25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4
The body concept is found in many places throughout the Bible. We are all the body of Christ, and Christ is the head of that body. Because we are all of one body, we must act in unison, and specifically as it says in these verses, we must put off falsehood, speak truthfully, avoid sinning in anger, and do not stay angry at someone.
When we do not act in unison, it sends mixed signals to those that are aware of the church, but unaware of Jesus. They question our faith because of our fighting among us. Think of your own body. I am unable to read in the car due to motion sickness. I even have a hard time if my husband's driving and he asks me to send a text on his phone. My body feels the weight and motion of the car, my equilibrium is telling me that we're moving, yet my eyes are looking at something still and saying, "Nah, we're sitting still, you fool!" That fighting leads my stomach to say, "I don't know what to do!" and it panics and I feel queasy. Due to all the mixed signals (Yes, No, PANIC!) my whole body is left in turmoil.
The same thing happens among the body of Christ. When we start to lie to one another or even get angry at each other within the body due to someone else's actions, we cause divisions among each other, panic among those who try to be peacemakers, and the whole body is in turmoil. This gives the devil a foothold on the body, and allows him to find other ways to wrench us apart.
We are called to always speak truthfully, but it is vitally important that we maintain this honesty within the body of Christ. We can certainly have our disagreements, but we must see that we all need to work towards one goal - spreading Christ's love.
No comments:
Post a Comment