David Bahn – Reflections

Ephesians 4:25-32

 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. ²⁶  Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and give no opportunity to the devil. ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹  Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³²  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Do you have a rose-colored glasses view of what it means to be in community within the church? Many people do. I remember the first time I went to a national church convention – oh my! – the anger, bitterness and ugliness of human behavior was present to a far greater degree than I expected. Now while I’m certain that it was not nearly as bad as a non-church convention, it was bad enough. And even though that behavior was that of a small minority, it was present. Sad.

But God has no rose-colored glasses. He knows our frame. So when the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write these words to the Ephesian Christians he did so advisedly. He knew that they (we) need to put away falsehood (that means it was there to begin with!). He knew we (they) need to be cautioned against sinful anger. He knew the dangers of bitterness, wrath, clamor and slander were real and present dangers in the life of the church – the community of believers. So he spoke against them, but also offered positive alternatives to these destructive behaviors.

Speaking truth, honest labor, sharing with those in need, good speech that builds up, kindness, and forgiveness are the seedbed for Christian community. They are essential – especially forgiveness. The good news is that we have the perfect example in Jesus Christ. We also have the grave need ourselves for Christ’s forgiveness. And if we lose sight of either of those realities we will be blind to the greater needs of the body and forfeit the deeper riches of true Christian community.