How To Change Our View Of Those Irritating Christians (In Search Of Truth, Ephesians 3:14-21)

(Ephesians 3:14-21, ESV)
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Paul continues to provide perspective to his readers regarding the amazing and eternal things that God has done for them.


v. 14-16

"For this reason" calls back to 2:11-22, and picks up the train of thought Paul detoured away from in 3:2.

Because of the unifying work of Christ, to bring together Jewish and Gentile (non-Jewish) followers of Christ, Paul prays for his readers. He specifically prays that God the Father (whom he reminds us is the common originator of ALL human life), in keeping with his wealth and character, would give the Ephesian Christians inner strength through the power of the Holy Spirit.

v. 17-19

This "inner strength" from the Holy Spirit seems to be the fuel of our faith, because Paul says that believers are given this power "so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith".

Christ is God, and so is therefore omni-present in terms of space/time. But in some sense, Christ is more noticeably or effectively present as we place our trust in Yahweh. And it is through this "increased presence" of Christ that we become "rooted and grounded in love".

The Greek word for love here is "agape", which refers not to a love simply based on common interests or pleasure derived from someone or something, but love based on selfless concern and compassion for another. It's a love that seeks the best for others. This selfless love serves to enable our comprehension of Christ's measureless love, which is so great it can't be fully known.

The second half of this verse("that you may be filled with all the fullness of God") is interpreted by some to mean this "filling" happens as a result of comprehending Christ's love. Others interpret it as simply the climax of Paul's prayer, and not dependent on comprehension of Christ's love. The phrase "filled with the fullness of God", according to some scholars, is possibly best understood to mean "filled with the fullness required or intended by God's standard." The phrasing is just vague enough that we can't be dogmatic about it, but this view fits well with the upcoming verse 14, which expresses God's plan for us to ultimately "measure up" to Christ.

In any case, there is a chain of effects here worth noticing that can have a real impact on our daily lives.

1. A believer prays for God to fuel our faith.
2. God gives us fuel for our faith.
3. We then CHOOSE to trust in him, moment by moment.
4. Christ more effectively dwells in us.
5. Our perspective on life becomes rooted and grounded in agape love.
6. We comprehend more of the ultimately incomprehensible love of Christ.

v.21

Emphasizing the potential of prayer, Paul highlights God's ability to "do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think". He also highlights God's character and worthiness to be given eternal attention, focus and honor through his work in Jesus... and through the Church!

There are so many unknowns about God. And it is God's intention to reveal his character (to angels and to other potential beings in existence) through us!


SO WHAT'S IN ALL THIS FOR GEEKS?

I don't think I'm alone in frequently wanting to live the Christian life without other Christians. At least without those other Christians that can be disagreeable or irritate me. The angry Christians, the know-it-all Christians the legalistic Christians or whatever other label I want to stick on them. On some days I can even arrogantly think that most Christians in this world are "doing it wrong" and I'm part of the small pocket that's "doing it right".

But right or wrong, pleasant or irritating, everyone who trusts in Jesus to forgive their sins is my brother or sister. God has very deep and personal affection for them and values them more than I can imagine, in the same way that he values and has affection for me.

In light of this, we should be praying for each other to see and be seen the way that God sees us. We should pray that we all are strengthened in our faith, and then trust, moment by moment throughout our days, that what God says about himself and us is true.

As we do that our perspective on others, ourselves and our circumstances will all begin to change. Christ will more effectively dwell in our hearts and minds and we will develop genuine, selfless love for others. And in the process we'll understand more of Christ's unfathomable love for us.

That knowledge, in turn, can encourage us to continue praying, resulting in a feedback loop that causes us to become more and more what God wants us to be.

This is an encouraging change that I've only begun to see happen in my life as I pray for those in the CGC community and for some of those abrasive Christians that leave comments on youtube. It's a slow change in me that is just beginning, but I can already see how trusting in God's perspective on people transforms my day by lessening my stress and irritation, increasing my patience and stabilizing my contentment.

Sometimes we can have so little in common with other Christians. But we are united by the fact that we are all in desperate need of the tireless forgiveness of Jesus. Despite the confident fronts we might try to put up for each other, it's our brokenness and our common rescuer that makes us family. And it's reflecting on and imitating that kind of selfless love that gives us patience and common ground with each other.

And if that sounds like wishful thinking, we should remember again the final words of this chapter, which affirm the nature of the God whose help we need so badly in our relationships with others:

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."




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)