Walk In A Manner Worthy

“I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”                          Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV

In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul writes from his cell in a Roman garrison and shares his thoughts about worthily walking with Christ. I find that walking with Christ is a privilege, not a right, and we are called to portray our lives in Christ in ways that reflect His character and love for the world and for others. We have many challenges to overcome, like people who refuse to see or acknowledge Christ as being relevant in our society and accusing us of being out of touch with reality as they see it. At those times, the love of Christ Jesus shines the brightest when we allow adversity to become our platform for love and acceptance.

Paul recognized that, as a master apologist, he could turn most situations into an opportunity to display God's mercies to a people who needed to hear about God's love. He recognized that ALL people were God’s children, not just the Jews of his day, so he successfully planted churches and mentored young converts to become leaders. Paul’s missionary visits brought hope and comfort to many Christians who needed the wisdom that He provided.

Though not all of Paul’s efforts were received with gladness, some wanted to kill Paul and put an end to his preaching and teaching the way of Christ. Many times, he had to be led out of cities by fellow Christians who supported Paul and wanted to protect him, and once even let down from a second-story room by a rope connected to a basket.

My point in sharing this is not to draw attention to the pitfalls of sharing Christ but to make us aware that many need to know the love of God and that if we’re doing it right, we will occasionally encounter opposition. We meet the opposition with humility, gentleness, and patience. We may have thought this passage Paul wrote was only meant for our brothers and sisters in Christ, but Paul is saying that we bear with one another in love, which means ALL people, even if they are in opposition to the message of Christ. The goal should always be to draw others to Christ's love, regardless of their persuasion or proclivities. “But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 NET

Paul had one selfish goal: to see Christ formed in others. I call this selfish because he wanted to receive some spiritual blessing from those united in Christ to be refreshed in his work. It was evidence that what he was doing was bearing fruit; he wanted to taste the fruit to see if it was good.

The unity of the spirit in the bond of peace; the unity of the spirit is recognizing that the power of the Father is flowing through believers, revealing the depth of His love in ways that are not natural but supernatural. This flow comes from unity with all the brothers and sisters in Christ as they are gathered in one accord. This accord is where Christ Jesus meets His own, where peace flowing like a river connects everyone gathered. “Again, I tell you the truth, if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.” Matthew 18:19-20 NET

It is this peace that the world needs now, not a contrived peace based on words or treaties. God is now reaching out in unparalleled ways, reaching not just people but nations with the message that He loves them and that there is a better way to do life than we have done for many generations. Some of the most unreachable nations have groundswell movements growing exponentially in Christ, Iran, China, and Russia, to name a few. In the United States and Great Britain, we have become complacent to the call to the nations, and it is essential that we are not left behind with the latest move of God but to be at the forefront and encourage what God is doing.

Many Christians in our country have marginalized the LGBTQ communities for years; it is now time to speak the truth of the gospel to them and release the power of God to do what He does best, which is to call His children home. Jesus never required you to be anything different than what you were; our message should be the same.

There are the Muslim communities that have proliferated in this country, and Christian communities have ignored and even stood in fear of the rise of Sharia Law in our country when we should be welcoming our Muslim friends as God’s means of stretching us and helping us to see that God loves them too, Jesus died for people who claim to be Muslim’s and our message of love should include them too.

The message of love is not inviting them to church; our message of love is one-on-one, Demonstrating Christ’s love personally, face to face. Paul would concur that this is where the rubber meets the road with our faith: by being Christ to everyone we meet.

Then, we can simultaneously be like Paul and be selfish and desire to see Christ formed in those we meet so we can reap some spiritual blessings from them. It seems the appropriate thing to do!

Stephen Barnett