Context Matters

Peyton Manning: "I'm trying to be a good teammate here, but let's just say we had some protection problems."

Sometime even a correct quote taken out of context takes on a life of it's own. I had heard this quote of Manning broadcast on ESPN and ESPN radio and just about everywhere else. I was surprised by the statement because Manning is usually one to let the buck stop with him and be guarded. This morning they interviewed Archie Manning about the quote and he helped put it into context. He talked to "Mike and Mike in the Morning" about the quote. There is a problem with the national media, they are not there to hear the whole press conference. They only get a few sound bites. This quote happened to come after Manning was asked for a fifth time about protection problems in the game. He had avoided saying anything like this four times, trying to be a good teammate, but on the fifth time finally but simply stated we had some protection problems. If you don't hear it in its context it sounds like he is backhandedly being critical of his offensive line, but in the context it is much less attacking.

Lessons:

1. The national media is much like gossip. They have enough of the truth to be credible, but are second hand and not in the real context. There is a reason we are warned so much in scripture about gossip, but we love to push forward our ideas and feel like we are in the know. Therefore, we spread whatever knowledge we have, or we spread certain knowledge so we can give our opinion or put our spin on something. Guard your tongue
2. Too many try and interpret Scripture as soundbites. It needs to be read, first in its immediate context, and then in the context of the book and genre it is found in, and finally in the context of the whole of the Bible.