For this blog, I'm just going to focus on one particular scripture, and that scripture is Romans 8:28. Here are a few different translations of the verse.
ESV - "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
NKJV - "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
NIV - "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose"
YOUNG'S LITERAL TRANSLATION - "And we have known that to those loving God all things do work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose"
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Everybody knows this scripture, or at least, everyone who has ever been in church for a moderate amount of time knows this scripture. I feel like it's the second one we learn, after John 3:16. And it is definitely the one most quoted. It's like a crutch, or platitude we use when something bad happens. Someone gets sick, we say, "God works everything for good..." Someone loses their job, we say, "God works everything for good..." Someone dies, we say, "God works everything for good..." And I know that when I'm going through one of those times, the LAST thing I want to hear is that verse used as a platitude. I know the Bible says it. I know that something better is around the bend. I know my trial is momentary, but I don't want it preached at me in a disinterested, "it's gonna be okay" sort of way.
It loses impact when we kick it around like a hackey sack. Especially when our hackneyed usage causes people to misuse or over simplify it, or only use half the scripture. Here are some common misconceptions and misuses:
We expect not to suffer because God is "working for our good." Not everything that happens in life is good, because we live in a fallen world ruled by Satan. If you think becoming a Christian was going to end your sorrow, suffering, frustrations, etc., I have news for you. It doesn't work that way. There will always be trouble, there will always be trials, there will always be suffering. But God takes the things our enemy meant for evil and works them for good, as he did with Joseph when his brothers sold him into slavery. "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." Gen 50:20
We quote the verse to the unsaved, and apply it to them. Things are not worked to the good of EVERYONE on earth. He only works good for those who love Him. Telling a lost soul that God is working something bad and turning it for their good is not simply an untruth. To them it might mean that they can continue in their sins without repercussion. And they can't. There is always a consequence...in this world or the next. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
We expect for the evil to reap only evil and the good to reap only good. Expecting things to ALWAYS be sunshine and rainbows because God is working things for good is also erroneous. Life is life, full of good and bad for everyone. There are bad things in the world, and there's no escaping them. Likewise, there are good things in the world, and we all benefit from the goodness of God. "...for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust." (Matt 5:45)
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We do ourselves and others a disservice when we misuse scripture. It could cause a person to believe they're saved when they aren't, or could cause someone who wanted to be saved to change his or her mind. Both possibilities are sad and, frankly, unacceptable.
We also do ourselves and others a disservice when we quote scripture in a polite platitude. Platitudes are haphazard and demonstrate little more than apathy and self-righteousness. People who are going through trials or loss don't want to be mollified. They want to be loved and supported. They want to cry and scream and yell and rage without getting slapped in the face by a trite smile and scripture quotation. (Not that you shouldn't quote scripture to them, but that you should be careful how you do it and which scripture you use.)
Because when scripture is hackneyed or misused it doesn't do anyone any good. Least of all the person we're speaking it to.
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