0:00

You are listening to the place we

0:02

find ourselves podcast. I'm

0:04

Adam Young, and today we

0:07

are gonna look at what can happen

0:10

when bible verses are

0:12

used against you. Sometime

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last year, I was scrolling through Instagram

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and somebody asked their followers

0:20

to share in the comments section, quote,

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any bible verses that have been

0:25

used against you. End quote.

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The Instagram post was inviting people

0:30

to write in the comments section stories

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of how bible verses had

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been used against them,

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and tons of people commented,

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tons. And as I began

0:43

to read the comments, as

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I began to read people's stories about

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how this bible verse or that

0:49

bible verse had been used against

0:52

them, my heart sunk,

0:54

and my anger boiled. In

0:57

today's episode, I want to address

1:00

the verse that was mentioned most

1:02

frequently in response

1:04

to the question what bible verses have been

1:06

used against you. Foreign away, the

1:08

most frequently mentioned verse was

1:11

Jeremiah seventeen nine.

1:14

Jeremiah seventeen nine

1:17

says the heart

1:19

is deceitful above

1:21

all things and beyond

1:24

cure. Who can understand

1:26

it? The heart is deceitful

1:29

above all things and beyond

1:31

cure. Now, I

1:35

love Jeremiah. I love the book

1:37

of Jeremiah. We're gonna talk about the verse in

1:39

a minute. But first, let me just read you

1:41

some of the comments that

1:44

people made about how this verse

1:46

had been used against them. Here's what

1:48

people said about Jeremiah seventeen

1:50

nine. This

1:52

verse ingrained in me that

1:54

anything I wanted was actually

1:57

bad. And it taught me

1:59

not to trust myself. If

2:01

my heart is deceitful above all things,

2:03

I can't trust myself. That was

2:05

one person. Another person wrote, this

2:08

verse was used to

2:10

shut my gut instinct

2:12

every time. Another

2:15

response. When I said I loved

2:17

my girlfriend, My parents

2:19

used Jeremiah seventeen nine to

2:21

convince me I was wrong. Their

2:24

argument was, you might feel

2:26

like you love your girlfriend. But

2:28

your heart is deceitful

2:30

above all things, so you shouldn't act

2:33

on that feeling in your heart. Another

2:36

person wrote I spent the

2:38

first three decades of

2:40

my life being told

2:43

that my heart was evil and

2:45

untrustworthy. Someone

2:48

else, Jeremiah seventeen

2:50

nine taught me from a young age that

2:52

my thoughts and desires couldn't

2:55

be trusted and to

2:57

never look within myself for

2:59

answers. Remember that? To

3:01

never look within myself for

3:03

answers. Alright. A couple more. Someone

3:05

else said, this verse made me

3:07

question every decision I ever

3:09

made. Another person,

3:12

I've spent so much money on therapy,

3:14

undoing Jeremiah seventy

3:17

nine because I have absolutely

3:19

no trust in my own

3:21

feelings or intuition. Last

3:25

one. Last one. If my heart

3:27

is deceitful above all things, How

3:29

am I supposed to make decisions? Okay.

3:33

Look, I could go on. There were a lot,

3:35

but you get the point. is

3:37

going on here? Jeremy

3:40

of seventeen nine, which says that the

3:42

heart is deceitful above all things.

3:45

Okay. This verse is often used.

3:49

To cause people to distrust

3:51

their own feelings, to

3:54

disbelieve their own thoughts,

3:57

to question their own gut.

4:00

In short, this verse

4:03

is often used to do harm

4:05

to people. But Let's

4:08

take a look at Jeremiah seventeen

4:10

nine. Shall we? Let's just

4:13

take a look at the text. The

4:15

first principle of rightly interpreting

4:17

any particular verse of scripture

4:19

is to read that verse in light

4:21

of the overarching purpose

4:23

of the book that it is

4:26

from. In other words,

4:28

you have to understand the

4:30

purpose of the whole book

4:32

of Jeremiah in order to correctly

4:34

interpret any particular verse

4:36

from Jeremiah. So

4:38

Let me summarize the book of Jeremiah

4:41

o so briefly. Chapter

4:43

one through twenty nine consists

4:45

of Jeremiah declaring that

4:48

Jerusalem will be conquered because

4:51

of the sin of the people of

4:53

Israel. The sin of the Israelites

4:55

is so bad in fact

4:58

that god says he is

5:00

going to create something

5:03

new in the hearts of his

5:05

people. And this new creation

5:07

that God is going to do is announced

5:09

in Jeremiah thirty one It's

5:12

spelled out really in chapters thirty to

5:14

thirty three, but here's what the text says,

5:16

Jeremiah thirty one verse thirty

5:18

one. The time is coming declares

5:20

the lord. When I will make a new

5:22

covenant with the House of Israel and

5:24

with the House of Judah, I

5:26

will put my law in

5:28

their minds and

5:30

write it on their hearts.

5:33

God promises

5:37

to put his law in your mind and

5:39

write it on your heart.

5:41

Yes. On your heart. That

5:43

same heart that Jeremiah

5:46

said was deceitful above all things back

5:48

in seventeen nine. And

5:50

of course, this promise of god

5:53

is fulfilled in Jesus Christ

5:55

and in the sending of the Holy Spirit.

5:57

Now, what's the point of Jeremiah thirty

5:59

one? Okay.

6:02

What's the trajectory of

6:06

Jeremiah one through thirty

6:08

three? Okay. The point the trajectory

6:10

is that your heart is

6:13

good. It's

6:15

not deceitful above all things.

6:18

But if you take Jeremiah seventy

6:20

nine out of context and

6:22

you don't read it in light of the entire

6:25

book of Jeremiah, you're going to miss

6:27

this very important point about the goodness

6:29

of your heart. Now,

6:31

by the way, just slow down. I know what

6:33

some of you are doing. Okay. Look.

6:35

When Jeremiah thirty one talks

6:38

about god writing his law on

6:40

our hearts, Jeremiah

6:43

is not saying that

6:45

you are sinless. Please,

6:48

a good heart does

6:50

not equate with without

6:52

sin. Let me say that a little differently. A good

6:54

heart does not mean you are sinless.

6:58

A good heart simply

7:00

means that your heart is not deceitful

7:03

above all things and beyond

7:05

cure. Look, you

7:07

can't if you if you read

7:10

the book of Jeremiah, you

7:12

can't possibly think

7:14

to yourself. Jeremy

7:17

believes that his heart is deceitful above all

7:19

things and beyond cure. You you can't

7:21

possibly think that if you actually read the text.

7:23

Quite to the contrary, Jeremy

7:25

believes deeply

7:29

in the goodness and the

7:31

rightness of his own heart.

7:33

Consider this text from Jeremiah twelve.

7:36

Jeremiah is talking to God, and this is what

7:38

he says, why does the way of the

7:40

wicked prosper? You are

7:42

always on their lips, but

7:44

far from their hearts, yet

7:47

you know me, oh, lord.

7:49

You see me and you

7:51

test my thoughts about you.

7:54

What's what's he saying? What's he saying? He's saying,

7:56

look, God, you know my heart is trustworthy. That's

7:58

what he's saying. Jeremy's

8:00

entire point here is that his heart

8:02

is not deceitful above all

8:04

things. On the contrary, his

8:06

heart is good and the

8:08

hearts of the wicked are

8:10

deceitful. In

8:12

fact, a very important

8:15

exegetical principle is

8:18

to read any particular verse

8:20

of the bible in light of the

8:22

surrounding verses. And so a few

8:24

verses after Jeremiah seventy

8:27

nine. We

8:29

read Jeremiah say this to God.

8:31

I have not run away from

8:33

being your shepherd. What

8:35

passes my lips is

8:37

open before you. Now,

8:39

that's just a few verses away from this,

8:41

the heart is deceitful above all things.

8:43

When Jeremiah says, What

8:45

passes my lips is open before you. This

8:47

is a biblical idiom

8:49

for I'm righteous

8:51

lord. You know I

8:53

am. So

8:56

look, whatever Jeremiah

8:58

seventeen nine means, it

9:01

can't mean every human heart is

9:03

wicked and cannot be trusted. Because right

9:05

after saying verse nine, Jeremiah

9:07

claims that his heart is good

9:09

and that it can be trusted. And

9:11

by the way, I'm not Look,

9:13

just bear with me. Okay? Just bear with me a

9:15

little bit. Two minutes. It's not just

9:17

Jeremiah, who insists that his heart is

9:19

good. Okay? The

9:21

sawness do it. A

9:23

lot. Here's Psalm

9:26

seven, grant me justice, lord,

9:28

as befits my righteousness,

9:31

and as befits my innocence.

9:34

Here's Psalm eighteen.

9:36

The Lord has dealt with me

9:38

according to my righteousness According

9:40

to the cleanness of my

9:42

hands, he has rewarded

9:44

me. Psalm twenty six,

9:47

vindicate me o lord

9:49

for I have led a

9:51

blameless life. I

9:53

have trusted in the Lord without

9:55

wavering. And then

9:57

there's there's Job, the book of Job.

9:59

The starting point of the book of

10:01

Job. Okay? The foundation upon

10:04

which the entire book

10:06

rests. Is God's claim?

10:08

Yes. God's claim that

10:10

Job's heart is

10:12

righteous and good. Here's

10:14

how God puts it in Job two. The

10:17

Lord said to the adversary. Have

10:19

you paid heed to my servant Job?

10:21

There is no one like him on Earth,

10:23

a blameless and upright

10:26

man who fears

10:28

God and shuns evil and

10:30

still clings to his

10:32

innocence. Blameless and

10:34

upright, God

10:36

says that about Job. And then in

10:38

Job twenty seven, Joe

10:40

himself is speaking to his adversaries and

10:42

he says, far be it for me

10:44

to declare you right till I

10:46

breathe my last I

10:48

will not renounce my

10:50

virtue to my

10:52

rightness I cling.

10:54

And again, it's important

10:56

to understand none of

10:58

these verses are claims of

11:01

perfection or sinlessness. When

11:04

the sawmists or Job say

11:07

I am blameless, they are

11:09

not talking about

11:11

sinlessness. There is no

11:13

notion of sinlessness in the

11:15

Hebrew imagination for human

11:17

beings. No one is saying I am without

11:19

sin. They are saying, what are they saying? They are

11:21

saying my heart is

11:23

good and trustworthy even

11:26

though I, of course, do sin.

11:29

The point that I am keen to make

11:31

right now is that none of

11:33

these biblical writers believed that their

11:35

heart was deceitful above all things and beyond

11:38

cure. None of them. Now,

11:41

if you're still having a hard time believing

11:43

me because all the examples I am

11:45

using are from the old

11:47

testament, you've still got to deal with

11:49

Paul. I'm not gonna let you wiggle out of this

11:51

one. Paul insists

11:53

on the goodness of his heart. Yes.

11:56

Paul, Here's what he says in second

11:58

Corinthians one. Now this

12:00

is our boast, our

12:02

conscience. Testifies

12:04

that we have conducted ourselves

12:06

in the world and especially in

12:08

our relationships with you

12:11

in the holiness and

12:13

sincerity that are from

12:15

God. Paul calls his heart

12:17

holy. Holy. Paul

12:19

knew Jeremiah seventy nine,

12:22

and yet Paul had no problem, insisting

12:25

that his heart was good and

12:27

holy. So

12:30

Let's revisit some of those

12:32

comments that people made on Instagram. One

12:35

person wrote, Jeremy of

12:37

seventy nine ingrained in me that

12:39

anything I wanted was actually

12:42

bad and taught me not to

12:44

trust myself. If my heart is

12:46

deceitful above all things, I can't

12:48

trust myself. Okay.

12:50

Here's here's what I

12:52

would like to do. I would like to go

12:54

back in time. Whenever

12:56

this person was abused

12:58

by with Jeremiah seventy nine, I would like

13:00

to go back in time and say to this person.

13:04

The prophets trusted

13:06

their heart against

13:08

the prevailing wisdom of

13:10

the religious leaders. So

13:13

perhaps your heart is not

13:15

deceitful above all things,

13:17

like the prophets. And then I would

13:19

say, and the sawmists trusted

13:22

their gut instead

13:24

of what their enemies said.

13:26

So perhaps your heart is

13:28

not deceitful above all things,

13:30

like the sawmists' hearts.

13:33

And then I would point out that Joe

13:35

believed his gut was more trustworthy

13:38

than the accusations of those around

13:40

him who said that his life was turning out

13:42

bad because he wasn't following God.

13:44

And finally, I'd point out that Paul

13:46

trusted the goodness of his heart over

13:48

a large contingent of

13:51

theinthian church who was

13:53

accusing him of wrongdoing. Okay.

13:58

A little bit of a shift. I'm done with

14:00

bible study. Alright? What I want to

14:02

do now is to relate

14:04

all of this discussion about

14:06

Jeremiah seventeen nine to

14:08

trauma and attachment.

14:11

Here's my claim. Bible

14:14

verses like Jeremiah seventeen

14:16

nine, the heart is deceitful above all

14:18

things, will rarely

14:21

do harm. To securely

14:25

attached people. Bible

14:28

verses like this will

14:30

rarely do harm to people who

14:32

have not experienced developmental

14:35

trauma. If someone

14:37

in a position of authority, a

14:39

pastor, a parent, whatever, priest,

14:41

rabbi type someone in a position of authority,

14:43

tries to use Jeremiah seventeen

14:45

nine, to convince

14:47

a securely attached person

14:50

to distrust their heart. It won't

14:52

work. Why? Why?

14:56

Because purely attached people

14:59

already know that their heart is

15:01

good and trustworthy. Securely

15:05

attach people know

15:07

that their gut instincts

15:09

are reliable and good

15:11

and trustworthy. I,

15:13

again, I'm not saying that they're sinless. I'm

15:15

not saying that every instinct

15:17

they have is holy. Please.

15:19

I am not saying that. What I

15:21

am saying is that the brains

15:24

of securely attached people

15:26

are not nearly as susceptible

15:28

to the suggestion of, since

15:31

I'm a center, it means that my heart is

15:33

deceitful and can't be trusted. And

15:35

therefore, I need to rely not on my own

15:37

feelings. But I'm what my pastor

15:39

says or my parents say or whoever.

15:41

A securely attached

15:44

person, a person without developmental

15:47

trauma is not

15:49

going to be susceptible to

15:52

theological claims that are spiritually

15:54

abusive. Look,

15:57

my I've got a fourteen year old daughter, Hope.

15:59

Her name's Hope. And sometimes

16:01

she goes to Christian youth group

16:03

stuff, you know, evangelical stuff.

16:05

And if she was at youth

16:08

group. And the person speaking

16:10

upfront, you know, giving the talk, was giving

16:12

a talk about Jeremiah seventy nine.

16:14

And that person said, you

16:17

can't trust your own heart because you're a

16:19

sinner and your heart is deceitful

16:21

above all things. My

16:24

daughter hope would sit there in the

16:26

audience and she would think to herself.

16:28

This speaker guy has

16:30

a problem. Hope

16:33

wouldn't buy into the speakers' claims.

16:35

Why? Because

16:37

hope knows. That

16:40

her heart is good and trustworthy. But

16:43

look, when I was

16:45

fourteen, And

16:47

I heard the pastor say that

16:50

my heart is deceitful above all things

16:52

I thought to myself, yes,

16:55

Of course, that makes sense. I

16:58

can't trust myself. There's

17:01

something wrong with me. I know that

17:03

I'm bad. Now, why

17:05

why the totally opposite

17:08

reactions between my daughter

17:10

and me? Because I

17:12

had a lot of trauma. And

17:15

trauma means shame

17:18

entered me. And

17:21

shame opens the

17:23

heart to be

17:25

drawn to very abusive

17:28

theologies. Have

17:31

you ever shared something with your

17:33

parents or with your pastor or with a

17:35

small group bible study leader?

17:37

And you've been told your

17:39

thinking is wrong because

17:41

the Bible says such and such.

17:43

Has anyone ever used

17:46

a text from the bible to prove that

17:48

you are wrong about something.

17:50

If if so, please

17:53

hear this. Whenever someone

17:55

disagrees with you about something.

17:57

And that person says, look, you're wrong

17:59

because the Bible says x and you need to

18:01

believe what the Bible says.

18:04

Anytime someone says that to you,

18:06

it is important to

18:08

understand what they are actually

18:11

claiming. Right? They might

18:13

say You're wrong because the bible

18:15

says x. But what they actually

18:18

mean is you're

18:20

wrong because my favorite

18:23

theologian thinks the bible says

18:25

x. The

18:27

phrase what the bible says

18:30

always means what someone

18:33

else thinks the Bible

18:35

says. Always always

18:38

always. Let

18:40

me say it again because this is oh

18:42

so very important. Whenever

18:44

you hear someone say the

18:47

phrase, this is what the bible

18:49

says. What they are actually

18:52

saying is this is what

18:54

someone else who I look

18:56

up to thinks the

18:58

bible says. The

19:00

phrase what the bible says

19:03

always means, what someone else

19:06

thinks the Bible says, you have

19:08

two choices in life.

19:10

You can either trust

19:12

your interpretation of

19:15

the Bible or you can

19:17

trust someone else's

19:20

interpretation of the bible. But

19:22

you can never trust

19:24

what the bible says because

19:28

the bible is not

19:30

clear. If

19:33

someone tells you the bible

19:35

is clear, All you have to

19:37

do is take them to the

19:39

theological library of their

19:41

choosing, not your choosing. They can

19:43

choose it. And then ask

19:46

them to choose a passage from

19:48

the bible that they believe is

19:50

quite clear. Type that

19:52

passage into the computer, and the

19:54

computer will tell you where to

19:56

find all the books that interpret

19:59

that passage. Take your friend by the

20:01

hand and escort him or her

20:03

to said section of their

20:05

favorite theological library and

20:07

you will find lots

20:10

of differing opinions

20:12

from bible experts about what

20:14

that passage means. Why? Why?

20:17

What because the bible is

20:21

not clear. Any

20:23

time you hear someone refer

20:25

to quote, what the bible says.

20:27

What they are actually saying

20:31

is what my favorite theologian

20:33

thinks the bible says. So

20:35

you have two choices in life. You

20:37

can either trust your interpretation

20:40

of the bible or you

20:42

can trust someone else's.

20:45

Interpretation of the bible. And

20:48

what I'd like to suggest

20:51

is that if you choose

20:53

to trust someone else's interpretation of

20:55

the bible. You are

20:58

being idolatrous. You

21:01

are outsourcing responsibility

21:04

for your one

21:07

wild precious, unique heart

21:09

and life. To someone else. You

21:11

are basing your

21:14

life on someone else's

21:16

opinion rather than your

21:18

own. In in essence, you're worshiping

21:20

their opinion. You're giving

21:22

it ultimate weight. And this

21:24

is not just immaturity

21:26

and irresponsibility. I mean, it is that.

21:28

But it is also idolatry. Remember,

21:33

the purpose of our time

21:35

here on earth. Is that we are being

21:38

trained to reign. Trained

21:43

to reign over the creation God

21:46

wants you to grow up into

21:48

a mature man or woman

21:50

who takes responsibility

21:52

for your own Who

21:54

makes decisions for yourself rather

21:58

than does what this pastor or that

22:00

pastor or this guru or that guru

22:02

says to do. Now look,

22:05

please hear me well. I am not

22:07

inviting you to ignore

22:09

the voices of

22:12

others. I'm inviting you to

22:14

consider their words deeply

22:16

and then listen to

22:19

your own heart and

22:21

make your own decision. This

22:25

is the only way

22:27

to live faithfully

22:30

before god. Otherwise, you

22:32

are simply living your life based

22:34

on what some other person

22:36

or persons say to

22:38

do. And when you live

22:40

that way, you are abdicating

22:42

your responsibility as a

22:44

unique son or daughter

22:46

of god. Okay.

22:48

Before we end, I wanna revisit

22:51

one of the original comments that I

22:53

read on Instagram. Someone wrote

22:55

Jeremy of seventeen nine

22:58

taught me from a young age that my

23:00

thoughts and desires couldn't

23:02

be trusted. And to

23:04

never look within myself

23:06

for answers. To never

23:09

look within myself for answers.

23:11

Here's the problem with this. Whoever

23:14

is saying this to you, whether it's

23:16

your pastor or parents or whoever is saying

23:18

that you shouldn't look within yourself for

23:21

answers. Okay. That person

23:23

is not applying Jeremiah

23:26

seventeen nine to their own

23:29

heart. I mean, do you see

23:31

the hypocrisy of

23:33

this? They are saying that your

23:35

heart can't be trusted, but

23:37

that theirs can be. Or

23:40

that the heart of their most revered, you know,

23:42

Christian leader can be trusted, their favorite

23:44

theologian. You see the

23:46

dilemma. The entire argument

23:48

falls apart. Suppose

23:51

you are in seminary studying to become

23:53

a pastor. Alright? And then you feel

23:56

called you know, in that heart of yours

23:58

to pursue a career as an artist

24:00

or God forbid, a secular musician.

24:03

And you tell your parents about

24:05

this feeling in your heart, this

24:07

nudging. And your father says,

24:09

whoa. Hold on. The bible says that

24:11

the heart is deceitful above all

24:13

things. You can't just make a life decision based on the feelings

24:15

in your heart. Now now

24:17

what's going on here? Your

24:20

father is not

24:22

applying his interpretation

24:24

of that verse to his own heart.

24:28

Why not say to your father will g dad?

24:30

If the heart is deceitful above

24:32

all things, then that means

24:34

your heart must be deceitful above all

24:37

things. So why should I consider your point of

24:39

view? Okay.

24:42

You you you you see the

24:45

many many problems.

24:48

That's enough for now. Thank

24:50

you Thank

24:52

you for listening today. By the

24:55

way, if this podcast has been

24:57

helpful to you, please

24:59

consider supporting it financially. There

25:01

are lots of ways to do that. You just go

25:03

to adam young counseling dot com.

25:06

And click on support the podcast

25:08

and there's three ways to do it.

25:10

Thank you for considering

25:13

it. Have a good couple of

25:15

weeks.