“Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding.”
Proverbs 3:13
Several years ago, Ameriquest Mortgage came out with a series of commercials entitled, “Don’t Judge Too Quickly.” Here is one of them (click the video to watch the 30 second commercial):
As the commercial portrays, too often we jump to conclusions before we have a full understanding of the situation we are seeing, hearing or reading about. This is so commonplace in our world today with social media posts, mass media news reports, and paid political ads that try to persuade us to a particular belief or influence our opinions and attitudes without giving us the full story. Without a full understanding, we end up making rash judgements that are later proved to be false or at the very least, misleading.
In order to gain a full understanding of anything, there are 2 things that are needed – context and perspective. Without these two additional pieces of information, any situation or report can be twisted or manipulated to state or show a distorted view of it. In many cases it provides a completely false narrative intended to cause outrage or a quick reaction. If we are to make reasonable judgments or opinions about something, we must make sure we know the context and the perspective before coming to any conclusions or sharing our opinions.
The context of a situation is the background or events leading up to, or following, what you are reading or seeing. For example, many videos posted on FaceBook only show one part of an event, such as an arrest, and not the events that led up to the arrest. That often results in either the police or the criminal being shown to be at fault without knowing what took place before or after what we are seeing. As the above video shows, not knowing what took place before the woman walked into the apartment would lead to a completely false understanding of the situation.
Perspective, on the other hand, is information about the individual in the situation, or our own pre-judgments about them, which causes us to believe or not believe what we are seeing or reading. This is most common in politics where we accept as truth what seems to agree with our beliefs and reject as truth if it disagrees with our beliefs. So, for example, in the video, if the woman thought the man did not like cats she might believe he is trying to kill it. But if she believed he would never hurt the cat then she would question what she sees. Consequently, if we are to evaluate and judge a situation correctly, we must shed our pre-conceived notions and try to take an unbiased perspective.
Without both context and perspective to any given post, video or writing, we are very likely to make an incorrect judgment or opinion about them. That is what so often causes conflict, sin, and harm to others. When we take the time to dig further and discover the context of a situation and look at it from a different perspective, we often find that we will have a better and fuller understanding of it. As Proverbs 3:13 above says, “blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding.”
The same can also be said about the Bible. Context and perspective are crucial to fully understanding God’s Word as well. We can’t just quote a verse without understanding its context and God’s perspective.
For example, the most often quoted Scripture verse is John 3:16. It says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” But do you know the context of this verse? Do you know who said these words? Do you know when it was said and why? These additional details are important to understanding the meaning and intent of these words for us, and for non-believers as well. Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus, a Pharisee who came to see Jesus in the middle of the night and in secret. Nicodemus wanted to know more about Jesus and his miracles, but he did not want to be seen with Jesus due to his position in the Sanhedrin. Jesus was declaring to Nicodemus who He was (the Son of God) and why He came to earth (to save the world from sin). The context not only gives us Jesus’ reason for saying those words, but also reveals His ultimate purpose!
But a correct perspective is also needed. Do we read this verse from our own perspective and what we want or think, or do we read it from God’s perspective and what He does and wants for us? If we only read this verse from our own perspective, we might think we can simply just “that’s great!” and continue on with our lives as if nothing has changed. That is what many people do when they hear those words. The verse comforts them, but they do not fully understand what it truly means. However, when we see it from God’s perspective, we develop an understanding of God’s deep love for us and his willing sacrifice of His own Son, Jesus (at our own hands by the way), to reconcile Himself to each of us. Knowing that causes us to be even more grateful and to “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18)!!
If we don’t take the time to find the context and perspective of any given situation, or a Bible verse or passage, we will never fully understand it. And without a full understanding we run the risk of believing a lie, distorting the truth, or propagating a falsehood. In each case, that does harm to others and does not demonstrate the love of God (Romans 13:10).
So, let us strive to gain understanding and to trust in God’s Holy Spirit to give it to us!