In the book, Jim and Casper Go To Church, Jim (a believer) and Casper (an atheist) travel around the nation visiting various types of Christian churches. They visit everything from the nearly 50,000 member Lakewood Church (Joel Osteen's church) to a small,15 member local house church. The book is essentially the product of their conversations about their experiences. Remarkably, after a visit to the Potter's House (T.D. Jakes's church), Casper says something that gives some incredible insight for those who preach God's Word. He says that it is unreasonable for a preacher to preach "cherry-picking" messages.
After listening to the sermon (from Pastor Jimmy Johnson in place of Jakes), Casper says, "He made up his mind about what he wanted to say and the pitch he wanted to make, and then he selected passages in the Bible that support that pitch" (141). Casper says that the man even said, "I'm gonna extract various Scriptures to support the topic." To this Casper says, "...cherry-picking bits and pieces of the Bible to support your chosen topic [is like] asking someone to understand the meaning of the Mona Lisa but only letting that person look at her hand. If the Bible is really the Word of God, it's very, very important to not take it out of context" (ibid.).
The point is, even an atheist realized the importance of preaching God's Word correctly, and it should not be by "cherry-picking" various Scriptures.
Interestingly, Casper continues his thoughts suggesting that, "the Bible is kind of like the Constitution: It's a document of the rules we used to live by and the rules we live by now, with each addition fixing and overruling what came before" (ibid.). Casper uses a biblical illustration saying, "You can't look at Leviticus and say God hates gay people, then ignore Jesus' endless commands to love each other. You can't take a snippet of the Bible out of context and misuse it, or spin it, to support your particular pitch. That's twisted" (ibid.). [1]
While Casper "the friendly atheist" is correct in his observation that the Bible must be taken contextually, he is wrong in his interpretation of that context. That is, he is taking the context out of context! The New Testament is not some "new addition" that fixes and overrules the Old Testament. It is the fulfillment of it (Matthew 5:17; Romans 10:4). This is expressed well in Paul's letter to Timothy in writing,
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
This "Scripture" here is the Old Testament because the New Testament wasn't canonized at this point, therefore rendering that Casper is correct that it is dangerous to cherry-pick verses of Scripture to prove a personal point, but incorrect in that the New Testament overrules the Old Testament. They instead support one another, interpret one another, and fulfill one another. The New Testament does not have a foundation without the Old Testament and the Old Testament does not have an end without the New Testament.
It is safe to argue that many sermons today are cherry-picking sermons, meaning that the preacher chooses a topic in the week and then searches for verses that help support his topic. This is a dangerous endeavor because you are essentially picking out lines of various conversations and formulating them to fit your conversation. For example, if you are talking about prayer, it would be easy to go to a passage like Matthew 18:20 which says, "Where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." This passage is talking about prayer, but it is prayer and forgiveness. That is, the passage is referring to church discipline and how if after a string of events an individual is unwilling to admit sin, then two or more witnesses must be included. This is where the "two or three" comes from. We know through other passages of Scripture that God is in the midst of even one person who prays. Jesus, for example, often withdrew to pray by Himself.
The sermon process instead works better if reversed. Instead of choosing a topic and then making the Bible fit into that topic, it is best to allow the Bible to speak for itself, telling you and the congregation what the topic is. This happens when a passage of Scripture is unpacked allowing other verses to help illuminate the passage, not your thought. In other words, instead of cherry-picking various Scriptures it is better to camp-out and unpack a single passage. This way, the Scriptures are speaking for themselves as they should.
If you are a preacher or a teacher, I encourage you to consider unpacking passages as opposed to cherry-picking. This can help you convey a message far greater and far deeper than you ever could if you rest on your own thoughts. God's Word is infallible and inerrant after all, so we can trust it completely!
For a more detailed understanding of the importance of Scripture, you can read my papers on biblical inerrancy:
Bibliography
Henderson, Jim. Jim & Casper go to church : frank conversation about faith, churches, and well-meaning Christians. Carol Stream, Ill: Barna Books, 2007.
Endnotes
[1] For the record, Leviticus does not say that God "hates gay people." The Bible however does say that homosexuality is a sin and that God judges it (1 Corinthians 6:9). Casper is taking these verses out of context while explaining how not to take things out of context. The New Testament does not "overrule" sin in the way Casper suggests; it expresses how we can be saved from it. Sin still exists and has not become null and void by "loving our neighbor as ourself." Homosexuality was a sin in the Old Testament (Sodom and Gomorra) and it is still considered a sin in the New Testament.
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