We’ve all heard of “coffee mug Scriptures,” haven’t we? Verses that read very encouraging or poetic on a cup for your morning jolt of caffeine. We call those coffee mug scriptures because they’re feel-good and usually about God’s plan for your life. Or maybe you’ve seen these popular verses etched on refrigerator magnets or throw pillows. There’s nothing innately wrong with that—by all means, decorate your home with God’s Word! But when we pluck Scriptures away from their original context and put them on a pedestal all by themselves, we might have a bright addition to our cabinet or sofa, but we’ll miss the full, true meaning of the verse.
Context matters…and I’m going to show you why.
Here are two popular scriptures and what they don’t mean:
Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV) says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."
These verses in Matthew 7 don’t mean that whatever we ask of God, we’ll get. First, we know this because we’ve seen it not happen. We all have prayers that were answered with a no. A lot of times, God graciously lets us see the hindsight of why that no was for our good, but other times, we have to trust Who He is and walk by faith.
These verses also don’t mean that everything we lose, we’ll find. Personally, I hate lost things. I’m actually known in my family for finding most of them. (And I don’t just mean the ketchup bottle on the fridge door in plain sight that my husband can’t find! Hehe!) I will tirelessly pursue the lost item until I’m convinced it is no longer retrievable. I don’t know that I’m uniquely skilled at finding the lost item so much as I have the dedication to not give up on it. But sometimes, I don’t find it. Not everything lost is found.
Nor do these verses mean that every door will open when we knock on it. (I don’t mean literally, though that too! Ha!) We talk about figurative doors a lot as a culture, don’t we? Typically, we do so when it comes to job opportunities or maybe when we’re faced with making decisions about relationships or moving to a new state. We “knock on a door,” meaning we apply for the job and see if we get it. We test the waters of the new potential relationship, seeing if they respond in kind. We think if it works, that’s an open door and we should waltz through! But that’s not always the case. Not everything we try works. Not every door opens.
All too often, we consider these verses in Matthew 7 as a weapon or guarantee of sorts to make sure we get what we want. And when that doesn’t happen, we either dismiss it without much thought because we’re scared to think too much about why it “failed,” or worse, we get discouraged and start doubting the validity of Scripture itself.
So what does it mean? If you consider the full context of the verses that come immediately after, you’ll see that it’s talking about God and His gifts:
"Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:9-11 (ESV)
These verses are saying that God, as a good Father, gives us good gifts. However, sometimes those gifts don’t look like what we want. As earthly parents, we’ve all had to tell our children no to something they desperately wanted but didn’t recognize as harmful or dangerous to them. In that same vein, we’ve had to give them things they didn’t like because it was in their best interest and for their greater good, like medicine and vegetables. So goes the same with God. He doesn’t tell us no to be mean, or to punish us and withhold blessings, or force-feed us “broccoli” just because. He always has a purpose, and as a good Father, His purpose is good and trustworthy.
Here’s our next popular verse…
Matthew 18:19-20 (ESV) says, "Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
We know these Scriptures don’t mean that we get what we pray for, every time without fail, so long as we have a fellow Christian praying with us. It’s a nice thought, but obviously, that’s not the case. We all have the stories to prove it. The theory doesn’t hold up, and here’s why—context. Look what happens when we take the verses before 19-20 and apply the true context:
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matthew 18:15-19 (ESV)
Oh! So Jesus isn’t giving us a coffee mug verse at all. ::wink:: In the verses leading up to the popular ones, we find Jesus giving us very practical instructions on how to handle conflict between believers. He is definitely not giving a blanket promise that we can wield like a magic spell.
If this is somewhat disappointing to you, please realize—that’s okay. That doesn’t make you a bad Christian; it makes you an informed one. And also, please recognize this truth—we can’t possibly make the Bible better than it really is! Our misunderstandings will never be better than the real meaning of Scripture. God formed His holy Word with purpose and intention and filled it with everything we need to live godly lives on this side of heaven. It is sufficient.
(That said, I do look forward to the future when this other verse takes effect: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known" 1 Corinthians 13:12 [ESV].)
In context, Matthew 18 is Jesus telling us that conflict will happen among the Bride of Christ, and there’s a formula for how to handle it. The results are left in His hands—and His presence is with us while we’re obeying these steps.
It’s really good news that these verses aren’t implying what they would mean on their own—namely, that God isn’t with us all the time and is with us only when we’re with the body of believers. Plenty of other Scriptures throughout the Bible promise God’s presence with us, so we don’t even have to consider that.
The bottom line is this—we don’t need verses to wield as wands. We need access to our heavenly Father to communicate with Him about everything in our hearts and lives—and we received that access the moment Jesus died and paid for our sins, the very second the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. We can approach Him with confidence.
Hebrews 4:16 ESV says, "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Don’t be afraid to read your Bible and get it wrong. Read it with passion, with discernment, with guidance from the Holy Spirit. With intention, prayer, and effort.
Then, by all means, go cross-stitch a pillow!
Photo Credit: ©priscilladupreez