One of the greatest problems facing the modern church is not a lack of Bible reading, but a lack of biblical interpretation. Many sincere believers quote Scripture faithfully, yet apply it wrongly. The result is confusion, imbalance, and serious theological error.Much of this confusion comes from conflating biblical categories. God speaks to different areas of life in Scripture, and when commands meant for one sphere are forced onto another, truth is distorted and wisdom is lost.
To help bring clarity, I want to give you a simple, biblical framework for interpreting Scripture faithfully. These categories move outward from the individual to the broader world and help us keep passages in their proper context.
Clear Definitions of the Five Categories
Interpersonal
Interpersonal refers to interactions between individuals on a personal level. It includes relationships, conversations, behavior, ethics, and conduct between people. Issues at the interpersonal level involve how individuals treat one another directly, such as respect, kindness, conflict, trust, forgiveness, and personal responsibility.
Societal
Societal refers to the collective structures and systems within a society that organize and govern human life. This includes laws, institutions, education systems, law enforcement, economic systems, and social norms. Societal issues concern how a community or nation functions internally and how order, justice, and stability are maintained.
Cultural
Cultural refers to the shared beliefs, values, traditions, narratives, and moral frameworks that shape how a society understands the world. Culture influences art, language, family structure, gender roles, religious expression, and collective identity. Cultural beliefs shape behavior and inform what a society celebrates, tolerates, or condemns.
Ecclesiastical / Religious
Ecclesiastical or religious refers to matters related to the church, doctrine, worship, spiritual authority, and the organization and practice of the Christian faith. This includes theology, biblical interpretation, church leadership, ordinances, discipleship, and spiritual formation. This category governs faithfulness to Scripture, the proclamation of the gospel, and the health of the church.
Civilizational
Civilizational refers to the overarching worldview and foundational belief system that defines an entire civilization over time. It includes core assumptions about truth, authority, morality, human dignity, law, power, and the purpose of life. Civilizational issues determine whether societies are compatible or incompatible at a foundational level and shape long-term historical trajectories, conflicts, and alliances.
A Simple Summary
Interpersonal concerns people.
Societal concerns systems.
Cultural concerns values.
Ecclesiastical concerns doctrine and spiritual authority.
Civilizational concerns worldviews and ultimate allegiance.
Applying These Categories to Scripture
Interpersonal
Personal conduct between individuals
Interpersonal passages govern how individual believers relate to one another in direct, personal relationships. These commands emphasize humility, forgiveness, patience, mercy, and love.
Representative Scriptures:
Matthew 5:39 turn the other cheek
Matthew 5:44 love your enemies
Matthew 18:21–22 forgive repeatedly
Luke 10:33–37 the Good Samaritan
Galatians 6:1 restore a brother gently
Romans 12:17–21 overcome evil with good
These commands regulate personal ethics, not public policy, national defense, or civil authority.
Societal
Public order, justice, work, and institutional responsibility.
Societal passages govern how communities and nations function. They address authority, law, justice, work ethic, punishment of evil, and public order.
Representative Scriptures:
Romans 13:1–7 obey governing authorities when they do not command disobedience to God
Matthew 22:21 render to Caesar what is Caesar’s
1 Timothy 5:8 failure to provide for one’s family is worse than unbelief
2 Thessalonians 3:10–12 if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat
Genesis 9:6 capital punishment for murder
Deuteronomy 19:15–21 justice through due process
Compassion does not cancel responsibility. Governments are not commanded to forgive criminals the way individuals forgive personal offenses.
Cultural
Moral norms, identity, and shared values
Cultural passages govern how God’s truth shapes marriage, family, sexuality, language, education, and moral identity.
Representative Scriptures:
Genesis 2:24 biblical marriage
Leviticus 18:22 sexual boundaries
Romans 1:26–27 moral disorder
Deuteronomy 6:6–9 education rooted in God’s truth
Judges 2:10 cultural collapse through generational failure
Exodus 12:49 one law for native and immigrant
Nehemiah 13:23–24 loss of language equals loss of identity
Ecclesiastical / Religious
Church doctrine, worship, and spiritual authority
Ecclesiastical passages govern the church, not the state.
Representative Scriptures:
1 Timothy 3 elder qualifications
Titus 1:9 sound doctrine
Matthew 18:15–17 church discipline
Acts 2:42 devotion to doctrine
Galatians 1:8–9 false gospels condemned
Civilizational
Worldviews, nations, borders, and long-term survival
Civilizational passages address nations, peoples, borders, languages, war, peace, and judgment.
Representative Scriptures:
Genesis 10 nations established by God
Genesis 11:1–9 Tower of Babel
Deuteronomy 32:8 boundaries of nations
Acts 17:26 God determines times and borders
Nehemiah 4 defense against threats
Why This Matters
When these categories are collapsed, Scripture is misapplied and serious theological errors follow. Commands meant for one sphere are imposed on another. Personal compassion is used to dismantle justice. Ecclesiastical texts are politicized. Cultural warnings are dismissed as unloving. Civilizational discernment is labeled hatred.
This category confusion is one of the central failures of the modern church.
Many believers do not reject the Bible. They flatten it. They reduce Scripture to a single ethical category and apply it indiscriminately to every situation. When that happens, truth is not upheld and neither is love. Justice becomes sentimentality. Mercy becomes irresponsibility. Discernment is silenced. Wisdom is replaced with emotionalism.
A Final Rule to Remember
Before applying any passage, ask three questions:
- Who is being addressed?
- At what level of life does this command operate?
- Which category does it belong to?
Scripture does not contradict itself, but it does distinguish between personal ethics, church order, public justice, cultural formation, and civilizational responsibility. Faithfulness requires more than quoting Scripture. It requires understanding how and where it applies.
-Pastor Brandon Holthaus