Paul warned Timothy that in the last days men would gather teachers after their itching ears. May your ears itch for truth and not fiction or myth. May your ears itch for the Word of God, and not the word of man. Greater works indeed.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 08:24:34 +0000
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