Technology in the Church has been both a blessing and a curse. I am not one who believes that technology is all bad…but I also realize that there has been one HUGE FLAW which has been brought on by technology…being an undetected HARM within the lives of believers and church-goers:
The PROJECTION of SCRIPTURE on the video screens of churches has led to an overwhelming lack of Bibles being used to reference passages of Scripture. Statistics show that Bibles are no longer even being brought to Church by most attendees…and, even though many churches provide Bibles in the pews…most people never open a Bible while in Church. This is due to the fact that they see no reason to do so…because the passage being quoted is now being projected onto the video screen.
That may seem to be “nitpicking”…but it is actually a SERIOUS issue!
I am sure you are asking “Why??”
When it comes to God’s Word…CONTEXT is everything!
Here is an example of what can happen when particular passages are used to teach a “doctrine”…and only certain passages are projected onto a screen…which allows the passages to be focused on ALONE…without being surrounded by their proper CONTEXT:
Let’s say the following Scripture is projected onto the screen…as the preacher quotes them:
Mark 10:29-30 (NKJV)
29 So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time…
Now, when this Scripture is dealt with ALONE…it seems to promise that EARTHLY BLESSINGS…specifically FINANCIAL BLESSINGS…are promised. And this is OFTEN how this passage is presented and taught!
But remember: CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING.
First…as with the passage in Mark…there are actually QUALIFIERS left out of the passage. Here is the passage in its entirety (with the QUALIFIERS):
Mark 10:29-31 (NKJV)
29 So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
Notice that Jesus first says that this refers to those who have left “house or brothers or sisters of father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s”. This is referring to those who have basically “given up everything” for the cause of Christ. We SELDOM…IF EVER…see ministers do this in any form or fashion today: that MUST be noted! Then…if, as some claim, this passage truly promises a “hundredfold blessing/promise”…that it would be promising…LITERALLY…100 “ houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands.”
Now…PROSPERITY PREACHERS love to use this Scripture to make a claim that God is promising FINANCIAL WEALTH…but what it would ACTUALLY promise if applied in their ERRONEOUS way is A HUGE FAMILY…with MULTIPLE WIVES and brothers and sisters and mothers (how can a man LITERALLY gain a hundred mothers?) and children and lands!
But…notice I have left out one CRUCIAL word which is ALSO included in the passage when I try to interpret the passage in the way most PROSPERITY PREACHERS interpret it: the word which is left out is “persecutions”!
Isn’t it odd that with all the “good” things mentioned…Mark would include “persecutions”? If we were to make application to the GOOD things “promised”…then we MUST also include the “persecutions” promised. And…if each were INDEED a “promise”…then for every 100 hundred houses…there would be 100 persecutions! But…I have NEVER heard a minister declare THAT “promise”!
This passage of Scripture is OFTEN “quoted” by preachers of the PROSPERITY GOSPEL…yet, in ALMOST EVERY CASE, the PROSPERITY PREACHER never bothers to include the part of the passage which says “persecutions”.
You see…CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING.
So…IN CONTEXT…what is this passage of Scripture truly teaching?
Let’s look at it by first getting an idea of CONTEXT…and how to DETERMINE that CONTEXT:
1. The first CONTEXT is…BIBLICAL. This is a passage in THE BIBLE.
2. The second CONTEXT is…NEW TESTAMENT.
3. The third CONTEXT is…THE BOOK OF MARK.
4. The fourth CONTEXT is…THE TENTH CHAPTER OF MARK.
5. The fifth CONTEXT is…JESUS IS SPEAKING.
6. The sixth CONTEXT is…JESUS IS SPEAKING TO THE DISCIPLES AND FOLLOWERS.
7. The seventh CONTEXT is…JESUS JUST TOLD THE RICH YOUNG RULER WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO SERVE HIM.
8. The eighth CONTEXT is…JESUS TELLS THEM THAT THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO GIVE UP WHAT THE RICH YOUNG RULER WAS NOT WILLING TO GIVE UP ARE THE TARGET AUDIENCE OF WHAT IS SPOKEN.
9. The ninth CONTEXT is…JESUS QUALIFIES THE EARTHLY BLESSINGS BY INCLUDING “PERSECUTIONS”…WHILE SIMPLE APPLICATION OF THE PASSAGE ACTUALLY RENDERS THE SUPERFICIAL INTERPRETATION (that God promises a “hundredfold financial blessing”) AS ERRONEOUS.
10. The tenth CONTEXT is…JESUS PROMISES AN ETERNAL (NOT AN EARTHLY) REWARD!
So…what is Jesus TRULY teaching in this passage? Is it a promise of EARTHLY wealth or is it a promise of EARTHLY companions and travels for the cause of Christ…all while experiencing PERSECUTION?
You see…when we measure this Scripture by applying its CONTEXT to the rest of God’s Word…we can then realize that Jesus was not promising principles of the PROSPERITY GOSPEL. Jesus was saying that those who would give up/leave EVERYTHING (again…note that VERY FEW ministers give up ANY of this today!) will, through their travels, encounter “brothers and sisters and mothers” who will support them in their ministry. These people will open up their homes and lands to those who travel and minister for the cause of Christ. So, although they have DENIED themselves the comforts of home and family, they will GAIN a multitude of homes and families…as those who receive the GOOD NEWS (the GOSPEL) are brought into the FAMILY OF GOD! In this sense of the word, the minister will then have “houses” and FAMILY in every town that he has visited. In THAT sense of the word…those who give up EVERYTHING for the cause of Christ will gain IN RETURN a following of believers who will help them as they go on their journey. BUT…it also promises that there will be PERSECUTION which is EQUAL to the support which is given to them! In other words…for every friend gained…there will be a trial and persecution which comes! Remember…BOTH are said to be “hundredfold”. So…it truly teaches that for every 100 SUPPORTERS…there will be an equal amount of PERSECUTIONS.
In actuality, this passage of Scripture shows us that SOME will give up EVERYTHING to follow and serve Jesus…and God will provide for them through the goodness of those that they minister to. But…although their needs will be supplied and although God will work through their ministry, there will still be trials and tribulations…and persecutions. Far from this passage being a foundation for the PROSPERITY GOSPEL…it is actually a revelation from Jesus that God will supply the needs of those who give up EVERYTHING to minister for HIM…and He will supply those needs through those who hear and believe the preaching of the ministers. And…persecution will ALWAYS accompany the minister in his travels.
So…let’s go back to my primary thought in all of this:
When Scripture is projected onto a screen…it is IMPOSSIBLE to show its TRUE and TOTAL context!
This has caused many to fail to obey the Word of God when it tells us:
1 John 4:1 (NKJV)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
We are to CHECK…TEST…EXAMINE…what is being taught by going to the WORD OF GOD. In doing so, we are to study and understand what we hear IN ITS PROPER CONTEXT.
God’s Word is FULL of TRUTH. But TRUTH, when taken out of CONTEXT, can actually lead us into FALSE DOCTRINE!
In cases of FALSE DOCTRINE, you will discover that…in ALMOST EVERY INSTANCE…Scripture is taken out of its PROPER CONTEXT…causing it to be MISAPPLIED and MISREPRESENTED.
Be careful…and keep in mind the words of Paul unto Timothy…as Paul urged Timothy to protect his DOCTRINE:
1 Timothy 4:16 (NKJV)
16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
DOCTRINE is WHAT WE BELIEVE…and it must be based on THE WORD OF GOD…on SCRIPTURE in its PROPER CONTEXT.
I urge EVERY BELIEVER to keep their Bible handy…and to keep it busy and open! Apply God’s Word to what you hear. “Test the spirits…” and be sure of what you hear. Do not be deceived by Scripture which is taken OUT OF CONTEXT!
Context IS everything!
In Christ,
Ron
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