Bad Use of the Bible

In Summer of the Bible, we paused in Matthew 7:15–20 to hear Jesus’ warning about false prophets—people who appear safe (“sheep’s clothing”) while using spiritual authority to devour and control (“ravenous wolves”). The sermon explored how Scripture can be treated like a tool for domination rather than a pathway to communion with God, and it named common ways this happens: proof-texting, chasing “secret codes,” reading verses out of context, importing our modern assumptions into the text, and using the label “biblical” to baptize our own opinions with borrowed authority.

Jesus’ counsel is both simple and demanding: discern the tree by its fruit (Matt. 7:16–20). To sharpen what “fruit” means, we listened to Galatians 5:22–23, where the Spirit’s work shows up as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The takeaway isn’t merely to spot manipulation “out there,” but to let Scripture form a community whose engagement with the Bible produces Christlike character—so that our words, leadership, and practices give life to others rather than taking life from them.