"A Freakin" Leopard

Not long ago I spent some time reading about the Landmark movement of the late 1800's.  This movement emerged out of bitter competition between Christian denominations for the soul of the frontier.  Each denomination was claiming to be superior to the other, and the beloved Baptists were no different.  As a result, men of faith began bringing their desire for superiority to scripture, rather than letting the scripture speak for itself.

It's nothing new for a person to feel so passionate about something that they come to the scripture looking for a way to justify their so-called convictions.  However, this is biblical interpretation run backwards.  We are not to impose our thoughts onto the sacred text, but rather let us hear the thoughts of God in the text so that we may think them as well.

My son illustrated this as he read one of his animal books.  He came to the words "African Leopard."  Rather than read the words accurately as they appeared on the page, he brought something unique to the text; something that was already in his thoughts, something no doubt derived from his first grade culture.  Therefore,  instead of reading the words as "African Leopard," he read "A freakin' Leopard." 

Let us not be so careless as we read and interpret God's Word.