Community Compass

This article confirms what many have seen for years as the major problem in western Christianity. How should we react? What’s the realistic solution? (Click on highlighted words to read).

Thanks to an email received today:

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
What if we went….hmmmmm…where is my Bible?
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Christ already paid the bill .

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10

One of the most difficult things about guerilla warfare is fighting an enemy that you cannot see. It takes a lot of know-how and strategy to fight such a war. Believers in Christ fight an enemy that they cannot see physically, but they see the results of his activity and influence all around. If we rely on ourselves, it is an un-winnable war.

After encouraging believers to be faithful in their relationships (wives, husbands, children, slaves, masters), Paul reminds ordinary believers that we are in a war. Satan loves to ruin relationships and work through contrary people. It’s no surprise, then, that Paul sums this section up with warning us about our foe. If the devil work from the inside out, he can get the victory and damage God’s people.

As a pastor, I have seen him operate most successfully within the family of God. He knows that if he can keep us occupied by fighting each other and ruining our joy, that we will be so preoccupied with wounding others and tending and our own wounds, that we will not be telling other people about Christ. If we war against each other we will not be demonstrating the love of Christ to each other. We won’t be much of an attraction to the lost.

We need to be strengthened by the Lord’s mighty power. The verb here is passive. It tells us that it is someone else who does the strengthening. It is also a present tense which tells us that this is the Christian’s continual practice. There is no time in which we as Christians can face the foe without relying on the power of God. He’s too big and powerful (Ephesians 6:12) for us. He outnumbers us as well. Yet he is not a foe that cannot be defeated.

We need to access God’s mighty power. The word of God is the most powerful weapon of the believer. It is the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). Do you remember the account of Christ’s temptation by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11)? Think of what Jesus could have done to Satan. Christ could have immediately destroyed him with just a simple word. Yet all throughout this difficult time, Jesus quoted Scripture. Do you recall him saying to the devil, “It is written?” Every time Satan tempted Christ, Jesus quoted a verse from Deuteronomy. And when Satan quoted a verse out of context, Christ answered him with Scripture. How well do you know the Scriptures? How often do you read them? We can stand if we know God’s Word.

Another way to access God’s power is through prayer. Paul told the believer in verse 18 to be praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints (NKJV). What a powerful joint-effort between God and man! We fight His battles and He fights ours! We must always be on guard with prayer. We must always be vigilant (watchful) to pray for each other. This is the way the battles are won.

Satan is powerful but defeat able. How are you going to face him today?

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
Eph 6:5-8

Slavery, at the time of this writing, was a prevalent issue. If my memory serves me correctly, there were about 60 million slaves in Paul’s time. The Roman world was firmly entrenched in this horrid practice and it was not, at this point, going to be turned around. The fact that Paul writes directly to the slaves as well as everyone shows his (God’s) view of their inherent dignity. The world treated a slave (doulos) as a piece of property. They had no legal rights and they were forced to do whatever their masters wanted from them.

Instead of encouraging rebellion, Paul encouraged them to obey their earthly masters. The word for “obey” is the same used for children in verse one. While we don’t have the same relationship with our employers, we can learn much from this passage as to what God expects of us in the workplace.

1) Respect for and sincerity to our employer (5) – the words “fear and trembling” are used in the Greek. While slaves often had much to fear, I believe Paul here is telling us that our attitude toward our bosses must be one of respect. Someone noted that the word “trembling” was not from fearing the hardness of service, but it came from an anxiousness to do the job well.

2) Honest labor (5-6) They were to do the work with “sincerity of heart.” Someone termed this as “mental honesty.” They were to be as good a worker on the “inside” as the outside. This clearly showed itself in labor performed when no one was watching. The motivation for honest labor was to be that Christ is their master. He was watching them and would duly reward them for their efforts (8)

These two principles may seem simple and obvious, yet all you have to do is look around your place of employment to see that many fellow employees don’t engage in hard, honest work. It would be easy to compromise and excuse oneself from doing what is expected. Yet we serve a different Master. And even if no one else in the workplace is doing right, we should because our reward is not here, but in heaven. This great thought should keep us faithfully doing our best even when no one is watching. (Proverbs 6:6-8)

Old bakers never die, they just keep making lots of dough.
Old burglars never die they just steal away.
Old gardeners never die they just vegetate.
Old grocers never die, they just get shelved.
Old lawyers never die they just lose their appeal.
Old mediums never die – they just give up the ghost.
Old power plant workers never die they just de-generate.
Old programmers never die, they just can’t C as well.
Old skiers never die – they just go down hill.

The two thousand member Baptist church was filled to overflowing capacity one Sunday morning. The preacher was ready to start the sermon when two men, dressed in long black coats and black hats entered thru the rear of the church.

The men put their weapons away and said, gently, to the preacher, “All right, pastor, the hypocrites are gone now. You may begin the service.”

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Ephesians 6:1

My kids were “reminiscing” about the decade (the 90’s) in which they were born. A friend of theirs had pointed their attention to a list category callled “You were born in the 90’s if…. “. One of the qualifications for being a “nineties child” was, “You were born in the 90’s if, you were reared to obey your parents.” What a sad commentary! I’m not sure if that is more a sign of the times or more a sign of our decaying culture. At any rate, it is a sign of direct rebellion against God.

Our text gives us both a command for children to both honor and obey and a reason for them to do so. It seems like our heavenly Father anticipates the question “Why?” from that we always get from children. The word “obey” (1) means “to hear under,” “to hear with the idea of understanding and then to do”. It is an action that requires an attitude of diligent listening. One commentator points out that Plato used this word to refer to a gatekeeper. A doorkeeper would intently ascertain who it was knocking on the other side of the door.  An obedient child intently listens to mom or dad.

Another demand that God makes here is that children should be obeying all the time. That is the sense of this Greek verb. Parents should not let their kids get the upper hand in authority issues. Each challenge by the child should be met with swift parental correction. Proverbs 22:6 tells us Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. People often view this verse as a promise that if they rear a child to be godly, then they will always be godly. More correctly, I believe, is the interpretation “If you let your child go his own way, he/she will stay that way.” It’s vital to correct self-destructing tendencies in our kids. It’s essential to insist that they continually respect and obey their parents. Proper parental discipline will later lead our kids to consistent self-discipline later.

The reason for this obedience is because it “is right.” This is contrary to what some modern day permissive psychology may teach, yet God says it’s the right thing to do. Scripture also tells us that children who obey their parents please the Lord (Colossians 3:20) and those who are rebellious to parents are dishonorable and don’t please the Lord. God even mention disobedience to parents as a sign of abject evil and characterizes it as the sign of the last days (Romans 1:25-30, 2 Timothy 3:1-2).

When we think of our own relationship to our children, it should make us aware that God wants us to obey him. Nothing is more disheartening than disobedient, disrespectful children. Yet, nothing is more encouraging than children who honor and obey. God is a loving father who wants us to obey for His glory and our good. Next time you think of “ignoring” God’s will, think of how you would feel if your children did that to you. When your children love and obey you, think of the heavenly father who is pleased with them. Think how pleased He is when you are obedient to Him.

A minister well known for his beautiful singing voice came home visibly upset after consulting with a new widow about funeral plans for her recently deceased husband. His wife asked him what was wrong, and he revealed that the wife had asked him to sing her husband’s favorite song, “Jingle Bells,” at the funeral.

He was troubled that it wasn’t appropriate to the solemn occasion.

He struggled and prayed about it, and finally decided to honor the grieving widow’s wishes.

At the funeral, still sensitive about how some of the mourners might react to hearing “Jingle Bells” at a funeral, he carefully introduced the song with words about appreciating the sense of humor and lightheartedness of the deceased.

The widow had been very tearful during the service. Hearing the introduction to her late husband’s “favorite song” she sat up and began to appear quite interested. As the preacher began the song, the widow began to smile, and her tears dried up.

She was actually giggling as he concluded, and he felt glad he’d decided to honor her request since it obviously had been so comforting.

After the service she thanked the pastor for sharing his music ministry, and with a big grin she added, “By the way, the favorite song I requested was ‘When They Ring Those Golden Bells!’”                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          from Crosswalk.com

In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church 30 -for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery-but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Eph 5:28-33

There are a lot of jokes flying around about marriage. Some people view marriage as a relationship that cannot be understood. Men like to say they’ll never understand women and many women don’t seem to understand men. To many folks marriage is a profound mystery. I’m sure that they could use verse 30 as a proof text. Yet this isn’t what the apostle Paul (via the Holy Spirit) means. In Scripture, the word “mystery” does not primarily refer to something mysterious. Mystery refers to something that God reveals that couldn’t be found out by man any other way than God’s direct revelation.

The oneness of two people in marriage is a mystery. Just as Christ loves and cherishes his bride, the church, so husbands should love and cherish their wives (29). Since they are “one flesh” (30) the relationship is an exclusive one which results in the termination of a man’s primary dependence on his parents (31). Verse thirty one is a quotation of Marriage forms a unique, one-unit relationship which is not to be infringed upon by even the parent-child relationship.

This exclusive relationship is a beautiful picture of our relationship with Christ (32). The word “profound” could be translated “great.” Just as when a man and woman love each other and express that love through living as a one-unit relationship, so Christ is profoundly close to His people. We are He is ours! What could be better? What better way to express our love for God for Husbands to really love their wives and for wives to respect and submit to their husbands?

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-Eph 5:25-29

Throughout Scripture, God goes to great lengths to reveal what type of love He has for His people. In the Old Testament, God portrays Himself as a husband to His people (Isaiah 54:5, Jeremiah 31:32) .  God’s love is often portrayed as being spurned and rejected. Yet throughout, His faithfulness is shown.

In our text, Husbands are to love their wives “as Christ loved the church.” What kind of love do we see here?

Sacrificial love – He gave Himself. The ultimate act of selfless love is portrayed in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. The word “give” literally means “to hand over,” “to deliver up.” Christ permitted all the abuse of mankind upon Himself for us. He didn’t retaliate when he could have justly done so.

Personal love – The Greek text places the emphasis on the word “Himself.” Too often, we husbands don’t put ourselves into meeting our wives’ needs. Men can easily withdraw into their own world by ignoring needs of the wife or problems in the marriage. Christ’s example shows us that He put Himself on the line. He didn’t ignore our need nor let us go our own way (Romans 5:8).

Beneficial Love – The purpose for why Christ died for us is found in verse 26 – “to make her holy” and in verse 27 “to present her to himself as a “radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Jesus’ sacrifice made us what we could never be on our own! We are accepted by Him because He has set us aside for Himself. Husbands, do you strive to help make your wife a better person? No, not by condemning or criticizing her. Do you make her feel loved and accepted by yourself? It isn’t unmanly to do so. It is displaying Christ-like love.

Verses 28-29 tells us that if we love our wives as Christ loved us, we are actually benefiting ourselves. When we obey God in this way we benefit by 1) Pleasing God by showing His love. 2) Encouraging our wives 3) Having the result of a God-pleasing, workable marriage.

Think of God’s love today. No believer should ever feel unwanted, inferior, or unloved. God demonstrated His love in such a way that we all should be able to understand. Take a moment to thank Him for His love.