taking advantage of scripture

[ssammoh]

Wouldnt it be really not that hard to take advantage of scripture and use it to emotionally manipulate people?

The Bible says children need to obey their parents. What if a parent takes advantage of that and turns their child into basically a slave? Not all parents want whats best for their children.

Also, what if a parent hates their child for whatever reason? The child is morally obligated to give up their happiness for a sadistic abuser? This just doesnt feel right to me. But I dont know what to think.

 

[ssammoh]

I was doing the dishes and my mom told me to rinse this pot 5 times. I told her I am not sure how many times I already rinsed it. That doesnt seem like such an awful thing to say, but my mom started screaming and yelling. In fact she also told me to not ask her any questions or talk to her. I dont understand what happened.

 

[JohnRabbit]

Wouldnt it be really not that hard to take advantage of scripture and use it to emotionally manipulate people?

The Bible says children need to obey their parents. What if a parent takes advantage of that and turns their child into basically a slave? Not all parents want whats best for their children.

Also, what if a parent hates their child for whatever reason? The child is morally obligated to give up their happiness for a sadistic abuser? This just doesnt feel right to me. But I dont know what to think.

yes, you are correct.

some men have used the bible to take advantage of their wives and we have seen in history that some used the bible to justify slavery in america.

in a situation where the parent is "running rough shod" over the child, they do have child protective services that could intervene for a minor.

also, talking to local ministers may be a viable option.

mostly tho', pray to the Lord above for help, guidance, and protection!


the bible warns parents about abhorrent behavior toward their children:

Colossians 3:21(NKJV)
21Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

 

[Greg J.]

We are all affected by our sinful nature. Often there's nothing we can do about other people, but we can focus on the Lord and trying our best with our behavior. It is the Lord alone who can help us when we are weak in a situation we can't get out of, and we will experience his help—often to the degree that we've built on a foundation of faith in Jesus. To the degree your mom hates you is the degree to which she already hates herself. It is the latter which is the source of the problem. The best thing you can do is love her as best as possible, ask the Lord to fill her with his love, and ask him give you strength and free you from your pain. These are all investments for which you will eventually get 100x as much back.

 

[LionL]

Wouldnt it be really not that hard to take advantage of scripture and use it to emotionally manipulate people?

The Bible says children need to obey their parents. What if a parent takes advantage of that and turns their child into basically a slave? Not all parents want whats best for their children.

Also, what if a parent hates their child for whatever reason? The child is morally obligated to give up their happiness for a sadistic abuser? This just doesnt feel right to me. But I dont know what to think.

I think the Bible is open to much interpretation - look at all the trouble disagreements over its meaning have caused throughout history. It can be used to support conflicting arguments, for example -
"An eye for an eye, and a life for a life" versus "Turn the other cheek"
That's why I don't regard it with the same authority as many other Christians do. That attitude (so I've found) can make one very unpopular though.
My advice - trust your conscience first and foremost and your Bible as a guide rather than an absolute authority.

 

[ssammoh]

I think the Bible is open to much interpretation - look at all the trouble disagreements over its meaning have caused throughout history. It can be used to support conflicting arguments, for example -
"An eye for an eye, and a life for a life" versus "Turn the other cheek"
That's why I don't regard it with the same authority as many other Christians do. That attitude (so I've found) can make one very unpopular though.
My advice - trust your conscience first and foremost and your Bible as a guide rather than an absolute authority.

My conscience can be used to support conflicting arguments, actually. Sometimes I feel guilty for doing something, but I also feel guilty for not doing it. Sometimes when someone is mean to me, I am very conflicted. Sometimes my conscience is like "You need to stand up for yourself. ALWAYS. NO EXCEPTIONS." But sometimes my conscience is like "You should just trust God to save you from this situation."

Also, I happen to have more faith in the Bible than you do. When I see something that looks like a contradiction, I just assume I am misinterpreting it.

 

[LionL]

My conscience can be used to support conflicting arguments, actually. Sometimes I feel guilty for doing something, but I also feel guilty for not doing it. Sometimes when someone is mean to me, I am very conflicted. Sometimes my conscience is like "You need to stand up for yourself. ALWAYS. NO EXCEPTIONS." But sometimes my conscience is like "You should just trust God to save you from this situation."

Also, I happen to have more faith in the Bible than you do. When I see something that looks like a contradiction, I just assume I am misinterpreting it.

Fair enough - what works for some doesn't work for everyone I suppose.

Love and peace to you.

 

[Larry Wilgus]

Wouldnt it be really not that hard to take advantage of scripture and use it to emotionally manipulate people?

The Bible says children need to obey their parents. What if a parent takes advantage of that and turns their child into basically a slave? Not all parents want whats best for their children.

Also, what if a parent hates their child for whatever reason? The child is morally obligated to give up their happiness for a sadistic abuser? This just doesnt feel right to me. But I dont know what to think.

Scripture isn't given to beat us down or to manipulate anyone. If understanding scripture isn't based in the Father's love for the apex of His creation - people, then anyone can use scripture to their own selfish advantage instead of allowing His Word to bring us from darkness into light.

 

[Chrisss7]

hmmm I wonder whether maybe it's important that the person who quotes scripture should actually prove by their way of life that they live it out. If we see someone 'abusing' scripture as many do, then maybe we should question whether the motives are Godly or if it is done out of love. There's no getting out of it you see, the GREATEST message for the Christian from the Bible is to love and without that we're a 'clanging cymbal'.

 

[Kenny'sID]

Wouldnt it be really not that hard to take advantage of scripture and use it to emotionally manipulate people?

The Bible says children need to obey their parents. What if a parent takes advantage of that and turns their child into basically a slave? Not all parents want whats best for their children.

Also, what if a parent hates their child for whatever reason? The child is morally obligated to give up their happiness for a sadistic abuser? This just doesnt feel right to me. But I dont know what to think.

Seems to me you do know what to think and you are thinking right. People manipulate others with scripture all the time, and on so many levels...from cult leaders, some TV preachers, right down to what you may have going here.

Scripture is important to people...kind of like money or power and when something's important, it can be used to manipulate. Just thinking for ourselves, as you are doing, is probably one of the best defenses against it.

 

[Larry Wilgus]

hmmm I wonder whether maybe it's important that the person who quotes scripture should actually prove by their way of life that they live it out. If we see someone 'abusing' scripture as many do, then maybe we should question whether the motives are Godly or if it is done out of love. There's no getting out of it you see, the GREATEST message for the Christian from the Bible is to love and without that we're a 'clanging cymbal'.

How do you propose to walk out love?

 

[Kenny'sID]

I was doing the dishes and my mom told me to rinse this pot 5 times. I told her I am not sure how many times I already rinsed it. That doesnt seem like such an awful thing to say, but my mom started screaming and yelling. In fact she also told me to not ask her any questions or talk to her. I dont understand what happened.

Sounds like there is definitely something else going on there that has nothing to do with dishes. Don't worry about not understanding it right away, or you having done anything wrong...because you didn't. Just keep an eye open for something else that is bothering her and do your best to be understanding. Not only can it bring on confusion, but it's just not fair to lash out against someone when they have no idea why, however it does happen, we've probably all done it. And though it may not be easy sometimes, that's where it takes real Jesus love...it allows you to tolerate the unfair to you and put others first in spite of the direction we might want to go with something like that, as in getting mad back at her.

But in the end, once again, think for yourself, you are the one in the situation and what I say may not have bearing upon the situation that I might think it does.

 

[Evan Jellicoe]

Consider asking for guidance from somebody who has a good Christian walk and whom you trust. An in-person discussion is the best way to talk out details that may affect one's understanding of all that happened. A good friend can also help if it should happen that prior to the incident you had done something that upset your mother. I'm not saying that you did. But a live person can ask that question and make it easier for you to talk about it. And Kenny'sID is almost certainly right in saying that something else is going on. It will help if you can figure out what that something else is.

 

[ssammoh]

Fair enough - what works for some doesn't work for everyone I suppose.

Love and peace to you.

Thank you

By the way, the thing about "eye for an eye" and "turn the other cheek" has been explained before. People say the "eye for an eye" rule applies to legal consequences, and "turn the other cheek" applies to interpersonal interactions. I don't know 100% if that is the explanation, but it seems legit.

 

[Evan Jellicoe]

"Eye for an eye" is also a good example for why it is important to study how to interpret Scripture. The historical context of this command is that it was written by Moses on behalf of God to speak to the Israelites at that particular time. And far from being a harsh command, it was actually meant to produce moderation. Common practice at that time was for people to take the type of vengeance where the response was way more intense than the original offense. You know, as in "You hit me, I will break your arm. You kill one of my men, I will kill ten of yours" and so on. This law encouraged the punishment to be proportionate to the crime rather than exaggerated.
Simply taking the exact words of a Bible verse and imagining that an angel spoke them to me personally can result in serious misapplication of Scripture. To illustrate, here is a classic Bible-based joke:

Two university professors became embroiled in a personal feud. One was known to be a regular church attender and Bible scholar. The other was an agnostic. One day they had yet another exchange of sharp words, and the agnostic concluded with this:
"You consider yourself to be a man of the Bible, right?"
"I admit that I try to be."
"Then you think it is right to do what the Bible says, yes?"
"I would indeed agree with that."
"Well, then, you should go home and read Matthew 27:5 and Luke 10:37." And then the agnostic professor turned and walked away.
At home the other professor got out a Bible and looked up the two verses. The first said "So Judas went away and hanged himself." Then he turned to the other and read these words: "Go and do likewise."

 

[Geralt]

christians or not, people tend to be grumpy sometimes for reasons the keep within themselves, me included. but you cannot put out fire with fire. Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

I was doing the dishes and my mom told me to rinse this pot 5 times. I told her I am not sure how many times I already rinsed it. That doesnt seem like such an awful thing to say, but my mom started screaming and yelling. In fact she also told me to not ask her any questions or talk to her. I dont understand what happened.

 

[Kristen Johnson]

Wouldnt it be really not that hard to take advantage of scripture and use it to emotionally manipulate people?

The Bible says children need to obey their parents. What if a parent takes advantage of that and turns their child into basically a slave? Not all parents want whats best for their children.

Also, what if a parent hates their child for whatever reason? The child is morally obligated to give up their happiness for a sadistic abuser? This just doesnt feel right to me. But I dont know what to think.

The sad truth is that I think people do this all the time. (I know my family members do it to me!) Isn't that just awful? I think of people in the past using the verses about slaves obeying their masters to support the practice of slavery in the US. Or the fact that women stay in abusive relationships because of the verses about divorce. I choose to focus on the gospel message above all.

 

[sparow]

Wouldnt it be really not that hard to take advantage of scripture and use it to emotionally manipulate people?

The Bible says children need to obey their parents. What if a parent takes advantage of that and turns their child into basically a slave? Not all parents want whats best for their children.

Also, what if a parent hates their child for whatever reason? The child is morally obligated to give up their happiness for a sadistic abuser? This just doesnt feel right to me. But I dont know what to think.

Respecting ones parents doesn't mean tolerating abuse; there is an assumption in the Law that parents are respectable; abuse is a form of education and is passed on from generation to generation and this is linked to God's statement that the sins of the father are passed on for three generations.

 

[Chrisss7]

Hi Larry. I'm not sure what you mean there. 1 John 4:8 8 'Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love'. Christians have to 'walk' in love. I was really meaning that Christians would naturally demonstrate God's love towards others within their lives. Jesus said that by this we would be recognised as Jesus' disciples.

 

[ssammoh]

Respecting ones parents doesn't mean tolerating abuse; there is an assumption in the Law that parents are respectable; abuse is a form of education and is passed on from generation to generation and this is linked to God's statement that the sins of the father are passed on for three generations.

Where does it say in the Bible that this rule doesn't apply to abusive parents?

Sometimes I wonder if abusive parents are still parents in the eyes of God, or if God emancipates the child who is being abused.