COMMUNICATION

Ephesians 4:17-32

¹⁷ Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds;¹⁸ they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart; ¹⁹ they have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness. ²⁰ You did not so learn Christ!— ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. ²² Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵ Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. ²⁶ Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and give no opportunity to the devil.²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need. ²⁹ Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, ³² and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Communication… It seams like it would be the easiest thing in the world to do, but we fail at it so much! Sometimes our message is unclear and we hurt those around us, sometimes we don’t communicate at all which hurts others, and sometimes we use those methods of communication to consciously hurt others.

I can tell you first hand that on a daily basis, I fail at God’s instruction in the above passage. For me this is one of the most sobering instruction that Saint Paul gives us. If you are ever feeling good about yourself as a Christian read this passage and evaluate yourself. We fail! Thank God for Grace!

While this whole passage is extremely important to me there are two parts that I’d like to focus on. The first is at verse 25, Therefore, putting away falsehood, let everyone speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. We talk about others all the time. Sometimes we sing the praises of our neighbor, but in our less than glorious times we use slander as our mode of communication. Our society has conditioned us to do this. We have tabloids, newspapers, political parties, news shows, and celebrity gossip shows that condition us to do this on a daily basis! Every election cycle, political organizations wage an entire campaign based off of falsehood! People that run for political office that represent us do exactly what Saint Paul warns us against. 

The news whether the right or the left does exactly this EVERYDAY! Saint Paul also tells us in verse 17, Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, IN THE FUTILITY OF THEIR MINDS; they are darkened in their understanding,  alienated from the life of God because of the IGNORANCE that is in them; This verse brings the passage full circle for me. Not only are we to speak truthfully and respectfully of our neighbor, but also we are to be aware of what is being told to us. No longer can we allow others to tell us what to believe. We are to use the incredible gift that God has given us (our brain and free will) to think critically about the issues and news that are presented to us. Do not take the information provided to you as the Word when it comes from the mouth of a futile mind.

Communication can almost come in any form these days. It is our job as diligent Christians to use communication the way Saint Paul instructs in Ephesians.

The second part of this passage ties in to the first part. Verse 32, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, FORGIVING one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Man! The “F” word… FORGIVENESS! It is probably one of the hardest things I face on a daily basis. How do I forgive the person who lied to me, betrayed, or slandered me? Jesus forgave Judas for the ultimate betrayal, and we struggle forgiving others for lying to us? When did we stop being kind to those who may simply have a different view or political stand? When did having a different lifestyle, home life, political view, or religious belief mean we can start to disown, cast-out, or even anger towards our neighbor.

Communication… with out it we fail, with it we sin! It is double edge sword. Having said that, a double edge sword is still useful when used honorably! I think it high time we start using the incredible mind that the Lord has provided us with, and speak the truth with your neighbor.