Sometimes people will misuse a verse of Scripture in order to make a joke. We have all heard this line from someone who is near the back of the line at a church potluck dinner— “You know what the Bible says: ‘But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.’” (Matthew 19:30). Of course, we all know that this Scripture has nothing to do with the order people are served at church dinners. But we all chuckle at the reference.

There are other ways that people have used a verse out of context in order to make a humorous point. One nursery worker said that her favorite verse was 1 Corinthians 15:51—“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.”

Then there was the youth minister who was still single, but was looking for a wife. He often reminded people what Genesis 2:18 says, “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”

I recently heard a group of seven people who spoke in the same session at a conference, one right after the other. When the last speaker got up to talk, he began by quoting John 10:8, which says, “All who have come before me are thieves and robbers…” His misuse of that verse drew quite a laugh.

As a bald man, I kind of like Leviticus 13:40—“A man who has lost his hair and is bald is clean.”

As a conservative, I have a favorite verse to support my political leanings—“The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.” (Ecclesiastes 10:2).

I suppose it is all right to joke like this, as long as people know that we are speaking in jest. However, it is important that we take the Scriptures seriously and not try to twist the Word of God in any way. Listen to what the apostle Peter says about the writings of the apostle Paul—“…His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16). Paul writes, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

We must constantly be on guard against those who twist Scripture, and those who try to explain it away. Some will do so in an attempt to justify their sinful lifestyle. Others will do it to try to defend their unbiblical doctrinal positions. Beware those who misuse Scripture in any way, for any reason. And let’s be sure that we ourselves handle Scripture correctly.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”—2 Timothy 2:15.