Christian Camouflage

False apostles and false prophets don’t make it easy for you to spot them.Like wild animals – whose colors and physical features blend in with their natural surroundings – they try to conform to their Christian environments. Their No. 1 method of blending in with Christians is to quote from the Bible.If they quoted from the Koran or the Book of Mormon, then they’d be easy to detect. But they’re much trickier than that. They quote Bible verses to back up their non-biblical teachings. This practice is what I call “Christian camouflage.”But even though they try to hide behind the Bible, they can still be found out. The key is to see if they are quoting the Bible correctly. And you don’t have to be a pastor or Bible scholar to do that. You just have to learn a few basic rules of Bible interpretation.The first rule is simple to grasp if you can just remember a childhood nursery rhyme.Mary Had a Little LambTo know if a Bible verse has been quoted correctly, you must look at the verse in context. What do I mean by "in context"?Think of the line from a nursery rhyme: “Mary had a little lamb.” What does it mean?Well, if you know the rest of the rhyme, then you know it means that a girl named Mary owned a young sheep.But if you don't know the rest of the rhyme -- and you just read the line by itself -- then you might think it’s about a woman named Mary who ate a lamb chop for dinner. Or if you’re a Christian, you might interpret it another way -- you might think it’s a symbolic statement about Mary, the mother of God, who gave birth to Jesus, the “lamb” of God.But these other interpretations are ruled out by the rest of the rhyme, which reveals that the lamb was a real lamb and it followed Mary around wherever she went. The other lines provide the context that helps interpret the first line.In the same way, one Bible verse quoted in isolation of the surrounding verses can often be understood in different ways.  To get at its correct meaning, it must be read in context of the surrounding verses and chapters. The importance of context in biblical interpretation is expressed in the saying, “Context is king.”'Foolish' InterpretationsNow, instead of a nursery rhyme, let’s apply the context rule to a line from Scripture: “There is no God.”If that’s the only part of the Bible someone read, then they might think it teaches that God doesn’t exist. But if they read the full verse, Psalm 14:1 – which says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” – then they would see that it teaches the exact opposite of the first interpretation. It teaches that only a fool would deny God's existence. The context helps provide the correct interpretation.Yet none of today’s “apostles” or “prophets” would deny God’s existence. So let’s apply the context rule to a verse they do often quote out of context – Psalm 105:15. They say this verse forbids Christians from criticizing so-called prophets.

“Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”

Yet, by reading the entire Psalm – not just verse 15 – it becomes clear that it’s about God’s protection of the nation of Israel, including its prophets. The people of Israel are the “anointed ones” referred to in the verse. It’s a warning to the nations that they’d better not attack Israel. It’s not a warning against criticizing any self-declared prophet.So remember: Whenever a “Christian” teacher quotes Bible verses, always check to see if they’re quoting them in context.