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| Share Agape for the week of June 9, 2003 |
| World Views & Christianity Ephesians 4: 18�32 & 5:1�4 �They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality� Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully�In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up�Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God�Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed�Nor should their be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking�� This information�packed passage begins with what I believe is one of the Bible�s great messages for Christians: The world will not�and can not�understand you. Of late, this concept has been on my mind frequently. Over the past year or so, I�ve been emailing back and forth with a former work mate who considers herself quite �spiritual.� In these emails, she often brings up political issues. Because I respectfully disagree with her on most occasions, she�s repeatedly commented that Christians need to discover peace and harmony in the message of Jesus, instead of being (in her view) extremely harsh in our political views. When she makes these comments, I email her Biblical passages that support my viewpoint. To no avail. She chooses to believe only bits and pieces of the Bible, and always cites my quotes as being �archaic,� or �out of date.� Her reaction always reminds me of this Ephesians passage, and I�m forced to acknowledge that she�ll never understand my (or any other Christian�s) point of view. She can�t. As 1 Cor. 3:19 puts it: �For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God�s sight.� It�s interesting to me that the writer of this passage (Paul) follows up this profound concept with a short list of things Christians must avoid. I think he cites these problems because they�re difficulties that are easy to fall into, if we loose sight of Christ and follow �worldly ways:� * Don�t Lie. The commandment not to lie seems simple enough. But maybe it�s really not. Can you truly consider yourself 100% honest? Have you never told �a little white lie?� Have you never exaggerated? Have you never lied to yourself? Lies are such a part of our world that we may barely notice them rushing by. Yet they�re worldly things�exactly the opposite of what God wants from us. We all need Christ to help us conquer them. * Don�t Sin Out of Anger. This is a doozy. Probably the easiest time to break a commandment is when we�re angry. When we hear about crimes on the news (husbands battering wives, employees murdering employers, people damaging their neighbor�s property) how often does anger play a part? (Note that the Bible doesn�t say anger is a sin in and of itself. In fact, Christ Himself got pretty angry several times. But here the Bible cautions us that it may be easy to let anger lead us into sin.) We�re also not supposed to let our anger last, but should extinguish it before the day is done. Though the world may tell us we�re justified in wallowing in our anger, the Bible tells us that the moment we begin to feel it well up in us, we need to pray: �Lord, I�m really ticked off, and I�d love to wallow in it. I feel like I have a right to wallow in it. But You�ve commanded me not to dwell in anger, and I want to do what You command. So, Lord, please take this anger from me and replace it with Your wisdom and light.� (This prayer works great for all negative thoughts and feelings. Some days, I have to pray such prayers every moment, as new thoughts and feelings arise. But the prayer always works.) * Don�t Steal. We steal when we covet other people�s stuff or yearn for their life. Coveting is not considered a bad thing in this world; in fact, the careers of the rich and famous were very likely fueled (at least in part) by a desire to �live the good life.� But with Christ we know that things are not where it�s at, and that it�s futile to want other people�s stuff, because God gives us everything we have. It�s interesting to me that Paul also says we �must work.� In our world, we�ve been led to believe that government programs that �help the needy� are a good thing. Who, in the world, would argue that programs that help feed poor families are bad? Yet the Bible tells us it�s important for us all to work. And more than that: we must�as individuals�give to the needy. * No Unwholesome Talk. This can be a tough one, because even if we aren�t accustomed to swearing (which is really saying something, since foul language is heard everywhere), �unwholesome talk� includes saying negative things about others, �foolish talk,� and �coarse� jokes�all things commonly accepted in the world. Instead, the Bible says, we must use our tongues only to build each other up. More ~~~> |
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