Back to Basics: When a Story Gets Weaponized

Throughout history, people have taken God's word and used it to justify terrible things. From slavery to domestic abuse, from silencing women to supporting corrupt leaders, the Bible has been twisted to serve human agendas rather than reveal God's heart.

This isn't a new problem. Even Jesus had to deal with people misusing Scripture. In fact, Satan himself quoted Scripture when tempting Jesus in the wilderness, pulling verses out of context to try to manipulate the Son of God.

Join us as we walk through ways we can know the difference between God's intended use of scripture, and scripture being used in a way to justify things it was never mean to justify.

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Transcript

So I think if you know me, you know that I have worked at a few different churches in my life. If you don't know me, super duper well. I am like the typical church kid. So I was born on the front rows of St. Mark's United Methodist Church and then served in youth ministry there. I was a youth president for like 100 years and then immediately went to college to become a pastor at Oklahoma City University.

I have been in ministry in the United Methodist Church since I was 20 years old. So I'm 45 this year. So I have spent 25 years of my life in full time ministry. And I used to work at a church where I was the youth pastor that when I came in there was actually a functional youth group. And the person I followed had just this incredible mix of these great kids and these kids I inherited as mine.

And sometimes when you inherit kids, you recognize all the differences. Like some of these kids have had gone to church their whole lives like I had. Some of these kids were brand new in the church and didn't know a whole lot about the Bible or how to look things up in scripture. So I had just this incredible mix of young people. Some of them were brought up in other churches, so they had a different kind of theological stance on a lot of things, and we had to straighten them out.

But all of these youth had struggled understanding some of the basic biblical stories. In spite of all that, they were incredible young people. So as they got to know me and I got to know them, and we kind of dived deeper into scripture and they got to know these stories, they got to know me and I got to know them. We developed incredible relationships. And a lot of these young people were able to talk to me about things that they were uncomfortable talking to parents about.

It's just as a youth minister, that happens a lot. One evening after youth group was over, one of the older girls in our group decided that she wanted to talk to me. So she asked if she could meet with me after worship. And so sure enough, we talked and she started telling me about the relationship that she was in, the relationship that she was in with her boyfriend. She had been dating him for, you know, a number of months.

And she started talking about some of the things that they were doing in their relationship. And she wanted me to talk to what. Talk to her about what the physical boundary should be for her and her boyfriend, what the lines were in her relationship that she absolutely couldn't cross. And as she began to tell me more stories, she overshared and I tried not to make the face right, like. And as we continued talking, I reminded her some of the things that she had already been doing were probably not the healthiest thing for young people to do.

Her age. We talked about consequences, and I responded with a simple. You probably shouldn't be doing things in your relationship that you're not willing to face the consequences of. I don't think she liked that very much. As we were approaching the end of our conversation, it became clear to me that she didn't want me to give her advice.

She didn't want me to tell her what she shouldn't do. It became clear to me that she wanted me to tell her that everything she was doing was fine, that you haven't crossed any lines, that everything is great, that she should continue on in the trajectory that her relationship was going in. And I just couldn't do that. As our youth pastor and as an adult who'd been through situations like that, I could not condone what she was talking about doing with her boyfriend. So she responded with this.

Well, you've always told me that Jesus would forgive me, so if Jesus is just going to forgive me anyway, then there's no problem. I'll do what I want to do. And then she stormed off. And I thought, well, great. That didn't go well.

I was expecting it to go. Somehow, in the span of four minutes, I had become both the evil enforcer of the law and the person that she could just easily ignore. But here's what struck me. This young woman was quoting my own words against me. She was throwing back in my face something that I had said.

She used my own words to make herself feel better. Well, Jesus was just gonna forgive me anyway, so what's the problem? She was convinced that she was fine doing whatever it was that she wanted to do. And she was twisting my words in a way that made her feel guiltless while completely ignoring everything I was telling her in the moment. And the hard part was, she wasn't technically wrong.

Jesus does forgive us when we make mistakes. She wasn't being hateful in the way that she was responding to me. She didn't try to argue or fight with me about the things that I was saying. She just weaponized the story.

By the way, as a kind of a side note, I don't think we can play the game. Well, Jesus is just going to forgive me later anyway, so I might as well do what I want to do now. I don't think that's good theology. I think that's abusing our faith and what Jesus wants for us. But anyway, if a high school senior can weaponize a youth pastor's words in under five minutes, imagine what adults can do with scripture over 2000 years church as we began to talk about last week, the truth is that we don't just inherit Bible stories, we inherit interpretations of those stories.

And sometimes those interpretations don't give us a full view and a full understanding of who it is that God wants us to know. God as. Sometimes these bad interpretations we've inherited become weapons in an arsenal that we can use against others. And I'm sure that you guys know that this isn't just a modern problem. This isn't a problem that started in 2026.

This isn't just a political problem only on one side of the aisle. This is a whole wide world problem and a problem that's been going on since the beginning of time. It's a human problem. Bad interpretations are a universal problem that we face because too few Christians actually understand the Bible that they say they believe in. Remember last week we talked about being a part of the biggest book club in the whole wide world and very few people actually have read the book.

The truth is, Jesus had to deal with the exact same thing in his own timeline. As a part of the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew, Jesus spends a significant amount of time correcting wrong interpretations. And as Jesus is correcting his hearers on the issues of faith, he points out that the people he's preaching to have inherited stories that miss the mark. They too had inherited interpretations of the laws of Moses and the stories of the prophets.

The people in Jesus time were just as guilty in viewing scripture through a clouded lens as we continue to be in our own time. So as we kind of seek to shift our lenses so we can read God's word through the lens of Jesus Christ. Read how Jesus confronted poor interpretations of Scripture. If you have your Bibles, I'm going to invite you to open up to the book of Matthew. And this is chapter five.

It's the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. We're going to start in Matthew 5 and we're going to read verses 21 through 48. If you don't have your Bible, you can follow along on the screen. Here is the word of the Lord for us today. Now it starts with the headline Murder.

You can see it there. Verse 21 says you have heard it said to the people long ago, you shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is Angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, raca is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, you fool, will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there, remember that your brother or sister has something against you. Leave your gift there in front of the altar. Go first and be reconciled to them. Then come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court.

Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly, I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. Verse 27. You have heard it said, ye, you shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. It has been said anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.

But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery again. You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord your vows you have made. But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is God's throne, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.

All you need to say is simply yes or no. Anything beyond this comes from the Evil One. You have heard that it was said, eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth. But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.

And if anyone wants to sue you, to take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you, you have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

So what did you notice here about this scripture, about this whole section? Was there a pattern maybe that was developing? You have heard it said. But I tell you here, in these moments, I want to be absolutely clear in what I'm saying. Jesus isn't contradicting the scriptures.

He's contradicting the way that Scripture was being used. He's not challenging the word of God, but he's reframing bad interpretations of God's word. Here Jesus is confronting interpretations of the law of Moses that justified anger and contempt of neighbor, that excused dehumanization of others that protected those who were in power, who shamed the vulnerable, turned God's law into a weapon instead of a gift. Right, Church we could spend weeks on a sermon series dealing with these specifics of what Jesus is doing in these moments when he challenges these bad interpretations. But instead of doing that, this morning, I want us to begin to unpack the spirit of what Jesus is doing.

Because Jesus in this part of the Sermon on the Mount is confronting the temptation to use scripture to win arguments instead of to win hearts. The temptation to use scripture to control narratives instead of healing. He's addressing the temptation to use scripture to justify our own preferences, our own biases, and who it is that we define as us, instead of revealing God's character to the world around us. So Jesus says, you've heard it said, people who aren't our neighbors are the problem. But I say, love your enemies, right?

Jesus is quoting Leviticus 19:19. He goes on to say, you've heard it said, righteousness is rule keeping. But I say, righteousness is relationship. You've heard it said, God is on our side, but I say God is on the side of mercy.

You've heard it said, scripture is a weapon. But I say Scripture is a window into the very heart of God. Jesus isn't rewriting the Bible. Jesus in this moment is rewriting the interpretation. Jesus, when he reframes the Scriptures, is directly addressing Some of the same issues that we face in our own time today.

How many times have you heard a Christian say things that were polarizing or represented tribalism? You're not one of us. Or maybe the fear of other, right? Sometimes we use scripture to cause fear of somebody who doesn't look like us or maybe eats different food.

Sometimes we hear scripture from people's mouths that kind of encourages this insider, outsider thinking. Or use Scripture to justify hostility or support things that God would never support.

When we spin scripture or interpret scripture with an agenda, we can make scripture say almost anything we want, right? Since the beginning of time, people have been doing just that. People been using religious texts to justify things that are absolutely unjustifiable and to condemn things that they personally disagree with. Think about all the things that have been justified using the Bible. The Bible in the 1600s was used as a way not just to condone slavery, but to assure African slaves that they are doing God's work.

In Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 5 through 8, here's what the Word says. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor and when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one of you for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

People use scriptures like this to justify owning other people. Does this mean. When Paul is saying this in his Scripture, does this. Does this mean that Paul is condoning slavery? That he's saying slavery is okay?

I think we all know that's not the case, right? The institution of slavery is evil and it's not something of God. But Paul was writing here to people who were bound by a time in their culture where slavery was the norm.

Friends, I believe that slavery is detestable to God. But since Paul wrote about it, people pulled it out of its context and made Paul's words say something that they shouldn't have said. American slavery was evil and cruel. And anyone who would tell you otherwise is either misinformed or furthering an agenda. And because of these words, written at a specific time to a specific people, dealing with a very specific cultural form of slavery, God's word has been used to justify one of the worst atrocities humanity has ever perpetrated among itself.

Christians in the American south routinely quoted scriptures like Slaves obey your masters to defend slavery. They also misused parts of the Bible to argue that racial hierarchy was divinely appointed. When we inherit a spun Bible narrative, it's hard for us to break out of it. When scriptures are weaponized, it's really hard for us to see the intent behind it. The Bible has been used since the beginning of time as a way to force women under the control of men.

Also, if we read in the book of Ephesians, chapter 5, verses 22 through 24, it says this. Wives, submit to your husbands, to your own. Sorry. Submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the savior.

Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything, period. Right.

When my wife and I were going through marital counseling, as we were preparing to get married, one of the things that my wife said is, I am never going to say that phrase right. If you've ever been to a wedding, you know, you hear that oftentimes as part of the scripture, do you promise to obey and support and whatever your husband like? My wife said, I'm not doing that. And I said, but the Bible. No, I'm just kidding.

I didn't. Didn't really. When we use scripture, there's a whole section right after this that nobody wants to quote about how it's submitting to one another. There's a whole section in here about men loving your wives. If you love your wife, you're not gonna lord over her.

You're gonna be a partner with her. There is no inequality in relationships. And anybody who's taught you anything other than that is not teaching about who God is. Passages like this have been interpreted to support submission and silence.

Scriptures like this have been used to justify domestic abuse. There have been laws on the books that say because women are supposed to submit to their husbands, they can be beaten with a rod as long as it's not any bigger around than your pinky. How in the world is that representing what God's word means?

Words like this, Scriptures taken out of context and used as weapons exclude women from leadership.

Scriptures, when they're used like this as weapons, they allow for unequal treatment in the church and in the world. Scripture has been used and twisted to protect abusers and silence victims. And this is the opposite of what Jesus did in his time of ministry. Jesus liberated the oppressed. He not only allowed women to participate in his movement, but when he revealed himself after the resurrection, the first person, he revealed himself to was a woman.

There is no justification in Scripture for us to use these words to harm others.

If we are using scripture as a weapon, we are using God's word wrong.

Currently, we're dealing with an interpretation of Scripture that pushes for unquestioning support of people who have upheld political power. Right. People have used scriptures like those found in the Book of Romans to justify their unwavering support of people in our government in Tulsa, in Oklahoma, in. In the United States, in the world.

And that's not what Paul is talking about either. In the Book of Romans, chapter 13, verses 1 through 2. You've all heard it before. We're going to read it again. It says this.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted. And those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. That's pretty cut and dry, isn't it?

That sounds. We can't challenge anything that anybody has said who are political leaders who can't do it. But here in Scripture, Romans 13 is not a blanket command to obey every government in every situation. It is Paul giving pastoral guidance to a vulnerable minority Christian community living under the suspicion of Roman Empire eyes.

Paul's concern here is survival, not political theory. He's essentially saying, don't give Roman. Don't give the Romans a reason to crush you. Live peaceably. Don't be people who cause unnecessary conflict.

Paul in this moment is offering pastoral wisdom, not an endorsement of the Roman Empire. And when we don't recognize the situation that Paul is speaking to, it makes it really easy to turn his words into something political that we want to just agree with. People for centuries have been using these scriptures like this to quiet people who support different political parties or agendas. Friends, I know we all have brains. You could think about this scripture in one second and you can understand that sometimes when we read these scriptures with an incorrect interpretation or a reason to weaponize, you can recognize that it is wrong.

Every political leader is appointed by the Lord. Friends, I'm gonna encourage you. Don't vote. Just don't do it. Right now I'm gonna be very clear.

I don't really mean that at all. But if you want to test the theory on who God wants to be in charge, just don't vote and we'll see who God puts in place. Right? If nobody voted, who wins? Nobody.

Right.

Do we believe that Adolf Hitler was God's anointed I mean, he was a political leader, right? Do we think that God ordained him as such? What about Genghis Khan or Pol Pot or Mussolini? Right? You can name any political leader in all the ancient world.

And if we're saying they're ordained by God and they did all these terrible things in the name of God, we're using Scripture in a way it wasn't meant to be used.

We have to think through our theology and what the Word is saying for us. Otherwise we end up with a theology of God that is inconsistent at best and harmful at worst. There have been and continue to be moments in history when the Bible was interpreted in ways that God would never stand for. Moments when Scripture was lifted out of its context, stripped of its compassion, and used as a weapon instead of a witness. In each one of these cases, it's not the Bible that's the problem.

It's poor interpretation that's the problem. It's interpretation with an agenda that's a problem. People have always taken God's word and used it to protect power, to justify harm, and to legalize injustices. When Scripture is read through fear or bias or self interest, it becomes a weapon. But when the Word of God is read through the lens of Jesus Christ, through love, through mercy, through justice, humility, self sacrifice, trust, care of others, it becomes a source of healing and a source of liberation.

That's what I think. God's word has to be friends. When Scripture is used to harm, it's not the word of God anymore. It's an echo of human fear turned into a weapon. And I think any one of us can use scripture as a weapon, can't we?

As a matter of fact, we see the devil himself use the Scripture in a way to try to trick Jesus into abandoning his ministry. In the Book of Matthew, in chapter four, this is just before the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus goes and preaches. We see Jesus remove himself to go into the wilderness. Matthew 4:1 through 11 says this. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, if you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. Jesus answered, it is what? I'm sorry, it is what? Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Then the devil took him to the Holy City and had him stand on the highest point of a temple. Then Satan says this. If you are the Son of God, he said, Throw yourself down, for it is written. Now here, Satan is using Jesus his own phrase, for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Jesus answered him, it is also written, do not put the Lord your God to the test again.

The devil took him up to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. All this I will give to you, he said, if you will bow down and worship me. Jesus said to him, away from me, Satan, for it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Then the devil left him and angels came and attended him. Friends, this story happened before Jesus ever preached publicly.

Before Jesus has even preached a sermon. Satan comes to him and says, you know what the Word says.

Jesus in this moment dealt with the personified spirit of evil, weaponizing Scripture against him. The Scripture starts out with Satan questioning Jesus. If you really are the person you think you are, then prove it. And Jesus responds with Scripture first. And so Satan picks up on that, right?

He sees Jesus example and then he goes even further, then uses the same Scriptures that Jesus is quoting from in a way that Scripture was never meant to be used. Satan then says, it is written, right? And then Jesus had an opportunity to say, you're using it wrong. This is the first battle of interpretation in the New Testament. We call the lens through which Scripture is used.

We call that a hermeneutic, right? Levi? Let's talk about hermeneutics for a second. Hermeneutics are the methods or principles through which someone interprets the Bible. Hermeneutics is the art and practice of interpreting Scripture faithfully.

It's the process we use to answer questions like what does this passage mean? What does it mean to the original audience? How does it apply to us today? What lens am I reading the Scripture through? Am I doing it wrong?

Hermeneutics is the way that we interpret Scripture through love, character, and the very life of Jesus Christ. This is a lens that John Wesley believed that was essential for us to fully understand God's word. In Matthew 4, Satan uses Scripture to manipulate Jesus response. Satan quotes Scripture to test God. Jesus uses scripture to trust God.

Satan uses scripture to harm. Jesus uses scripture to heal.

The wrong interpretation of Scripture, especially even if it's the right Scripture, can be dangerous. In Matthew chapter four, Satan doesn't tempt Jesus with wild, obviously evil ideas. He tempts Jesus with the word of God. And that's the whole point. Satan's strategy is to reject scripture, to misinterpret scripture intentionally.

It's much easier to convince someone to do something if you're familiar with the words that they use.

Satan also uses scripture without context. When Satan quotes Psalm 91, he will command his angels concerning you. He pulls that scripture out of its original context. It's not meeting the purpose of scripture in that moment. Psalm 91 is about trust, not testing.

Satan takes a promise meant to comfort and turns it into a dare meant to manipulate. Satan's hermeneutic here is find a verse that supports anything you want. But Jesus is hermeneutic is interpret scripture through the heart of God. Satan uses the scripture to further his own agenda. Right?

Every verse that Satan quotes is aimed to get Jesus to do a couple of things to prove who he is. He tries to get Jesus to seize power. He tries to get Jesus to avoid suffering and to take shortcuts. The last thing that Satan wants is for Jesus to fulfill his mission because Satan knows his end will come. Satan uses scripture as a tool for self advancement, not self surrender.

Satan's hermeneutic here is use scripture to get what you want. Jesus hermeneutic is use scripture to become who God wants.

Satan quotes scripture selectively too. You ever known somebody to do that? They pulled just one verse and that's their verse. He picks the parts that fit his argument and he ignores the parts that contradict it. He quotes Psalm 91, but he leaves out verses about trusting God's timing and refusing to test God in this moment.

Satan's hermeneutic is use the Bible like a buffet. Take what you like, ignore what you don't. Jesus hermeneutic is let scripture interpret scripture.

Satan likes to use scripture to quote. Jesus likes scripture to embody the wrong hermeneutic can make even the right verse dangerous. Matthew chapter four teaches us something essential for our moment that we find ourselves in today. Scripture itself is not the problem. The heart that we bring to Scripture can be the problem.

And if Jesus had to confront weaponized interpretations in the wilderness, we shouldn't be surprised when we have to confront them in our world today. Also today, in this moment, we see people use the scripture to shame people instead of shepherd them. To win debates rather than win hearts, to justify our own preferences than rather to seek what God's will is. We see people use scripture to protect our own comfort instead of pursue compassion. We see people use scripture to silence the hurting instead of listen to them, to defend our tribe instead of loving our neighbor this isn't about politics.

It's not about Democrat or Republican. This isn't even about our country. This is about our posture. This is about the heart that we bring to the text of God's Word. As we talked about a little bit last week, we have to start viewing all of Scripture through the lens of Jesus.

Our founder, John Wesley taught that all scripture must be read through the character of Christ. Not through fear, not through power, not through culture wars, not through inherited interpretations. We have to get back to God's Word and read it through the lens of Jesus. And it sounds easy, but it's. It could be pretty hard.

We believe that John Wesley thought that Scripture was a means of grace and that revealed God's love, that it forms us if we read it through the lens of Christ into Christ likeness. Scripture should always be interpreted through the law of love. Church, if your interpretation of Scripture doesn't look like Jesus, it's not Christian. If your interpretation of the Bible doesn't make you look more like Jesus, you're not reading the Bible, right?

So let's talk about some tools that we can use. Right, Levi, you got another slide? Oh, that's still on. Hermeneutics. Here are some practical hermeneutic questions that we can ask when we read Scripture.

It's important for us to know the heart of what Scripture is trying to tell us. We have to ask ourselves, does our interpretation of the Scripture look like Jesus? If it doesn't start over, is this interpretation being used to heal or to harm? If it harms, it's not God's intention. We have to ask ourselves, who benefits from this interpretation?

If it benefits the powerful and crushes the vulnerable, Jesus would challenge it.

Church, we have got to get back to reading the Bible for what the Bible is. It's a way for us to understand God better, not to interpret our world through.

If we're trying to read words that were written thousands of years ago, to interpret our own world through, we are coming at it in the wrong direction.

We cannot turn scripture into a weapon. We can't turn it to a weapon. In our history, in our world, we can't turn scripture into a weapon to use against other people.

The good news is that Jesus doesn't use scripture with an agenda. Jesus uses scripture to heal. With Scripture, Jesus takes the stories that we've inherited, the stories that were twisted, misused, misunderstood, and he hands them back to us as instruments of grace. When we interpret scripture through the lens of Christ, things change.

So, Church, may we all go from this place this week with new eyes. Eyes shaped not by fear, not by culture wars, not by inherited interpretations of scripture, not by scriptures that have been used to oppress or abuse. But my may we go. With the love of Christ, may each of us leave this place and open our Bibles and read Scripture the way that Jesus read scripture. With mercy, with clarity, with courage, and most importantly, with compassion.

And may each of us become the kind of people who never use the word of God as a weapon, but always as a blessing. Let's pray.