Overcontextualization and Drifting from Biblical Principals

We live in a fallen world, and while it would be ideal for churches to serve as safe havens of sound biblical teaching, we can not trust every church out there. Since it is a fallen world, every church comes with their issues. Many people experience something called “church-hurt,” which involves them being hurt by someone in the church, a group of people in the church, or even the church-specific rules or doctrines. “Church-hurt” often drives people away. While it is important for churches to promote a kind and accepting atmosphere, some churches take it too far by overcontextualizing their messages to fit the culture of the world, which, as I have mentioned, is fallen.

The culture of the United States today is very self-centered. On every social media platform, we receive two main messages, hate yourself and serve yourself. For the purpose of this post, we will be focusing on the latter. The idea of loving yourself has been pushed through messages that sound like “speak your truth,” and “live your best life.” While these narratives may seem harmless, they can actually be breeding grounds for sin, such as pride. As Proverbs 16:18 states, “Pride goes before destruction.” We have seen the destructive tendencies of pride creep into churches in multiple ways, especially through overcontextualization.

One example of this is the “woke” churches that preach “their truth” rather than God’s. There are some churches that even go as far as to claim that prominent Bible characters were gay, and use that narrative to promote LGBTQ+ ideas to their congregation. While this may seem like a safe haven for people who identify with that community, these churches are actively leading people further from God. Furthermore, other churches “re-interpret” the Bible in other ways to line up with “their truth.” This extreme pride and overcontextualization is no doubt leading those congregations to sin and further form God, and it is sad that many current churches have fallen to this level.