As we continue to look at God’s Word as a blueprint for our lives and thus our church, Paul gives instruction for one of the most troublesome aspects of living the Christian life, and that is, How to live the Christian Life while living in the world? Knowing that we are to be different the easy response is to live away from the world, to cloister ourselves off and not get involved. Even in the passage from Ephesians 4, that seems to be what Paul is saying at first glance. But everything is filtered through Christ and Christ told us that as we go out into the world; we are to make disciples, so we interact with our neighbors, involved with our friends and family, loving all people but our personal lives reflect Christ, so in order to do that we, as believers of Christ, must not live as the world. We stand for Christ, even if we stand alone.
And so I insist – and God backs me up on this – that there be no going along with the crowd (the world), the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion. But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything – and I do mean everything – connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life – a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you. Ephesians 4:17-24 (the Message)
May our lives be renewed from the inside out and the message we share be true to the message of Christ.
Singing His Praises!