I am away on vacation this week. (See here) I called on some friends to help.  Each day a different blogger will share their thoughts with you.  Today’s guest is Jason who blogs here.  We have followed each other for close to four years.  He is also very passionate about Human Trafficking.  His site is here.    Here’s Jason:

Please, for the love of our Father in heaven, STOP TAKING JEREMIAH 29:11 OUT OF CONTEXT.

Stop printing it on T-shirts.

Stop putting it on coffee mugs.

And PLEASE stop quoting it to those of us whose lives are little more than a pile of rubble heaped on top of us.

Why?  Because that verse is not for us today.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV)

The “you” in the verse is not an individual “you.”  It’s a collective “you” as in the nation of Israel.  That verse is part of a passage where God is talking to the nation of Israel and is telling them that after 70 years of exile in Babylon He will restore them.  (See verse 10 if you don’t believe me.)

The promise was then…and now…ONLY for the nation of Israel.

Not for the teenager struggling to figure out what to do after high school.

Not for the woman whose husband just ran off with a flight attendant from Sweden named Inga.

Not for the guy who lost his job and can’t find a way to support his family.

It’s for none of them.

And every single time we quote that verse to someone completely out of the context in which GOD HIMSELF spoke the words, we’re not only doing a disservice to those we’re speaking to but we’re also being false teachers of the Word of God.

The church, especially in America, has become little more than a place to tickle the ears of those who attend Sunday mornings and then disappear until the following Sunday.  The idea of “joy” equates only to “happiness” and thus we try to put a Pollyanna spin on verses and situations to try and provide the “joy juice” that will make someone feel better in hard times.

I know that we want to comfort one another in times of hardship.  I’m someone who wants nothing more than for God to put me in a place to help someone in need.  But if I’m to be the hands and feet of Christ to those people, I can’t then choose not to be the mouth of Jesus as well.  We’re called to be Christ…the whole Christ…to those we minister to on this planet.  We’re to reflect him (as best we can, of course, being imperfect beings who need Him.)

We can’t reflect Him if we’re intentionally distorting Him.

Now, can we say the same God who promised Israel he would redeem them is still a God who loves to redeem those who are his people?  Sure.

Can we say that the same God who loved the nation of Israel then is the same God who loves us today?  Indeed.

Can we point to that verse as a time that God made a promise and then kept it showing that He does not have His word return void?  You know it.

But that’s not the same as telling your son/daughter/mother/father/husband/wife/neighbor/yoga instructor that God has a plan to prosper them.

And it’s time that we stepped up and stopped distorting the Word.

Feel free to share your comments with Jason and others.