Some people have said, “Coffee Cup Christianity is killing our biblical literacy.”  We’ve become accustomed to seeing isolated Bible verses and presume we know their meaning. Too often, however, we merely insert our own meaning into a Bible verse, thereby overwriting what God was trying to tell us.

It’s not just on coffee cups. We see isolated verses on social media, bumper stickers, t-shirts, signs at sports events, and just about anywhere we can post the text.

Coffee Cup Christianity violates one of the most basic and well-known principles for interpretation scripture: context.  The quoted verse is taken out of context, and can mean something entirely different from its original intent. 

At its worst, Coffee Cup Christianity twists God’s Word and models a dangerous interpretive method for others.

Coffee Cup Christianity causes us miss important lessons the Holy Spirit intends to teach us.  We infuse our meaning into Scripture and granting it divine authority.  We manipulate scripture to try to fit our circumstances.