In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul exhorts the Ephesian Christians to “walk worthy” of their calling and to commit themselves to the “bond of peace.” We should all read these opening verses of Ephesians 4 and ask how we measure up:
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3, KJV)
Please don’t just brush over these words. Go back and read them again.
Go ahead.
I’ll wait.
I hope you read them.
Now, meditate on them prayerfully and ask yourself if YOU are doing what Paul exhorts.
Are you (not your spouse, not your fellow church member, not the person you have an issue with — YOU!) doing the following:
- Striving to be “worthy” of your calling
- Humbling yourself — being “lowly”
- Being meek — that means strength under control
- Being patient — that means being able and willing to suffer a long time, hence “longsuffering”
- Forbearing with others (especially your brothers and sisters in Christ) in love
- Doing all you can to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”
Are you doing those things?
Don’t answer those questions too quickly or too casually. Stop and consider them.
If your heart is hardened right now to a fellow believer, then you can’t give yourself a passing grade. If you’ve been bad-mouthing someone and running them down to others in the church, you can’t give yourself a passing grade. If you’ve been contributing negativity and division through your words, don’t give yourself a passing grade.
If any of those things – or anything similar – can be said of you, you are not being an Ephesians 4 Christian.
“But you don’t understand…”
Everyone has a reason for why they get upset with others in the church. If that’s you right now, I may not “understand” (though, I think, after 18 years as a pastor — I at least have a clue 🙂 ), but… it doesn’t matter. What matters is that God understands!
And God wants His church united. God wants His people loving Him and one another. God wants His people to be patient with each other, to forgive one another, and to humble ourselves before Him and with each other.
“But…but…but…!”
There are no “buts” to the above. I remember what one preacher said: “Stop putting your but in God’s face!” Good words!
Jesus tells us what you need to do if your brother or sister in Christ sins against you (see Matthew 18:15-17). And we have the episode of Paul and Barnabas (see Acts 15:36-41) to guide us in the event there is a “sharp” disagreement that can’t be reconciled.
If necessary, we also have Paul’s writings about church discipline (Romans 16:17-19, I Corinthians 5:1-11, II Corinthians 2:5-11, II Corinthians 13:10-11, II Thessalonians 3:14-15, Galatians 6:1-2, I Timothy 1:3-7). But we shouldn’t resort to church discipline over disagreements, personality conflicts, or over every offense. Serious church discipline is a matter of last resort.
So…I return to the main question…
Are you committed to being an Ephesians 4 Christian?
The reason many of us aren’t is because we have “self-seeking” or “strife” in our hearts (see the Book of James – he has a lot to say about that). We want things done our way, but the call isn’t to do things our way. The call is to do things God’s way!
You can also, of course, read all of Ephesians 4. I highly encourage you to do so. This article focused on the first three verses, but the entire chapter is amazing. Actually, all of Ephesians is amazing. But our focus here is on the fourth chapter. Please read it!
We must humble ourselves and be Ephesians 4 Christians. That’s how we have healthy families and healthy churches.
The degree to which you are committed to being an Ephesians 4 Christian reflects the degree to which you are committed to the “bond of peace” – in the body of Christ overall and at your church specifically.
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