A Life Worthy

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21).

Submission is the essence of relationship.  

Not really my favorite thing, but there it is.

When we put ourselves first, we aren’t really capable of loving anyone.  Our own desires blind us to what the other person needs and wants. When we learn to submit, to see the other person’s needs and put them ahead of our own, we take a big step in learning to love.  

Jesus provided the perfect example of submission. Without his submission to the Father, we would be forever lost. When we follow his example, we honor him and build godly relationships at the same time.

This verse leads into Paul’s famous section on submission.  Paul is going to talk about husbands and wives, parents and children, even slaves and masters.  No matter what the relationship, the principle is the same.

Put the other first.  

Don’t worry about what you need, or what you think you need, or what the world is screaming that you need.  Trust all that to God, and focus on the other person.

So, who do you need to submit to today?  Gird your loins, Beloved—this oughta be fun!

Happy Thursday

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs  (Ephesians 5:19).

I remember a Sci-Fi program once upon a time in which the heroes were trying to communicate with Mysterious Alien Race #5. They had a high-tech translator gadget thingie, but there was a problem. Although our heroes were able to understand words and phrases and even sentences, they still couldn’t make sense of the aliens’ speech. It just seemed like random names and places with no context or connection.

Then cameth the “Ah-ha” moment.

It turned out that Mysterious Alien Race #5 communicated almost entirely in metaphors. Everything they said was tied to shared stories from their cultural history. Just like if I say, “Romeo and Juliet on the balcony,” or “Julius Cesar crossing the Rubicon,” or “Fonzie jumping the shark,” I convey a wealth of meaning to those who know our socio-cultural history. It’s a very efficient way to communicate…if you know the references. Further, speaking like this binds people together in a shared culture.

This is what Paul wants us to do. He is calling us to speak to each other in the language of our faith. Let the metaphors of Truth strengthen us and draw us closer together.

It’s like being a Star Wars geek, only it’s the Bible, so it’s better.

Yes it is.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is (Eph. 5:17).

My wife, the Lovely Catherine, tells the story of seeing a church skit once upon a time. The skit involved a group of people trying to figure out God’s will in various difficult situations. From time to time, little notes would waft gently down from the rafters, telling the recipient exactly what God wanted from them.

That would be awesome.

It doesn’t work that way,

but

that would be awesome.

Beloved, may I be so bold as to say that I know God’s will for today?

Of course I may–it’s my blog.

Relationship

That’s it. God wants to know and be known by the people he has created and fed and clothed and loved and lost and redeemed at the price of his Son. Those who are far from him, he wants to draw close. Those who are near to him, he wants to draw closer still, because unlike your Great Aunt Susie with the funky perfume, you can never get too close to God.

But Michael, God’s will is more complicated than that.

No, Beloved…it isn’t. If your actions today bring you and those in your world closer to the Father, then you are in his will. If they pull you farther away from him, you are being foolish.

Don’t be foolish. Life’s tough enough without that.

Happy Friday, Beloved.

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise… (Ephesians 5:15).

If you follow Christ, the world will not understand you.  More than that, the world cannot understand you.  John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” That light is Jesus, and if he lives in you…well… you’re pretty much a mystery to the world around you.

So, Beloved, riddle me this: Why do you keep trying to do things the world’s way?  Why do you constantly fail to grasp that the way of Christ is infinitely superior to the way of the world? Why do you follow the world’s advice, or try to impress the world? It’s never going to work, so you might as well dump that idea and move on.

Oh, and by the way: by you I mean we.

Paul says that we must be very careful to live in wisdom. It doesn’t come by default. If we are not on our guard, we will naturally fall into the unwise patterns of the world.  We must stand fast in the wisdom he has given us, the wisdom the world cannot understand, the wisdom that looks like foolishness to those without him.

Embrace your inner enigma, Beloved.

Happy Wednesday

For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret (Ephesians 5:12).

I scroll through my news feed and see the darkness masquerading as light, and I wonder…

if this is what we shout to the world, what do we hide?

And I shudder.

Beloved, do not flirt with the dark.

Just don’t go there.

Be in the world

but not of it.

Love the sinner,

while hating the sin.

Shine the light you have been given, and trust God with the shadows.

For some things really are none of your business.

Happy Monday, Beloved.