Okay, this is basic stuff, people. Seriously. If a sentence contains the word “then” or “therefore”, it implies a continuation – that is, it depends on something that has been said previously in order that it may be understood correctly.
So, if you’re going to preach on a passage at church that includes the word “therefore” – such as, say, James 4:7-8:
7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
– it might be handy to at least look at the preceding verses so you can understand what the passage is actually saying, as opposed to what you’re trying to make it mean.
Apparently, that passage is about the importance of being intimate with God, whatever the hell that means (Jesus is my boyfriend and I love him very, very much! Yay!) – because it says “Come near to God”, or something. Unless, of course, you read the preceding verses, in which case, I reckon it’s probably about humility and not valuing material things over the spiritual. But, y’know, that’s just me reading the passage in context without resorting to vague sentiment and handwringing emotion, so what do I know?
In other news, the Guillemots were absolutely awesome tonight, but I’m still a bit pissed off about church so my effusive praise for Fyfe Dangerfield and friends will have to wait until tomorrow.
I hear this sort of thing all the time. It’s highly annoying. When people read the bible, they see exactly what they want to see. Remember, doing theology makes you an arts student.
Theology is a science!
Grr. It’s so sad that Biblical literacy is so low in this country that many people don’t even know the basics tools of Bible-reading. Or, seemingly, reading. Get them a copy of ‘Dig Deeper’ by Nigel Beynon and ‘Expository Preaching’ by Haddon Robinson and don’t let them speak again until they’ve read at least one of them.