In Context, Out of Context

Matthew 23:23 - You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

This verse has been taken “out of context” so many times by Christians, it’s incredible. What does it mean to take a verse “out of context?”

Context is the words, phrases, or passages that come before and after a particular word or passage in a speech or piece of writing and help to explain its full meaning. It may include the circumstances or events that form the environment within which something exists or takes place.

Some questions to ask yourself when applying the proper context are:

Who said what? Who did they say it to? What time was it? Was it after or before a certain event? Was the listener receptive? Was the listener of the conversation friendly or hostile? Where was the person who said this thing? What prompted the person to say it? Whose interests did the speaker have at heart? By what or whose authority or expertise did the narrator possess? Was the orator serious? Was the presenter being honest?

We can’t just pull a verse out of the pages of the bible and honestly apply them to ourselves without understanding the context involved. This is what has happened to Matthew 23:23. Christians will read Matthew 23:23 and say, “See? Jesus says right there that we should tithe!”

Is that really what it says? No, that has read “out of context.” Every time the scriptures say, "you" and we apply it to ourselves, saying "that means me" we take the scripture “out of context.” In context, almost any "you" refers to persons who have been dead for centuries.

The following is to whom Jesus was speaking. Jesus said, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees.” Was he talking to you, an after-the-cross, grace-saved contemporary Christian Gentile from the 21st century? No, Jesus was talking to the before-the-cross, unsaved Jewish religious teachers of the Mosaic Law and Pharisees who are under the Law in Israel!

Next time you’re reading the bible and you come across a verse and you wonder, “Does that apply to me?” Ask yourself the questions mentioned above and ask yourself, “Does the principle involved apply to me?” Why?

It’s important to keep things in context and to have the right perspective. One reason is because it can keep you out of trouble. When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself,“ did he mean that it was okay to have sex with your neighbor? No, that would contradict what Jesus said about lust in Matthew 5:28. Jesus said, “Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Therefore, it is imperative to keep the Scriptures in context so truth can be taught as it was meant to be from God’s Word.