Ephesians Embodiment and Implications

I've written the last couple of nights, but not for here... Last night it was an assignment for class last week.

Here it is for you to read:

Trevor Sullivan

Ephesians Embodied and Implications

What does the book of Ephesians mean to me? How can I apply it to my life moving forward? Why does Paul set such a high standard for Christian conduct? Before we look into the future, we’re going to visit the past. 

It was early December in Bangkok, and a few stories above the bustle of the street, Ethan Stoner and I found a pocket of peace. We stood on the balcony outside of the room we’d shared with the team Cambodia boys until the day before. Jetlag had woken both of us up early. The weight of the task ahead and the next two months was beginning to set in, not unwelcome, but heavy. As we surveyed the university grounds across from us and the rest of the view we were afforded, a scripture popped into my head. “Our battle is not against flesh and blood.” I told Ethan. I didn’t know how real those words would become to us in the near future, but the Lord needed me to know how important they were.

Later that day, in a lull, I opened Facebook. The second post as I began to scroll was from my uncle Jake, who, with my aunt Shawna-Lee, is heavily involved in missions in the Dominican Republic when they’re not at home in Ontario. As I read, I realized it was serious. He recounted how during a church service the previous night, while my aunt was preaching, a man ruined by drugs had come in with a weapon. Satan was angry, Jake said, they’d already had a few very close calls on that trip and they needed prayer. Upon opening the comment section, I was surprised to find the reference for the passage that I’d quoted some of that very morning, left by a friend of his. “Strange.” I thought something along the lines of. “I just spoke that over our trip this morning.”

The Lord knows how to get my attention. He also knows that sometimes I take some time and repetition to pick up on a hint. When I opened my Bible a few hours later on the bus ride to Chaiyaphum and, after flipping around briefly, came upon the same passage highlighted in its entirety, it was a third confirmation that this was to be something bound to my heart for our trip. Amidst the spiritual darkness over Pattaya, the trials that struck our team, the apathy, and worst of all: the intrusive thoughts, I learned to call on the name of Jesus Christ and was never let down.

Editor’s note - I don’t recall whether I found the passage in my Bible or saw it on Facebook first… I think it happened as described.

Ephesians, to me, is an outline of how to better serve the Lord. Paul’s urgings for us to conduct ourselves appropriately are not limitations, they’re practical assistance in how to best witness in the mundane apart from intentionally sharing the gospel. People notice when Christians are different, and as someone who’s struggled with and been convicted about coarse joking for a while, it would do me a great disservice to not recognize how my loose tongue can damage my witness. It’s not fair to the Gentiles for a Christian to live like them. How will they know any different way exists other than sin?

Another takeaway of mine from Ephesians is encouragement. In 2:10, it tells of work you and I have cut out for us. The same omnipotent God who created us and made us co-heirs has a plan that has been fully underway since before creation. As a man who has struggled with direction and purpose, I know that my life has intention behind its creation. Should we jump ahead to Philippians 1:6, it’s a reflection of the same concept woven through Ephesians. The Lord has us in hand and is shaping us to enact His will.

This isn’t always a light concept to remember, as it’s not always smooth sailing. Growth, even that prescribed by the Lord (what isn’t) often is formed in adversity. Between the car accident a few months ago and an unfortunate termination of a close friendship today, this summer has been full of hard lessons. I know that the Lord is working in me and I hope that at the end of STS I’ll know what the next step is for my life, but it has been difficult to navigate this summer as a whole. I trust that He is good, and know that in order for my immaturity to be ironed out, it’s going to hurt sometimes, as it has.

All things considered, between my experiences on outreach and in STS, I’m glad that we went through Ephesians in such depth. Alongside the “what”s of the text I’ll be more aware of the “why”s and the “what’s already been done”s. I do wish that my parents had done this course on Ephesians, because, likely, I’d still have my foreskin. Oh well, the Lord willed it and so it was.