What Geek Humility Looks Like (In Search Of Truth, Ephesians 3:1-13)

(Ephesians 3:1-13, ESV)
For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

v.1

"For this reason" refers to the fact that Gentile(non-Jewish) and Jewish believers are now made into one unified body of believers through Christ. Paul then continues, saying "I Paul"... and then takes another of his characteristic "detours" before restarting and finishing that sentence in verse 14.
His detour starts as a result of identifying himself as a prisoner for Christ on behalf of his Gentile readers. Paul had been preaching the obsolete nature of the Mosaic law and the freedom believers have through Christ. It was his support of Gentile believers that led to his imprisonment.

What's amazing is Paul's perspective on his situation. He was being treated unjustly, and yet he saw purpose and opportunity in it.  For Paul, it wasn't man holding him prisoner, but Christ. He was right where he was supposed to be in order to serve Jesus, and his situation was to the benefit of his readers.

v. 2

Paul reminds his readers of the unique role given to him by God as an administrative servant in God's plans for non-Jewish believers. It was a role he was given and equipped for, not because he deserved it, but out of God's undeserved favor toward him.

v.3-6

Paul's role involved God revealing a great mystery to him (which Paul identified earlier in Ephesians 1:9-10). Namely, the unification of all things through the rescuing work of Jesus.

Paul had written briefly about this revelation before and invited his readers to go back and read his earlier writings on the topic, which would confirm his unique and God-given insight into God's newly revealed plan. The New Testament writers call this plan "the gospel", meaning "good news" and referring to Jesus and his rescuing work for the sake of humanity. Because of this good news, both Jews and non-Jews are able to be co-heirs of God with Christ, and will one day inherit all that God promised his people through his covenant with Abraham and beyond (Galatians 3:29, Revelation 20:6).

v. 7-8a

Paul was made a "minister" of this good news, not by his own qualification, but through God's enabling power and undeserved favor. The Greek word for "minister" that Paul assigns to himself here describes one who carries out the commands of another, and was also used to describe a table waiter.

Paul's view of himself is both humble in self-assessment and confident in what God has affirmed.
v.8b-9

Paul's God-given responsibility was to announce to Gentiles the limitless wealth offered freely through Jesus, and to announce to everyone the nature of God's newly revealed rescue plan, as carried out by Jesus.

v.10

The reason for Paul's work goes well beyond helping people avoid eternal separation from God. That would certainly be monumental enough, but Paul says that the reason for his service is so that the church (defined as the whole collection of believers everywhere) would be the instrument through which God reveals (in a wide variety of ways) his wisdom to the cosmic rulers and authorities of the universe.

Whatever angels or other unseen creatures exist, with roles and responsibilities in far reaching parts of creation, they are gaining a new, multi-faceted  understanding of God's perfect planning and governing over the universe. And they are gaining that understanding because of what they see Christ doing for humanity, as revealed through the good news Paul was commanded to spread.

v. 11-12

This revelation of God's wisdom was planned before the ages of the earth, and was accomplished through Jesus. And now because of Jesus we can have "boldness" with God. The Greek word here specifically refers to a freedom with our speech. In a manner of speaking, we can burst unannounced into the throne room of God and tell him whatever is on our minds. This isn't because we're good people or because God doesn't think our sin is that big of a deal. We can have confidence approaching God because we gratefully take advantage of the fact that Jesus has paid for our sin. Our court case has been settled and we can now go out for lunch with the judge.

v. 13

In light of the massive significance of all these things, Paul asks his readers not to be discouraged over his imprisonment. From Paul's and God's perspective, Paul's suffering is part of Christ's eternal rescue of Gentiles. It is work he is honored to be a part of and he wants his readers to see that.


SO WHAT'S IN ALL THIS FOR GEEKS?

As geeks we can be very self-conscious and overly concerned about what people think of us. (That's the description you'll find when you look me up in a dictionary.) It's easy to silently accuse other Christians of "playing church" and keeping up appearances when in reality we are doing the same thing.

Granted, it often takes a different form with us. We may have given up on looking cool, stylish or attractive, but we might alternately take every opportunity to say something that showcases our knowledge of a topic. We might avoid showing emotion and emphasize the intellectual because we think of that as a sign of spiritual maturity.

Those are just two examples. I'm betting if we each take some time and ask God to help us search our hearts (Psalm 139:23-24), we'll discover our individual ongoing attempts to be admired by others.

A common thread I see in these verses is humility. Paul recognizes that he's been given a specific and somewhat unique role. But he genuinely recognizes that he's not worthy of it, and that his effectiveness in that role depends entirely on God. He is also urging his readers to set aside the differences they have used to define themselves and recognize their unity and oneness through the much needed rescue efforts Jesus.

A phrase comes to mind that my wife picked up a number of years ago. "Be interest-ed, not interest-ing." People ultimately don't want an impressive or entertaining friend. They want a friend who cares about them and is interested in their lives, thoughts and concerns. That's the kind of friend we all want, and the kind of person we admire.

We don't have to join the rat race of trying to self-conjure identity and significance. That race is never ending and produces more insecurity than satisfaction.

Instead we can remember the massive significance we have, as cosmic examples of God's grace and wisdom. Then, in light of that, we can relax our image-building efforts and give more time to listening and sympathizing with others, engaging in the things we were truly made for.



Resources typically used to prepare this study include:
"Expositor's Bible Commentary", Frank E. Gaebelein General Editor (Zondervan Publishing House)
"The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament", by Dr. Craig S. Keener (InterVarsity Press)
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
Blueletterbible.org (primarily for search functionality)