The late Pete Ruckman was fond of saying, "A text without a context is a pretext." This is a true saying, and apropos to the subject of preachers and the lies they tell. It's also germaine to the subject of false 'psychics' and mediums and the 'glittering generalities' with which they tell their lies, though this is perhaps beside the point.
One passage of scripture it seems impossible for preachers to apply a proper context to is found in the 'sermon on the mount'. According to Matthew, the Word of God said, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust [Matthew 5:44 & 45]."
The contextual element absent from preachers' exegeses on this passage is the simple fact that this sermon was preached by the Word to a people he called 'the children of the devil [John 8:44a]': the Jews who murdered the same Word of God long before they ever met him [Exodus 32:16 & 19 being one case in point]. The Word of God is, after all, the veritable 'words and work' of God made flesh, and the Jews attempted to kill him every day they didn't kill him: from birth to Calvary.
Protestant preachers say the text in question from Matthew 5 applies to Christians, and their congregations "Amen!" this, but if they ever applied it in their personal walk, they would know better. Who is the enemy? Who is it that curses God's children? Who is it that hates God's children? Who despitefully uses us? Is not the answer in each case the Devil? Are we then to serve, bless, pray for, and love the Devil?
"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God [James 4:4]." If 'playing friendly' with the world makes us the enemy of God: what does outright collusion with the Devil against God make us? The hermeneutic does not equate. It's a pretext, precisely because it's taken out of context.
Before explaining the contextual error extant in the above exegetical train wreck, it seems only fair to expose the hypocrisy of it. These preachers and their congregations 'respect persons'. They don't practice what is preached, though they vociferously "Amen!" the sermons. In this case, I can state unequivocally and existentially that, when these preachers and their sheeple label a man 'Satan', it's for enmity they do so, not for 'friendship'. They only turn the back to 'Satans' in their midst. Queers are welcome in the pulpits of their churches, and 'Satan' is compelled to flee their gay company. Who's their 'Satan', if not the prophets and the one sending them?
As for the contextual 'faux pas' committed by the preachers and their sheeple: it's really simple. The Jews to whom the 'sermon on the mount' was preached are the friends of the world written of by James. They proved their enmity with God at Calvary in a rage that stinks to high heaven for all eternity, and so doing received the just reward of their traitorous 'servitude' in exchange: a wound forever incurable; a bruise which never fades and never goes away. It's not by hyperbolic device that the Word of God says to them, "Ye are of your father the devil [John 8:44a]." This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation. They are indeed the devil's spawn. They are that "evil" basking in God's sun. They are the "unjust" soaking up the undeserved rain. Calvary proves it beyond any shadow of doubt.
As such, what else could the Word of God have said that would have been understood by them while remaining true and faithful? He couldn't tell them to serve God: Satan is their 'God'. If he had told them to flee Satan, they would have run from God at his Word's behest. God is their 'Satan'. Likewise, he couldn't tell them they are the children of 'their' Father in heaven: only that they "may be" the same. The only encouragement he could lend them is "love your enemies." Only in loving, praying and doing good for, and blessing their enemies could they ever be anything but adversaries to God and his children.
"The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools [Proverbs 26:7]."
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