1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:1-2)
Last week, we focused on the exhortation in Ephesians 4:1. Our calling emerges from God’s saving, healing, renewing, life-giving work through Jesus Christ, that work which was revealed in the opening chapters of Ephesians. When we embrace what God has done through faith, we accept God’s calling to live in a whole new way for His purposes and glory. How should we start living out our calling? If I had been writing Ephesians (I am glad is not the case), I would have been inclined to start big. I would have issued some challenge to do grand things for Christ. Perhaps focus on bold preaching and justice seeking. I confess I would not begin where Paul begins. Paul was writing this letter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit rather than under my insufficient wisdom. Look where Paul starts. Immediately after encouraging his readers to lead a life worthy of their calling, he tells them to do this by being “completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (v. 2). These things won’t get much attention from the world. They are not especially grand and, at first glance, don’t appear to advance the kingdom of God much. Humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance are just fine. But they don’t exactly shake up the world. In fact, they seem like things that might easily be ignored or forgotten. Yet, according to Ephesians, why ought we to begin with such primary priorities if we’re going to live out our calling? First, humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance are essential characteristics of Jesus Christ. Jesus claimed to be “gentle and humble” (Matt. 11:29). Philippians 2:5-11 celebrates Jesus' humility by becoming human and going to the cross. After calling the Ephesians to walk worthy of their calling, Paul could also have said, “Do this by imitating Jesus” (see 1 Cor. 4:16, 11:1). If we want to live out our calling faithfully, it is never a bad idea to do as Jesus did. In fact, it is a great place to start. Second, Paul’s prioritizing humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance reflects his pastoral experience in his churches. He knows how easy it is for Christian communities not to get along. He is aware of the dangers of division and strife. He has seen it happen far too often in his churches. But Paul is not merely wanting people to get along because it makes church life nicer. Unity among Christians is absolutely essential to our calling as God’s people. One of the things I love about Ephesians 4:2 is its utter practicality and feasibility. You and I can start right now to work on humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance. Each day brings many opportunities to reflect one or more of these Christ-like characteristics. Why not begin doing so today? Help us, Lord, to be like Jesus today! Comments are closed.
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