Weaponizing the Bible
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” - John 8:3-4
It’s very, very tempting to use the Bible against people. But before we get to that, let’s acknowledge that we use all kinds of things against people - like what they’ve said or a passive aggressive criticism or even outright lies. But there are two things a little different about the Bible in this space.
The first is, we lay claim to a higher authority. After all, God said it, right? Doesn’t matter if we’re quoting it out of context or don’t even know exactly what it means, wow it can land with real power to manipulate our kids or to win an argument because it’s not just you saying it, it’s God saying it.
The second is, we can feel so damn righteous when we quote the Bible at people. I mean, how could it be wrong to quote the Bible - that’s always a good idea, right? So it’s so easy to convince ourselves that we’re doing God’s work when we’re really just doing our own.
What does it feel like to be on the end of this transaction when you are the one using the Bible as a weapon? What is it like to be on the receiving end of weaponized scripture?
Jesus has a lot of experience with the latter of those two - and some very challenging words for the former. Talk with him about it.