Fighting the real enemy
This week's verses are Ephesians 6:1-12:
In the fancy Bibles, these verses make up two sections of the chapter, but without the chapter and section headings they seem to flow together naturally. Usually you just get the bit about parents or kids (or half of it if one of them is trying to Bible the other one into doing what they want) or the bit about masters and slaves, who are called "servants" in some translations so as not to offend our delicate modern sensibilities. And the parts about the armor of God are usually taught on separately, often in the context of getting people to pray up a storm together. But together they're beautiful. Like chocolate and peanut butter, right?
Paul is trying to address the snares we run into with relationships. He uses the most common flashpoints as his examples. Our family relationships and work relationships tend to be volatile because we're around each other all of the time and the power dynamic doesn't really change. You're not going to become your parents' parent when you're a kid. Not ever. And you're not going to become your boss' boss, whether you're a slave or a factory worker or a cubicle worker. You just have to deal with it, even if the other person is terrible. (I've tended to be lucky; Not everyone is.)
Being the one with the power is no picnic either. Have you ever had to watch a kid who won't listen? Have you ever had to supervise employees who backstab or sit around doing nothing or are just stupid or incompetent? Or worse, have you ever had that happen, knowing you'd be held accountable for the results?
Paul steps in and tells everyone to quit being jerks to each other. And then he says "Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power." Why do people start when it says "finally" and not read what comes before it? He's saying that God can help you have healthy relationships with difficult people you're trapped in a small space with. It's a miracle!
But people see the word power and are like "Power! Yes! I'm going to be a big bad bully of Bible-thumpery! I want a car, and a plane, and beautiful lips!" But the power isn't for doing whatever we want. The power is for blessing people and for being patient with their infuriating faults.
Paul says to clothe ourselves with the full armor of God so that we can resist the schemes of the devil. The devil isn't God or even a god. He's just an annoying bully that gets off on trying to turn us against each other, not by making us do stupid stuff we do easily enough on our own, but by convincing us to hate each other because of it.
What does it take to make a parent abuse the kids they love? Or to make a kid rebel against his parents who love him? Or to make a slave self-destructively turn on their caretaker? Or to make that caretaker start beating this slave in his care? We can get there our own, but sometimes we let ourselves get pushed over the edge. That's what the devil aims to do, and what the power of God can help us to resist. The full armor of God protects us from turning into the devil's pawns.
1 John 4:20 says that if we hate our fellow Christians and claim to love God, we're liars. If you can't love somebody who is like you, how are you going to love God who is very different? And that's the devil's ultimate goal: to scheme to make us never learn how to love each other so that we'll never truly love God. He's a vindictive loser.
So Paul reminds us, in that context, that our struggle isn't against people, but against the evil twisted powers who would use people as both a tool and an excuse to drive a wedge between us and God. Have you ever met someone who seems hell-bent on separating you from your friends or family? That's probably what the devil is like in the flesh. You eventually reach a point where you tell them to stop, right? "Come on. That's my friend. Cut it out."
Do we clothe ourselves in God's armor though, in our relationships? Do we honor our parents, even if they've treated us badly? Do we have limitless patience for our bratty annoying kids who destroy every nice thing we have in the house? Do we obey our arrogant, scheming, explosive boss as if he was God's brother? Do we treat useless, coffee-swilling, back-talking, all-day-texting employees with respect, without threatening to fire them? Those are the situations where you need the armor!
If you have a hard time doing those things, ask God for his power. Clothe yourself in his goodness. The devil's schemes are no good for us, and we have the power to resist. The powers of darkness that turn us against each other are the real enemy, not the people we have to put up with every day.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely, “that it may go well with you and that you will live a long time on the earth.”
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ, not like those who do their work only when someone is watching—as people-pleasers—but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. Obey with enthusiasm, as though serving the Lord and not people, because you know that each person, whether slave or free, if he does something good, this will be rewarded by the Lord.
Masters, treat your slaves the same way, giving up the use of threats, because you know that both you and they have the same master in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
In the fancy Bibles, these verses make up two sections of the chapter, but without the chapter and section headings they seem to flow together naturally. Usually you just get the bit about parents or kids (or half of it if one of them is trying to Bible the other one into doing what they want) or the bit about masters and slaves, who are called "servants" in some translations so as not to offend our delicate modern sensibilities. And the parts about the armor of God are usually taught on separately, often in the context of getting people to pray up a storm together. But together they're beautiful. Like chocolate and peanut butter, right?
Paul is trying to address the snares we run into with relationships. He uses the most common flashpoints as his examples. Our family relationships and work relationships tend to be volatile because we're around each other all of the time and the power dynamic doesn't really change. You're not going to become your parents' parent when you're a kid. Not ever. And you're not going to become your boss' boss, whether you're a slave or a factory worker or a cubicle worker. You just have to deal with it, even if the other person is terrible. (I've tended to be lucky; Not everyone is.)
Being the one with the power is no picnic either. Have you ever had to watch a kid who won't listen? Have you ever had to supervise employees who backstab or sit around doing nothing or are just stupid or incompetent? Or worse, have you ever had that happen, knowing you'd be held accountable for the results?
Paul steps in and tells everyone to quit being jerks to each other. And then he says "Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power." Why do people start when it says "finally" and not read what comes before it? He's saying that God can help you have healthy relationships with difficult people you're trapped in a small space with. It's a miracle!
But people see the word power and are like "Power! Yes! I'm going to be a big bad bully of Bible-thumpery! I want a car, and a plane, and beautiful lips!" But the power isn't for doing whatever we want. The power is for blessing people and for being patient with their infuriating faults.
Paul says to clothe ourselves with the full armor of God so that we can resist the schemes of the devil. The devil isn't God or even a god. He's just an annoying bully that gets off on trying to turn us against each other, not by making us do stupid stuff we do easily enough on our own, but by convincing us to hate each other because of it.
What does it take to make a parent abuse the kids they love? Or to make a kid rebel against his parents who love him? Or to make a slave self-destructively turn on their caretaker? Or to make that caretaker start beating this slave in his care? We can get there our own, but sometimes we let ourselves get pushed over the edge. That's what the devil aims to do, and what the power of God can help us to resist. The full armor of God protects us from turning into the devil's pawns.
1 John 4:20 says that if we hate our fellow Christians and claim to love God, we're liars. If you can't love somebody who is like you, how are you going to love God who is very different? And that's the devil's ultimate goal: to scheme to make us never learn how to love each other so that we'll never truly love God. He's a vindictive loser.
So Paul reminds us, in that context, that our struggle isn't against people, but against the evil twisted powers who would use people as both a tool and an excuse to drive a wedge between us and God. Have you ever met someone who seems hell-bent on separating you from your friends or family? That's probably what the devil is like in the flesh. You eventually reach a point where you tell them to stop, right? "Come on. That's my friend. Cut it out."
Do we clothe ourselves in God's armor though, in our relationships? Do we honor our parents, even if they've treated us badly? Do we have limitless patience for our bratty annoying kids who destroy every nice thing we have in the house? Do we obey our arrogant, scheming, explosive boss as if he was God's brother? Do we treat useless, coffee-swilling, back-talking, all-day-texting employees with respect, without threatening to fire them? Those are the situations where you need the armor!
If you have a hard time doing those things, ask God for his power. Clothe yourself in his goodness. The devil's schemes are no good for us, and we have the power to resist. The powers of darkness that turn us against each other are the real enemy, not the people we have to put up with every day.
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