Beautiful honesty
This week is on Ephesians 4:25-28:
This week is about beautiful open honesty. It's about humility and accepting that things will not always be perfect. It's also about lying, being angry, mooching and stealing, but we already know those things well enough. We're going to concentrate on the new stuff.
People love to say they're honest, but when it comes down to it, many people are not. Right after the apostle Paul reminds the Ephesians not to lie, he tells them not to sin in their anger or let it dwell in them. What's the connection? If you're angry at someone, and you pretend everything is OK, you're a liar. In Paul's Mediterranean culture, everything was about maintaining the appearance of a good relationship. If you had a problem with someone, you would be expected to pretend it wasn't there. You would never directly confront something or accuse someone face to face, and risk messing up the relationship. The problem is, that strategy works great in the short term, but in the long term it's horrible. Why do you think old Italian ladies have such a stereotype for being miserable, bitter, unforgiving people? Years of holding stuff in will only make it worse. You need to deal with it as soon as you can, while the problem is still small. Paul says to say something. Be honest.
Then Paul goes on to talk about stealing. What does that have to do with honesty? Some people are afraid of putting in an honest effort. In trying to do something useful with your hands, you could end up with a product that isn't that great. A lot of people would rather do nothing than do an imperfect job at things. Instead of working ten hours to produce two hours' work, people would rather work zero hours, not out of laziness in this case, but out of shame. It's easier to be useless than it is to be marginally useful. People would rather not sing at all than sing badly. People would rather not get up to speak at all, than get up and be mostly boring. They prefer self-imposed exile over potential rejection, fruitlessless over mediocrity, and starvation over temporary poverty. Paul says to step out and give things a go. Better to produce laughingly little than to produce nothing. There are actually points awarded for honest effort. Instead of just taking things all of the time, you can have something to offer others. Producing some value is walking in God's footsteps of creation. Everyone should try it.
Don't give the devil a foothold. If you let things build up between you and another person, you're hurting them by not giving them a reason to change, and you're hurting yourself with the bitterness in your heart. You're hurting the people around you by allowing that wall to form between you. And if you never try to produce things of value, even marginal value, you're robbing everyone of what you could have done. Everyone was created with some kind of purpose and value. God made you like that, and you're robbing him, if you don't follow through and produce the figs he created you to produce. When you hurt the body of Christ (the church) and steal from people and from God, you're doing the devil's work. You're giving him a place to stay in your corner of the kingdom.
Take a new look at honesty and humility. God has created his world to work that way. Be honest. Do something productive. Be what God made you to be.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body."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.
This week is about beautiful open honesty. It's about humility and accepting that things will not always be perfect. It's also about lying, being angry, mooching and stealing, but we already know those things well enough. We're going to concentrate on the new stuff.
People love to say they're honest, but when it comes down to it, many people are not. Right after the apostle Paul reminds the Ephesians not to lie, he tells them not to sin in their anger or let it dwell in them. What's the connection? If you're angry at someone, and you pretend everything is OK, you're a liar. In Paul's Mediterranean culture, everything was about maintaining the appearance of a good relationship. If you had a problem with someone, you would be expected to pretend it wasn't there. You would never directly confront something or accuse someone face to face, and risk messing up the relationship. The problem is, that strategy works great in the short term, but in the long term it's horrible. Why do you think old Italian ladies have such a stereotype for being miserable, bitter, unforgiving people? Years of holding stuff in will only make it worse. You need to deal with it as soon as you can, while the problem is still small. Paul says to say something. Be honest.
Then Paul goes on to talk about stealing. What does that have to do with honesty? Some people are afraid of putting in an honest effort. In trying to do something useful with your hands, you could end up with a product that isn't that great. A lot of people would rather do nothing than do an imperfect job at things. Instead of working ten hours to produce two hours' work, people would rather work zero hours, not out of laziness in this case, but out of shame. It's easier to be useless than it is to be marginally useful. People would rather not sing at all than sing badly. People would rather not get up to speak at all, than get up and be mostly boring. They prefer self-imposed exile over potential rejection, fruitlessless over mediocrity, and starvation over temporary poverty. Paul says to step out and give things a go. Better to produce laughingly little than to produce nothing. There are actually points awarded for honest effort. Instead of just taking things all of the time, you can have something to offer others. Producing some value is walking in God's footsteps of creation. Everyone should try it.
Don't give the devil a foothold. If you let things build up between you and another person, you're hurting them by not giving them a reason to change, and you're hurting yourself with the bitterness in your heart. You're hurting the people around you by allowing that wall to form between you. And if you never try to produce things of value, even marginal value, you're robbing everyone of what you could have done. Everyone was created with some kind of purpose and value. God made you like that, and you're robbing him, if you don't follow through and produce the figs he created you to produce. When you hurt the body of Christ (the church) and steal from people and from God, you're doing the devil's work. You're giving him a place to stay in your corner of the kingdom.
Take a new look at honesty and humility. God has created his world to work that way. Be honest. Do something productive. Be what God made you to be.
Comments
Post a Comment