Faithful to One’s Calling

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. - Ephesians 4:1-4

“Therefore” holds a lot of weight in this verse (4:1). Paul is asking the groups of churches to whom he is writing to respond to what he has just spoken about in chapter 1-3. Chapters 4-6 is really the invitation song of his letter. He’s covered big topics like our former sinful ways of living before knowing Jesus and the salvation we have through our allegiance to him, “Because of these things, live in the way that is of equal proportion to what’s been done for you.” That sin that use to be so ingrained in your way of life, leave it behind!

Our Vantage Point of Sin

There is immediate recoil, like hearing a gun fired uncomfortably close, when we talk about sin. Hopefully, because you - as saved child of God - no longer fear condemnation, there is no issue of recoil but a reminder of God’s love for you. Some of us, maybe because of our intimate knowledge of it and intentional ignoring of it, don’t want to look at it or hear about it. Some of us, have successfully recategorized it and reconciled it with our life that we don’t even call it sin. Some of us, still love it.

The Early Church wasn’t Perfect

I don’t believe for one moment that the early church was perfect. There are also several instances where sin consumed the early church: Ananias and Sapphira, the whole letter of 1 Corinthians, the addresses to 6/7 churches of Asia mentioned in the book of Revelation. There are cases however, where their example is worth considering in how it lines up with what we know Christ wants from us. In these cases we see congruence. That is, they held themselves to the same standards in every location, every relationship, and every conversation. They were living a congruent, spiritual life.

They were the same person wherever they went. Their lives were so defined by Christ that they actually worshipped him in every aspect of their lives. And while that wasn’t lived out perfectly as we see in other places in scripture, it appears congruency is one of things we can take from our brothers and sisters 2,000 years later. Here’s the short list of what they were involved in: they were devoted to apostolic teaching, they gave of their means to those who has less than them (with a focus on those inside the church), they regularly came together to worship and remember Christ through the Lord’s Supper, they would sell major possessions and then give it to the church, they were diligent about sending out missionaries to near by locations where the gospel was needed, and they were correcting one another out of love in what they learned from scripture and from Jesus.

From a none biblical source, the historian Lucian records the early Christians as a group of “misguided creatures” who, among other peculiarities, really believed they were brothers and sisters even though they were not, believed they were immortal and held death in contempt, and regarded their possessions as common property.

“Holistic spirituality is about living all of life before God. It retains an important place for experiences, but it involves more. It also includes things like repentance, moral renewal, soul crafting, community building, witness, service, and faithfulness to one’s calling.”[1] I know we all long for the big moments of spiritual transformation, but God would much rather work with you slowly, in the quite intimate parts of your life that you don’t want him in, that you’d much rather keep to yourself.

Eph 4:1-3 “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy [in a manner according to the necessity] of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing [BDAG, 78 “to regard with tolerance”] with one another in love, eager [BDAG, 939 “to be especially conscientious in discharging an obligation”] to maintain [τηρειν “to guard, keep”] the unity of the Spirit in the bond [3x in NT Col 2:19; 3:14. Bound to Christ/be bound in love] of peace.”

A worthy manner

I think the question we need to begin with is “What does it mean to be worthy?” Ephesians gives more allusions than direct answer in my opinion. While we could go elsewhere lets look to this letter to answer the question. According to 2:13-18 its because of Jesus that I have any access to the Father. The Jewish ear, “access” means you are holy. Did you know there was a chain attached to the priest leg, so that if the priest were to die because entered that place in an unworthy manner, and then was struck dead, he could be pulled out of there? Having access to God may have been wanted by the Jewish people, but they also knew in order to do that they had to have a level of holiness that was seemed impossible to possess. Heck, even if you did, it was still a presumptuous business walking into the presence of YHWH. For you and i though, this access is possible because of Jesus. Since we are in Jesus, we have access to the Father - no need to worry about a chain fastened to your leg either.

I like BDAG [the premier Greek lexicon, not perfect, but really good]. The definition for the word “worthy” is “in a manner according to the necessity.” What is the necessity? One that is congruent with the way in which Jesus calls us even today - living with humility despite our many blessings, patience towards difficult people, being gentle with those who are hurtful, being tolerant towards people who think differently, and an eagerness to unite people together in the name of Christ.

Eager to Maintain the Unity of the Spirit

I have been truly ruminating over the concept of unity for a little over a year now I believe. My faith heritage is with the Restoration Movement. One of the leading principles of that movement was unity. One of the men who led that movement was so troubled by the splits over major denominations that he in turn split off from the Presbyterian church (ironic, I know) to preach a gospel that was defined by its call for unity. Paul is writing to churches to be “eager” to unite with one another in the name of Christ. Its got this feel of a “Hurry it up! Unite together already!” kind of feel to it. I wish we would pursue that more in our churches.

Maybe one reason we dont is because we are confused as to what unity we are pursuing. “They dont worship like I do,” or “There with ________ denomination. We dont have the same beliefs they do“ are some of the most heart-wrenching things I have heard.

I hope this makes sense but, the unity were searching for is already provided to us. Notice that Paul is telling the churches in Ephesus to “maintain” the unity in the Spirit. They dont need to go off and find that unity. They dont need to decide what to unite on… ALL OF THAT HAS BEEN DONE. The Spirit (aka Christ, aka God the Father) has provided that unity - that peace - that focal point of our faith. The unity Paul is talking about is a bond that is saturated and directed by the Spirit. Nothing else. No church program. No church mission or vision statement. No systematic theology. Its about the Spirit. Its about the one sent to us to carry on Christ’s mission here in the world. That unity binds us together in love and it nourishes us.

So, we are not meant to establish what we are united by, but we are meant to “guard“ it. What does this mean? Well, maybe this analogy is fitting… What would it look like to protect our relationship? That is, the relationship between myself and another believer. I think this idea has two sides to it.

(1) I’m willing to to show you love in the way you need it. Look for what fuels you and give it to you all while upholding the boundaries necessary for my own spiritual health (4:22-24)

(2) I’m willing to dispose of the things that might harm you, or us (4:25 “Speak the truth to one another” which in this case is that we have put away the “old self” for the “new self”)

That is, I am willing to address the sin in your life. And listen… Its not because I’m better than you or because I don’t have sin of my own. It’s because I have felt sin’s pull. I have felt the separation it causes, I’m familiar with the isolation, I know hating the pride that wells up in you that convinces you to fight against it – I know, and I empathize – so I protect you. I don’t leave you to fight alone. I don’t leave you to find the strength within yourself. I don’t wait for you to make all the right decisions. I come to your side, I fight with you, I sacrifice for you. Because Christ fought for me and sacrificed for me. My Lord gave me community and I will guard that which he has given me.

Just some thoughts I had put together recently that I thought I would share. Please let me know your thoughts!

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[1] Scorgie, G. G. (2011). Overview of Christian Spirituality. In G. G. Scorgie, S. Chan, G. T. Smith, & J. D. Smith III (Eds.), Dictionary of Christian spirituality (pp. 27–28). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.