Caring Christians Walk Circumspectly
By Woodrow Kroll
Through the study of God's Word, we can develop a deeper intimacy with the Lord and a better understanding of His will and purpose for us. In the process, we'll be changed, remade, transformed from the inside out. So what changes do others see in your life, friend? Do they know that you're a caring Christian, concerned about them and their needs at all levels? That's the question we've been answering from God's Word this week.
I must admit, that when I first looked at the title of this series on becoming a caring Christian, I thought it would be more about showing love and compassion. But as we've pointed out, it's as much about evangelism as it is about compassion, and today's study certainly carries out that concept. What do you think links these two biblical ideas together? Well, if I'm in a restaurant, and I see someone choking on a piece of fruit, I have two options. I can say, first, "Oh, that poor person! If somebody doesn't help him, he's going to die." But that's really pity, that's not compassion. Secondly, I can say, "Oh, that poor person, if I don't help him, he's going to die." I think that's compassion, that's when the link between evangelism and compassion is made.
Today we're talking about walking circumspectly. That's certainly not a word we use a lot so maybe we can help you to know what it means..
Walking circumspectly is a little like a cat in a roomful of tacks, or marbles, or mini-marshmallows, something like that. Just suppose you took some marbles or some tacks and threw them out on the carpet. And then you called the cat. I've watched my cat walk through things and never look down, and also never step on any of those things. If you threw mini-marshmallows out on the carpet, the cat--if the cat wouldn't eat them--certainly could walk through them and never hit any of them with any of his paws. You know why? Because a cat just naturally has the ability to walk circumspectly, to walk in such a way that he simply doesn't hit those little landmines that you've thrown in front of him.
Now, I'm going to say a little more about this before we finish our study today, but I want us to think together again about Ephesians 5. All this week, we've been talking about how to demonstrate to our neighbors and to family and to our friends that we care about them that we are caring Christians. We talked on Monday about walking in newness of life, walking differently, on Tuesday about walking spiritually, yesterday about walking lovingly--and today walking circumspectly.
I read the early part of Ephesians 5 in our study yesterday. It talks about being a follower of God, mimeographing God and walking the way God would have us to walk. It also talks about walking in love, as Christ did. But today I want us to go on to verse 8 of Ephesians 5 to see what he has to say about how we should walk in light of a very, very dark world.
Listen to this, Ephesians 5:8, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." Now, don't forget that because this whole passage is about walking in the darkness as children of light.
He goes on in verse 9: "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: 'Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.' See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
Notice that he says we ought to walk circumspectly. As Don says, that's not an expression we use a lot, not a word we use a lot today. It is a little like that cat walking through the carpet full of tacks. It's a little like negotiating a minefield when you know the mines are out there. I think Paul begins with a contrast, perhaps the sharpest contrast of all, and that is the contrast of light and darkness.
In verse 8 he says the Ephesian Christians were once in darkness. Paul's addressed this theme again and again in the epistle. Back in chapter two and verse one, he talks about them walking in darkness before they came to know Christ Jesus as Savior. Listen to what he says in Ephesians 2:1. "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked, according to course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience: Among whom also we also once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as others."
See that's the way it used to be; but it isn't that way anymore. In verse 12 of that passage he says it used to be that we were like those unsaved Gentiles who were "...without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." That's the way it used to be, but he says in verse 13, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ."
This is a great book of contrast. We once were dead in our trespasses and sins, now we're alive in Christ. We once were on the outside looking in, now we're on the inside enjoying all that the Lord Jesus has for us. This great book of contrast now helps to understand that once we were dead, but now we are live. "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together in Christ" (Ephesians 2:4-5).
Then he says, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13). In chapter 4:17-19, the apostle describes the Ephesians as having hardened hearts, being past feeling, having their understanding darkened. Then he goes on the next verse to contrast, "But you have not so learned Christ."
Have you ever thought about the difference that Jesus Christ makes when He comes into your life? Maybe you're listening to this broadcast today; and you've listened to it before, and you've heard me talk about coming Christ as Savior and you don't have any idea what's that all about.
I want you to know that the Bible paints a very true and accurate picture of the way the world is. The world is living in darkness. The world is apart from God. The world is living in its own selfish desire. The Bible says when we recognize that the way of man leads to death--that's what the Bible says. When we recognize that the wages of sin is death--that's what the Bible says.
When we recognize that Jesus Christ came to pay the penalty for your sin and to give you life--suddenly the Bible paints this glorious contrast between darkness and light, between death and life. Darkness is the way the world is living. Death is the way the world is living. But life can be the way we live. Light can be we way we live. What a difference the Lord Jesus makes in a life.
Has He made that difference in your life? My friend, it's the difference between darkness and light. It's the difference between saved and lost. It's the difference between heaven and hell. Jesus can make the difference in your life.
Notice again here in Ephesians 5 what he says in verses 8-9. Those who walk as children of light also bear the fruit of the Spirit--goodness, righteousness, truth--positive things, being well pleasing of the Lord (verse 10). All of these things are true of us when we walk in the light. When we walk as children of light we also avoid the unfruitful works of darkness. Those are negative things. Those are the things that are not pleasing to the Lord God.
Remember every day this week we have noticed that which pleases God also shows our neighbor that we are a caring Christian. That which does not please God sends quite a message to our neighbor as well. Verse 11: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." There are two things here. Number one, we are to have absolutely no fellowship with those who operate out of unfruitful works of darkness. Now that doesn't mean you have cut off your neighbors. It doesn't mean you have cut off your family, cut off your friends. It doesn't say that you can have no contact with them; it says you can have no fellowship with them. Obviously, if your neighbor is living a life that comes right out of darkness, you can never show him the light of Jesus Christ without having contact.
But it also says we're to expose the unfruitful works of darkness. Now that's the trick, friends. The works of darkness are such things as immorality, impurity, greed, coarse talk--all the things we noted earlier this week, all the things that are listed here in Ephesians 5:4-5. The things we talked about yesterday--we're not to be a party to them. We're not even to condone them. We're not to discuss them; they are unfruitful. They do not contribute one little bit to your being a caring Christian. In fact, the Bible's pretty clear, they hinder the care that you and I need to give to our neighbors and friends.
Listen carefully, anything that does not glorify God also does not win our neighbor to the Lord. I want to say that again. Anything that does not glorify God does not win our neighbor to the Lord. If you want to show your neighbor you're a caring Christian, don't let down your guard. Don't let down your standards. Don't try to grovel around in the darkness the way they are in order to win them to the Savior.
Paul leaves little room for debate here. Either we conduct ourselves in a way that pleases God or we don't. There's no middle ground. Righteousness shows us that to be a caring Christian, we must do what God asks of us to do. Immorality shows us that to be an uncaring Christian, we are an embarrassment to the Lord. When you embarrass God, you also alienate your neighbor.
I know it doesn't sound at all like what the world tells you. But you see, my job is not to tell you what the world tells you. My job is tell you what God's Word tells you. So the first thing is that we are not to participate in anything that resembles the fruit of darkness. But there is a second responsibility here. Not only are we not to participate, it says we are to expose the unfruitful works of darkness.
That's what light does, isn't it? Light exposes darkness. Ever had the opportunity to go out in the backyard, lift up a rock or maybe a stone on the path, and watch those little crawly things scamper everywhere? That's what light is doing, light is exposing darkness, and like that sin scurries everywhere when you expose the darkness.
The reason you and I are to expose the unfruitful works of darkness is found in verse 12: "For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret." So shameful are the things done by those who live in darkness, so shameful are sexual activities of those who are perverted yet proud--which is a large segment of our society today--so shameful are the coarse jokes and the foolish talk--much of what is aired on television--so shameful are these things, my friends, the Bible says we're not even to talk about them.
I find it very interesting that there are a lot of Christian talk shows today that talk about the shameful works of darkness in the very way some very ungodly talk shows talk about them. Almost never is there anything that is wholesomely discussed on a lot talk TV today, only that which is shameful, that which is titillating, that which an affront to God.
Here's the trick, folks. We're to expose these unfruitful works and we're to not talk about them. That's going to be hard, isn't it? How do you expose the unfruitful works of darkness without talking about them? How do we expose what our neighbor is doing without talking about it? How do we expose the things in our family, things in our brother-in-law's life or our sister's life without talking about them?
Well, I think here's the answer. The contrast in the fruit of the Spirit in the Christian lifestyle and the unfruitfulness of those who live in darkness, that's what exposes the unfruitful work of darkness. Remember, all along Paul has said our life, the way we treat others, the care that we show to our neighbors and our family and our friends, that's what exposes the unfruitful work of those who are unsaved. We expose them by the way we live. Our light shines upon their darkness and exposes them. Look at verse 13: "But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light."
Look at the challenge in verse 14: "Therefore He says: 'Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.'" And then there's a warning in verse 15: "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
Walk circumspectly--a caring Christian is one who walks in newness of life, one who walks differently. A caring Christian is one who walks in the Spirit, one who walks spiritually. A caring Christian is one who walks in love, one who walks lovingly. But to walk circumspectly? What does that mean?
Every year Back to the Bible goes to Israel to take our listeners with us and teach God's Word on location in the land of the Bible. One of the favorite things I do when I'm there, one of the days we're in Jerusalem, is we start on the top of the Mount of Olive. I want people to get a good, panoramic view of the city of Jerusalem. Then we walk down the street to the Dominus Flavet. The Dominus Flavet is a delightful little chapel about halfway down the side of the Mount of Olives. It commemorates where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem, and said how often He would have gathered the Jews together as a hen gathers her chicks, but the people of Israel would not. Then as you continue down further you come to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of all Nations.
But on the backside of the Garden of Gethsemane there is a high wall. It's a stone wall, I guess maybe 10-12 feet high. On the top of that wall, someone has taken and has cemented pieces of broken glass, bottles and glass panes, things like that. These pieces of jagged glass are cemented on the top of the wall, sticking right up out of the wall. So if you wanted to climb over that wall, you'd have to climb over that jagged glass in order to do it.
Now this glass-studded wall is not the kind of wall I'd want to walk on. But one day as I was walking down through that pathway, I looked up at that glass-studded wall. There walking alongside of me, on top of that wall, about the same rate of speed I was walking was a little Jerusalem cat. I watched that cat as he watched me. He never took his eyes off of me. He never looked down at the wall. But you know what? He never stepped on any of that glass either.
That's the way it is with us, friends. We are to so know the Word and so know the Savior, we're to be so intimate with the Father--that we can walk in this world, keep our eyes on our neighbor and at the same time please God. Our lifestyle will please God and benefit our neighbor--just like that cat. We don't have to constantly be looking down at all the landmines that are lying there. We know they're there. We know what they look like. Our walk with the Father is so strong that our neighbor's going to see us and know that we represent the light in the midst of the darkness.
So he says in verse 16: "Redeem the time, because the days are evil." By that he means buy up every opportunity to witness to your neighbor. Buy up every opportunity to witness to your friends, your coworkers--that's what redeeming the time is all about. Walk gingerly, but gently. Walk with great care, putting your feet down carefully to make sure that you do not embarrass your Lord. Walk like a cat. And when you do, your neighbors and your friends are going to see that you care enough about them to walk in a way that pleases God; and therefore, profits them.
Do you want to be a caring Christian? Yeah, I think you do. We all do, but sometimes we don't know how to be a caring Christian. Being a caring Christian means that we share of our lives with others. It means we take a meal over to a shut-in. It means we help the widow across the street cut her grass. It means we watch the kids for our neighbors when they have an emergency. It means a lot of things that are easy enough to do.
But do you know what it means more than anything else? It means living in a way that when our neighbor who is walking in darkness sees us walking in the light, it not only exposes their darkness, but it lights the path to God because we become the path to God for them. If you really want to be a caring Christian today, don't just do things for your neighbors, show the love of God to your neighbors. And show them that Jesus Christ loved them so much He died for them just the way He died for you. That's being the ultimate caring Christian."
A caring Christian is one who lives pleasing to the Lord and shines as a light to a darkened world. Walking circumspectly means avoiding the dangers and pitfalls, and sticking to the solid ground of righteousness and obedience. What if our witness as a caring Christian has been damaged because we've stepped on a few of those landmines? How can we return to a circumspect walk or reestablish our care for others after these kinds of problems?
That's always an important consideration. I think we have to do the right thing, we have to do the only thing. First John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." If you stepped on a landmine or two in your time, what you need to do is confess your sin to the Lord God, just agree with Him that it was sin. Forsake it, and then get up and go on. It's important that soldiers not hang around the landmine, but move out in the field of battle because there are a lot of battles yet to be won.
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