When I was younger, I remember walking into a record store to buy some CDs. There was this big box in the middle of the store where you could put on headphones and sample music from any artist. The samples were no more than about 10-15 seconds of a song. I remember one artist that I had heard about but never listened to any of the music. They had a best seller, so I wanted to listen to a few samples from that album. I picked 3 songs and listened to the 10-second sample from each.
I liked what I heard. I decided to buy the CD. The samples were clean of cursing, had good beats, and I liked the singer’s voice. This was before they had disclaimers on the CD about profanity. I took the CD home and opened it up right away. I liked listening to new music right away. I did not get past the first song without hearing profanity. I played the second and third song – more profanity. The 4th or 5th song not only had profanity but talked about sex and used vulgar language. I was shocked. None of the samples I listened to had any profanity or vulgar language. In fact, one sample of one song talked about treating others right.
How could I have gotten this so wrong?
I forgot about this example until I was sitting in a Bible study one day. I remembered listening to some of the participants discuss things in the Bible. I remember thinking to myself, “what they are saying and quoting doesn’t seem to add up to what I know is in the Bible.” For example, one young man said the Bible says it is wrong to kill, and therefore killing anything, including animals for food, is a sin. He quoted Exodus 20:13 from the King James Version (KJV). Although other versions of the Bible, such as the New International Version (NIV) translates Exodus 20:13 as “You shall not murder,” the KJV does indeed translate Exodus 20:13 as “You shall not kill.” I knew what this young man was saying was not accurate and was taken out of context. The Bible states in Genesis 9:3 in the KJV, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.” In fact, 1 Timothy 4:1-5 states (NIV):
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
Bytes of Scripture
One scripture verse taken by itself can lead to misunderstandings. This is because it is a sample or byte. Since we are dealing with theology, I call it a “theological byte.” The sample from the music I listened to deceived me, because when I listened to the song in its totality, it wasn’t a reflection of the whole. The sample was taken in isolation from the rest of the song. To get an accurate picture of something, we need the whole picture. In the case of the song, I needed to listen to the whole song to assess correctly what it was really saying. A sample is not complete. The whole song is complete.
Missing Puzzle Pieces
A puzzle shows a picture. If a puzzle has 1,000 pieces, you need all 1,000 pieces in the right place to reflect an accurate picture. Missing pieces or putting pieces in the wrong place will show something other than the accurate picture. This is not a big deal when dealing with puzzles because they don’t have life or death consequences. However, it is very important when dealing with areas of life that have serious consequences. If the court of law does not have an accurate picture of a defendant, an innocent person could spend time in prison. If a country does not have an accurate picture of an action another country took, it could lead to war. Not having an accurate picture of God’s Word can also have serious consequences, including eternal death.
Theological bytes are dangerous. For example, imagine taking Leviticus 20:9 (KJV) in isolation from the rest of the Bible: “For everyone that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.” It would be justified to kill any child who cursed their parents today. However, upon review, one would understand this was an Old Testament law by Moses that does not apply today in the same way.
I could go on and on with examples of scriptures or theological bytes taken alone that would have serious and dangerous consequences to others and society. The Bible is to be taken as a whole. There are no stand-alone Scriptures. All Scripture relies on other Scripture and the story of the Kingdom of God to be interpreted accurately.
Bite-Sized Theology
Today, more than ever, theological bytes are being used in churches, politics, and society at large. Churches are using theological bytes to justify who one should vote for. Politicians are using theological bytes to justify laws or legislation. This becomes dangerous because theological bytes are becoming responsible for hate and violence. Democrats and Republicans (and other parties) argue about political issues using theological bytes. Let’s take two theological bytes by themselves. Romans 13:1-2 and Acts 5:29. Here are what they both say:
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. – Romans 13:1-2 (NIV),
“Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than human beings.” – Acts 5:29 (NIV)In politics, one side often will cite or use the theological byte of Romans 13:1-2 to say civilians are violating God’s Word when they refuse to obey the law and government, no matter what. The other side will often cite or use the theological byte of Acts 5:29 to justify civil disobedience when the law violates God’s Word. In the context of scripture, both help us understand that God established government, and we obey every law (whether we like the law or disagree with the law) unless it clearly violates a law, command, or principle from God’s Word.
Beware of Mere Bytes
Theological bytes are very dangerous and should be avoided unless the context of the whole scripture is used along with it. The purpose of this piece is not to interpret scripture or discuss which side in politics is right and which is wrong, but rather to bring awareness of the danger of theological bytes and sound the alarm to every theologian, ethicist, pastor, and Christian to use the whole puzzle and not a mere piece.
Theological bytes with context and scripture are wise and beneficial, but used alone are foolish and dangerous.
