Bargerhuff - The Most Misused Stories in the Bible: Surprising Ways Popular Bible Stories Are Misunderstood

E verybody loves a good story, and the Bible has plenty of them. Some are shocking, some convicting. Still others are powerful in that they communicate truths about God and us like nothing else can.

But stories can often be misunderstood. They can be taken out of context. Details missed. Personal agendas read into them. Human traditions can cloud facts. Main points can be sidestepped or overlooked. Pertinent information from reliable and biblically accurate resources that could bring clarity can be ignored. Language can be misunderstood. Mistakes made.

This is why it is important for every Bible reader, from the serious student to the casual reader, to learn how to interpret the Bible in context, using all the aids and guides to faithful study. Thisalong with the accompanying power of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit-filled community of the churchwill help us read and apply Gods Word faithfully.

This book takes some of the most commonly misused stories of the Bible and puts them in context with the hope of bringing clarity and light to what God wants for our lives. It could be considered a companion to my previous book, The Most Misused Verses in the Bible . To be sure, there is commonality and overlap in the principles that I seek to teach, but the stories and texts of Scripture I deal with are different in each book.

I realize some may want to argue that this or that story should not have been included over others. All of this, of course, is a subjective decision pertaining to ones experience in life and in the church. By no means are these the most misused stories for everyone .

I do believe, however, that pointing out the common misuses and misunderstandings of these stories can lead to similar discoveries and application points to other Bible stories not covered in this book.

It is increasingly evident that we now live in a biblically ignorant culture that sees the Bible as outdated, old-fashioned, biased, political, and offensive to modern-day sensitivities and views. It may be surprising to hear that this is no different from the worldview of the Roman Empire, where paganism, immorality, and relativistic philosophy were commonplace. In many ways, the church is moving back toward the culture of the first century, where the persecuted church thrived.

For us, this means the light of the Bible and its message stand in contrast to the darkness prevalent in todays culture. We seem to be in Babylon once again. Biblical Christians will stand out against the prevailing tide of culture in ways that will naturally invite hostility and ridicule, perhaps even physical suffering at some point. But Christians who long to please and be faithful to God know that we have no choice but to follow the Bibles teachings as we seek to deliver the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.

At times it may be tempting to smooth the rough edges of biblical truth so that we are more readily received by the world. But to do so would be to compromise the timeless and eternal truths that set Gods people apart from a perishing world. To do so would mean to forfeit the blessing of God that comes from obeying these truths in his Word. We must remain faithful to his truth no matter the times or the climate we find ourselves in. The Bible is not merely a historical record of Gods redemption, but a living and active means of appropriating that redemption.

I invite you to read this book with a humble willingness to be challenged. Perhaps you will learn something new, or maybe I will simply be reinforcing what you already know and do naturally when it comes to reading the Scriptures. Maybe you will want to argue some point. Either way, may you read these stories anew with fresh eyes and may your heart be encouraged to hunger for and dive deeper into the Word of God.

If on some point you think differently than I do, I ask that we be mutually charitable while seeking more light on the subject. In the course of my life, I have misused a verse or story myself, and thankfully there was someone with a willing, graceful spirit to show me new insights that clarified Gods Word for me. We are all students of the Bible, even those who have been trained and hold advanced degrees in Bible and theology. There must be what my dissertation mentor, Kevin Vanhoozer, calls a hermeneutical humility when reading ancient and sacred texts. In other words, if we are using a consistent, literal, historical, grammatical approach to interpretation and God brings new understanding to his Word, we all must be willing to learn and grow and even change our minds.