Misunderstood

‘Time in the Word’ By Clayton Adams

We all are misunderstood from time to time in our lives. I have often misunderstood people in my life. Perhaps the greatest reason for a misunderstanding between two people and among groups of people is that there is little or no relationship between the people.

I have found that the best way to understand and build a relationship with someone is to set aside my feelings and views and take the time to understand that person as individual. As the saying goes, “Seek first to understand then to be understood.”

The Bible is misunderstood by many people and some who claim to know the Bible often misuse it.

Many more folks discard what the Bible teaches for their own “personal” reasons. I once heard someone say, “that it is easier to make the Bible fit ones’ life than to fit ones’ life to the Bible.”

The Bible is, I believe, inspired and God-breathed.

In other words, God spoke His Holy Word to humans, who wrote what He inspired them to write. The Bible is complete and there are no “lost” books that have been found or will be found that should be a part of it.

Originally, the Bible was written in three primary languages; Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The Bible you have in your church or in your house or on your phone have all been translated from these three languages.

The first translation was the Old Testament (which was in the Hebrew language) into the Greek language and is known as the Septuagint Bible. “Septuagint” meaning seventy, because it was translated by seventy scholars. Since I do not know Greek, I am glad to have the English language translation of the Holy Bible from the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.

More important than the version or translation is what the Bible speaks of.

For instance, God’s Word speaks to every issue in the human experience. The Bible is a history book.

The Bible is a poetical and a science book. The Bible has more intriguing scenes of life than Hollywood could ever dream up. If Hollywood would ever make movies and stay true to the Bible, I believe, they would all be money-makers.

The Bible also speaks to the issues of the human heart. It deals with racism, sexism, justice, mercy, money, crime and punishment, forgiveness, leadership and so many other issues – whatever your heart is dealing with and experiencing the Bible has a prescription for you (if you are willing to follow the directions).

The Bible also reveals the dark side of the human heart. The treachery, deception, murderous and harlotry of the human heart is well revealed. Why?

Because all through these human stories the love and forgiveness of God is revealed. God said, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Eve to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). Even after knowing this about us, God still wants us with all our faults, failures and misery. Through all our failures (I have many) God forgives, restores and renews our lives.

Most people misunderstand the Bible because they want to misunderstand. People don’t know the truth because they don’t want to know the truth.

Perhaps the one verse that is so abused, misused and misunderstood is “Do not judge so that you will not be judged” (Matthew 7:1).

When I served as a pastor and a teacher of the Bible, I would tell the church and audiences that one should always read what comes before and after a verse to get the “context” of a verse. “Context” is critical to understanding what Jesus said and for studying the Bible. If you read something in the Bible and don’t understand what it means the best thing to do is write it down and keep reading. The Bible does interpret itself.

Judging others is easy and it’s the natural human (sinful) thing to do. But Jesus said, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.”

Taken by itself, this verse tells us to not judge others. But we do judge others.

We judge if someone will stop at a stop sign as we pull up to an intersection.

We judge facial reaction of others as we speak with them. We judge others in every sport, school and in all our daily activities.

We judge pain in others by how they look or by what they are saying. We judge others by how we feel, but none of these is what Jesus was speaking about.

In one verse Jesus tells us not to judge, but in the second verse, He tells how to correctly judge! What was Jesus meaning? Why did He teach this? How does this apply to our lives today? Can we judge someone using Jesus standards? Can we correctly judge others? More on this subject next week.

Clayton Adams has a message of faith he would like to share with the community. He would also like to hear from you. E-mail him at claytonpadamslll@ gmail.com.