Thoughts From Ephesians 4 - Part 5

 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. Eph. 4:25-26

         Paul starts out with "therefore" and I believe that he is going to relate the next series of thought to the fact that since we are no longer slaves to Satan, self, sin but rather slaves to Christ, here is how slaves of Christ should behave. My grandson, who does not conform to the cloning of middle-schoolers, was somewhat ostracized in public school and occasionally bullied. This led his parents to finding a private school that attracts students that don't fit into the collective mold. They have certain mottos that they say at the beginning of every school assembly. They are:

• trustworthiness: to act in a manner that makes one worthy of trust and confidence
• truthfulness: to be honest about things and feelings with oneself and others
• active listening: to listen with the intention of understanding what the speaker intends to communicate
• no put-downs: to never use words, actions, or body language that degrade, humiliate, or dishonor others
• personal best: to do one’s best given the circumstances and available resources
• Along with this, they are encouraged to wear the school colors though they don't have a school uniform per se. In other words, if you are to belong to this school body, this is how you should behave. If we belong to Christ, Paul is about to tell us, this is how we should look.
•          Paul starts out with truthfulness. As believers we should be able to say, like Christopher Reeve in Superman, "Lois, I never lie." Jesus said, I am the way, the truth..." Satan is said to be the father of lies in John 8. God's word, the Bible, is said to be truth. If we are going to represent Him, we can't spread falsehood. Make sure that every fact that you post or repost or like on social media is true. If you find out it isn't consider blocking that person because you don't know in the future if you can trust what they post.
•          Secondly, he says that anger is to be monitored closely. He doesn't say that being angry is a sin which somewhat surprises me. There appears to be a righteous anger like Jesus had in the temple. He was angry especially at "religious people", as we recently talked about, feeding spiritual babies toxic food. I'm forever wanting to give my grandchildren ice cream before their 1st birthday because they would love it so much. My children tell me, no, they can't have dairy products until they are 12 months, so I wait. I'm pretty sure my kids would be angry with me if I did and they would be justified. But then what does Paul say? "Don't let the sun go down on it." What does he mean? We quite often use this verse in marriage as a principle saying that if you get in a fight with your spouse, settle it soon - don't let it stew. However, it probably isn't talking about marriage because rarely is it righteous anger. Fights in marriage usually stem from selfishness and pride no matter how much we try to convince ourselves that we are righteously indignant. Paul is saying that although someone is hurting the body of Christ and we confront it, afterward, don't let that anger marinate. Don't become an angry person. Boy are there a lot of Christians out there currently that I would consider angry people. They aren't wearing "the school uniform."
•           So, don't be a spreader of falsehood and don't be an angry person. I'm pretty sure he is talking about Christians on Twitter and Facebook 2000 years before they even existed. See how relevant the Bible is!