I have taken Bible verses out of context so many times in my life that I had to stop counting! WHY do I do this?!? Don’t I know better?!
It is true that many Bible verses seem to stand on their own, so to speak. Think of Proverbs, or those wonderful nuggets sprinkled throughout the scriptures that so perfectly encapsulate so salient point. “Ye have heard it said…but I say unto you…” and “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” and “Pray without ceasing.”
But, when we stop and reflect, we would likely all recognize that no sentence in the Bible, or in any of its books for that matter, was intended to stand alone. There is no ‘one-sentence book.’
So, context matters, almost always. And therefore, I’ll provide yet another example of me almost stepping into a blinders-on conversation.
I was in a meeting discussing When Helping Hurts among other things. Admittedly, I have become quite the strong proponent of informed, careful, decision-making around financial gifts. That vigor is often met with someone with less vigor but more Bible verses…the most powerful one being Matt 5:42, “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” It has left me speechless, confused, perplexed….it doesn’t feel right, and yet, who can argue the scriptures?! So, we ended the discussion with a sort-of, “well don’t ask any questions the first time….but then get the details before you keep gifting money after that.” This conclusion was okay, but clearly I was not totally at peace with this….hence the continued consternation many days later. So, here I am in Wednesday night church still thinking about it and, I trust it was the Lord that caused me to be, wondering about the context.
It is in Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, and he is covering a lot of ground…”Ye have heard it said” followed by “But I say unto you…” and then follows that with a few applications, examples, or descriptions. It is pretty clear, actually abundantly clear, that Matt 5:42 is the last sentence in the Matt 5:38-5:42 topic of fairness and retaliation. Read it for yourself! So, 5:42 isn’t a stand-alone, universal commandment. WOW. It only took me 47 years to learn that! Rather, it is another example around this topic where, in OT times, the Law protected the avenger from getting more punishment than his crime. Fairness was the standard. Jesus says, fairness is no longer the appropriate response. If you are injured or threatened to be injured, don’t ask for fairness in return. Actually, bless them in return. So, the context is clearly about the response of a Christian when there is a conflict between him and another.
Take-home message: Don’t use Matt 5:42 as the reason to give a dollar every time anyone asks you for one. Jesus is teaching about how to handle a dispute.
As a business owner and as a customer, I have this happen from time to time. There is a dispute that happens between two ‘reasonable’ people. (This is not speaking of dealing with a fool–an implacable person, or with a person who is angry, a cheater, etc) 1)With a customer. You have a misunderstanding about services / values and you can see how/why they misunderstood. You refund their money (and then some), go above and beyond with your service, apologize. 2)With an employee. You have a misunderstanding about compensation and you can see how/why there was a misunderstanding. You give me the extra, and try to be more clear and fair by writing things down in the future. 3)As a customer. You have a misunderstanding about services / values and you can see how/why you/they misunderstood. You acknowledge your mistake and offer to pay full price if services have been rendered (and then some), go above and beyond with your offer, apologize.
My peace is restored….there is no longer a conflict in my soul between concepts in WHH and Matt 5:42. I shouldn’t feel guilty saying “No” to a freebie request. Do you? Are there other scriptures, when taken into context, that you argue do, in fact, require me to say “Yes” to every request? If so, I’d really like to hear from you.