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Rachel KippProfessor LayEnglish Composition II23 September 2010Titanic Unity“Time out, ref!” Coach Boone, of the T.C. Williams High School Titans, roared as his team quarreled among themselves yet again. In an intense battle for unity, this group of high school boys, in the midst of racially segregated America, found themselves at odds with the other members of their interracial football team; their story is told in the 2000 film Remember the Titans. Upon meeting, their hatred towards each other, and even towards the coaches of another race, burned and erupted as violently as volcanoes, and the preconceptions each member brought to the team were as ancient and solid as the lava-filled mountains as well. Try as they might the coaches could not get the boys to abandon their old traditions and cooperate as a team. The disasters they called practices were only a mild foreshadowing of the fiascos at the games each Friday night. Rewind through the centuries— about 2000 years. The apostle Paul, of Tarsus, was writing what many consider to be his “crowning work,” (Bruce 229) a real-life version of the movie’s script. His audience was very different but the plot was the same— he was begging for unity. Because we, like the Christians in Ephesus, are born again believers, we cannot act according to the standards of the world; we must unify in love for one another through Jesus Christ and obey His authoritative commands.The book of Ephesians found in the New Testament of the Bible is an epistle, or letter, probably written by the Apostle Paul while he was imprisoned in Rome around 60-62 A.D. There is some speculation on the place of his imprisonment, however with some claiming he was actually in Caesarean custody (Wilson). Paul’s authorship of the letter went unquestioned for eighteen centuries, says Dr. Rolf F. Wilson, until Ferdinand Christian Baur, a German theologian (Head), first questioned who the author really was in 1845 (Wilson). Most critical scholars today also doubt Pauline authorship, based on five major points: The language differences in the letter to the Ephesians; the way the letter was formatted stylistically; the more advanced theology and church knowledge in the letter; the lack of warm, personal salutation in the letter; and the similarities between Ephesians and Colossians, causing them to call the work a copy-cat (Wilson).However, those who feel that Paul was the author of Ephesians can easily combat the opposition’s reasoning. The different usage of language is due to Paul being highly educated and therefore able to write in any number of different styles or manners (Wilson) the fact that there is no warm, personal greeting included in this particular epistle is because it was meant to circulate throughout Asia-Minor and be read by a large audience. In reference to the claim that Ephesians is merely a copy-cat of Colossians, Pauline authorship advocates could assert that the two letters are actually “companion-letters” and were written together so the similarities are to be expected (Boll 39).Even though Paul addressed the letter “To the saints who are at Ephesus,” (NASB Eph. 1:1), it was probably meant to circulate throughout more than 450 churches across Asia-minor, many of which were founded thanks in great part to the Lord’s work through Paul (Wilson; MacCorkle 26). It was probably only addressed specifically to Ephesus because the church there, which Paul founded in approximately 52-55 A.D. (Wilson), was so prominent. Not only was the church at Ephesus, the western part of modern day Turkey (Wilson), extremely prominent but the city itself was also a major-port city says Brad Maston, and one that Paul had made a center of preaching the gospel for years. Because Ephesus was such a busy port in the ancient world, it became a religious melting pot that included early forms of Buddhism and Hinduism among other pagan beliefs; the main religion of Ephesus, however, was still belief in the Greek and Roman gods (Maston, Ephesians Intro). With all of the religions of the area, Paul was up against fierce competition in his quest to guide the Ephesians to holiness. For the pagans of that time sin was nonchalance and was sometimes even expected of them (Maston, Ephesians Intro) due to certain rituals that commonly occurred in the temples of their gods. Sexual acts in particular were seen as religious practices and were expressed everywhere around the believers ingrained in the temples, the artwork, and the general surroundings; their society was saturated (Barth 503). Paul was thoroughly dissuading the readers of the letter from again becoming a part of the pagan religions that surrounded them (Erdman 95), as well as addressing the segregation of the Jew and Gentile believers in the church that was based upon prejudices handed down from their forefathers (Maston, Ephesians Intro). One has to wonder if Paul felt like he was the team captain of the Titans; if the team “practices” were that bad, what would Christ’s team look like on the field?How then does Paul achieve his goal of encouraging the flock at Ephesus to unite, win new believers to Christ, and teach them to behave in a Christ-like manner in their society (Erdman 94)? He achieves the goal by writing a playbook for Christian living, found in Ephesians 4:17-32. This passage of scripture clearly illustrates the contrast in the lives of church-members before and after conversion (Van Ryn 129).Paul connected verse 16 and the foundation he had laid in the previous chapters to verse 17 and the instruction that followed (Hendricksen 209), with the statement, “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord,” (NASB). Paul also declared his own apostleship, with his opening statement, affirming that he was sent by the Lord with this message for the church, as well as asserting his own passionate belief in what he was writing (Erdman 95). Paul continues in verse 17 to say, “that you no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,” (NASB). The word walk is referring to the everyday life of a believer (Boll 41), in fact the New International Version translates the word as live; it meant everything Christians did in their day-to-day lives (Maston)— no area, no matter how insignificant it seemed, was to be left unchanged after conversion. As believers in Christ we too are to understand that Paul’s use of the word walk infiltrates every aspect of our being. We must be students for Christ, youth leaders for Christ, accountability partners, daughters, sons, friends, and parents for Christ—all to the glory of God.Another point worth noting about this particular verse, says Charles R. Erdman, is that Paul did not say, “No longer walk as the other Gentiles.” Since they were now saved through Christ, the Gentile and Jewish converts were unified as brothers and sisters and therefore equal to one another. By completely separating all of the Christians, Jew and Gentile alike, from the pagan Gentiles to whom he was referring in verse 17, Paul made clear that the believers were one united family under Christ’s authority (95). Since Christians today are one divine family, as well, the Christian brother of a different race is still a brother, the sister in Christ with tattoos on every visible inch, is still a sister, the unmarried mother striving to keep food on the table, the murderer who converted on death row, the believing man patching the road outside, the godly woman in a cubicle on the other end of the phone—they are all just as much a part of our Christian family as our pastors, pals, parents, and professors.When Paul referred to the futility of the minds of the Gentiles, he was literally saying that everything they did: their thoughts, their ideas, and their actions, were all futile efforts— pointless striving with nothing but heartache waiting for them in the end because they were apart from the divine will of Christ (Hendricksen 209). Some translations express the word futility in this scripture as vanity which is perfectly acceptable because futility is actually one of the meanings of the word vanity (Hendricksen 209). The more I researched Ephesus and the futility, or vanity, of its inhabitants I realized that America is following so closely in its footsteps. As Christ-followers in America, we have to battle the vanities being professed as important to every person, every day. Plastered on every television commercial and Internet ad is a new diet program and a list of all the reasons “thin is in,” or a cosmetic to spend money on, “Because you’re worth it.” In a world afflicted by hunger and malnutrition, America’s diet industry continues to bring in an average of $74 billion every year (Graham 14)! We must have the biggest house, nicest car, thinnest body, strongest husband, loveliest wife—the list goes on and on. Why do we strive for such things? It is the vanity and futility of the mind of our society. We live in a modern day Ephesus, a melting pot of religions and cultures and yet as a church we spend more time segregated due to insignificant things, from music styles to the pastor’s hair length, than we do winning new believers to Christ. These things all fade—skin wrinkles, cars rust, houses crumble, fashions change—but our God endures forever. Huddle up, American Titans—we’re on the same team! Verses 18 and 19 should be studied together in order to fully grasp the message of hopelessness Paul was trying to communicate. They state, “being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practices of every kind of impurity with greediness,” (NASB). In saying, “darkened in their understanding,” Paul means that the Gentiles were ignorant. However, they were not ignorant because of a lack of availability of knowledge of Christ but because of their unwillingness to seek to learn Christ; the Ephesians willfully disobeyed God’s commands (MacCorkle 163). According to William Hendrickson, darkness was used as a metaphor of an eye being blinded, but this spiritual darkening was much worse than any physical blindness. A physically blind man knows he is blind and can seek assistance when he needs it; the Ephesians had no idea they were blind—they were ignorant of their own ignorance. The wickedness the pagan Gentiles expressed was a direct result of their rejecting knowledge of God (Barth 500; Erdman 97). Hendrickson continues, explaining that the Ephesians had said “No,” to God for so long and so often that they were no longer conditioned to hear His voice; they were spiritually deaf (210). As August Van Ryn says, “Sin is like an anesthetic;” it numbs one’s heart to God, hence the separation (121). The beauty of God was everywhere in nature around them (Erdman 97), but being blinded, they missed the beauty of God and prevented themselves from having a relationship with Jesus Christ. The sensuality Paul referred to in verse nineteen did not only apply to sexual immorality, though that was a wide spread sin in Ephesus. The usage of “sensualities” here referred to any trait that became idolatrous, a matter as small as one’s eating, spending, or social life, could deem them “impure,” (Barth 503). Our translated word greediness at the end of verse 19 comes from the Greek word Pleonexia, meaning anything in excess, says Markus Barth, and great Greek thinkers such as Aristotle, Plato, and the Stoics agree with the Bible in the encouragement of moderation, self-control, and temperance (503). In the “me” generation of today, more and more people are turning to a belief in relativity—God is whatever you say He is, whatever is convenient for you relative to your situation (Bowland 122-123). They say “no” to God’s truth in order to say “yes” to themselves; they are blinded by selfishness and convenience. However, as Charles R. Erdman says, if only the world knew God they would want to follow Him (96). The world around us is ignorant and therefore blind; they need a pep-rally. In a country where obesity is on the rise and everyone is looking for a “get-rich-quick” scheme we must practice moderation in all things, fleeing from our humanly greed and being the light to a blinded world. Moving on to verse twenty Paul presented a very important conjunction: “But.” Once he had instructed the believers on how not to act any longer, he offered them a turn-around, the starting point of their redemption. “But,” Paul wrote in verses 20 and 21, “you did not learn Christ this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,” (NASB). Conversion in its truest form is a process, not an immediate change, says Barth, and is compared in this verse to schooling. He continues to say that though the Greek translation of this passage does not specify learning in a schoolhouse it does give the image of a school with the Christians being the students learning Christ, hearing Christ, and teaching Christ (504). Note too, that Paul did not say, “you did not learn about Christ this way.” “To learn Christ is more than to learn about Christ,” says Hendrickson. It is deeper and more personal, learned within the heart and soul rather than only with the brain (212). The church can know all about Jesus and never truly know Him as their Lord and Savior. What the Ephesians actually learned in Christ is that there was a call for radical change: a complete one-eighty. When, in verse twenty-one, Paul writes “if indeed you have learned,” he did not mean to be condescending or to cause his readers offense. Paul did not know his audience on a personal level, and he more than likely was not there when the gospel was originally preached to the majority of them and therefore wrote, “if you have learned,” in complete sincerity not knowing if they had been properly educated in the Word (Barth 504).Paul goes on in verse twenty-two to write, “That, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,” (NASB). Paul introduces the first half of a key metaphor of the passage: the “old self,” sometimes referred to as the “old man.” Paul was giving a beautiful illustration of the lives of the pre-converted Ephesians, represented by the “old man.” The metaphor is not to be mistaken for a reference to age; the “old,” in this context means outdated, expired, and ready to be thrown out. The pagan’s shelf life was way past gone—out with the old and in with the new. The “old man” had all of the characteristics of an unsaved person and did not stand out from the rest of the world at all (Maston, Ephesians 4:17-19). In verse 23 and 24 Paul introduces the second part of the metaphor, the contrast of the old man, stating, “and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth,” (NASB). His example of contrast is the “new self,” or “new man.” The Ephesians were told to put off the old man and put on the new which is closely related to the symbolism in baptism (Van Ryn 124); new believers walk into the water as their old self and walk out brand new internally. A new convert does not get a shiny new face and a brand new body literally speaking, but inside he or she is to be brand new, set apart in holiness, and noticeably different than the surrounding, unbelieving culture (Van Ryn 123). No longer characterized by his or her wrongdoings, the new man is characterized by righteousness, which refers to a believer’s conduct to their fellow Christians, and by holiness, which refers to their conduct towards God (Erdman 99). The Christian was to become a completely new person internally. There was no half way, no middle ground; the two versions of self were to be opposites. Paul was presenting a literal life and death situation (Barth 504). Picture yourself wearing your favorite shirt—and drinking a chocolate milkshake. One sip of your shake escapes your straw and your favorite top now has an unwelcome chocolate embellishment. So you go out and buy a new shirt to replace the stained one and throw the old, useless one out. But the new article is not hung in the closet, never to be seen again; it is worn loud and proud for every eye to see—the more heads that turn, the better. This is how we must act spiritually—the body of believers in Christ must stop sinning and acting according to the standards of the world and begin to imitate Christ and strive for holiness, teaching the world in Christ through our every action. Paul proceeds in verses 25 through 31 to say, “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice,” (NASB). This passage gives the reader a list of six pivotal points to note (MacCorkle 149). Firstly, believers must speak the truth with their neighbor. Though the term “neighbor” here refers to fellow believers when taken in context, since Paul wrote, “for we are members of one another,” Christians should not lie to unbelievers either. Lying is wrong not only because other serious problems stem from it, but also because it downplays the importance and holiness of the truth, which is Jesus (Hendricksen 217).As a second point Paul says to the Ephesians that they may be angry, but they must not stumble or cause others to stumble because of their anger. Many Christians tend to think of anger itself as a sin but this is not the case. Even Jesus, at the cleansing of the temple, expressed His anger toward the sin taking place in His Father’s house. Although there is righteous anger and healthy ways to express it, Christians have to be careful to remember to always direct anger against the sin, not the sinner (Erdman 102). In his book, “Good 'n' Angry: How to Handle Your Anger Positively,” Les Carter explains that there are two different types of anger: assertive anger, which can be a positive trait, and aggressive anger. Assertive anger is brought on by a strong conviction and confidence in one’s beliefs while aggressive anger is an abrasive and insensitive way of standing up for beliefs (141). The problems with anger in the lives of Christians are the sins that come from unrighteous anger or not handling their anger in a Christ-like manner. Unwholesome words, which are directly mentioned in verse 29, stem from anger along with stubbornness, complaints, blame, criticism and verbal outbursts, or “clamor,” which is referred to in verse 31 and many other sinful traits (Carter104-109). Paul knows that we are humans! He says “be angry,” because sometimes it is necessary; there is a certain degree of boldness that comes with anger that we need to express to stand up for Christ. The same concept applied to the Ephesians. As inevitable as it is that we will get angry, it is essential that we are able to deal with it well. This knowledge led Paul to add that they should not allow the sun to set on their anger. What is the relation of the sun setting and dealing with anger? Time. Assertive anger can easily and quickly become aggressive and destructive when it is allowed to brew and mix with our sinful nature (Carter 136). So, through verse 26, Paul challenges the church to stand up with boldness for what they believe in, but not to let it make them or those around them stumble. He tells them to deal with their anger directly and quickly, and not to lock it deep inside their heart unattended.The third notable point in Paul’s list of six to the Ephesians was that they must prevent the devil from getting opportunities to cause them to sin, ever on guard against his attacks. All of the other five points were embodied within this one. If a person was faithfully obeying all of the other commands, the devil would have no available foothold at all, making this command more of a reason to follow the others than an actual command of its own. As Christians today we must have a good spiritual defensive line; we have to protect ourselves from the opposition’s plays and prevent him from scoring. If we are prepared, his playbook is void. Fourthly, the believers were commanded not to rob people of their time or possessions. It seems that Paul is still speaking of the old, unconverted man here but he was actually addressing converted believers. He was not writing to tell the church members “let him who used to steal stop now,” (Erdman 103). According to Charles R. Erdman, author of “The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians; an Exposition,” the literal translation of verse 28 reads, “him who is stealing.” The verse was directed to people who were already Christians and still stealing (103). Erdman explains that the command to “steal no more,” was significant and probably hard for the readers to swallow because it was hard for the new converts to find work in that time (103). And as if the decree against stealing was not hard enough to adhere to, there was another side of the exhortation: Christians should labor enough to also provide for the needy. Believers can determine if their use of money is godly by asking, “What am I giving to those in need?” (Foulkse143). The theft of believing church members was a direct reflection of their lack of faith. Had they trusted God to provide for their needs stealing would not be necessary. If the church were unified as a family in Christ as they should have been and had taken care of one another the need for theft would have been thwarted. Paul is not only addressing their direct sin of stealing but also the disharmony and lack of faith that it reflected. The fifth direction in verses 25 through 29 was that the Ephesians always speak with grace, not hateful slander or disdain, making sure that their words were uplifting according to the situation. An uplifting word is sometimes all it takes to brighten someone’s day or lighten the person’s burden. At the same time, a hateful word or degrading rumor is sometimes enough to push a person over the edge and cause him or her great stress. A personal way to test for pure conversion is to ask, “Am I keeping my words true and pure, and do they give grace to the people who hear them at all times; do they bless people’s lives and not weigh them down?” (Foulkse 143)In these first four points of this passage Paul writes to the Ephesians telling them what they had to stop doing but he did not stop there. The apostle replaced the habits to be nixed with a good righteous habit to replace it. Today many Christians have a “don’t-religion,” focusing more on the putting off of the old than the on with the new while others believe if the good they do outweighs the bad it is okay to hang on to their old sinful habits (Hendricksen 215). This should not be; the Christian brothers and sisters in that mindset are missing half the lesson. Christians must rid themselves of their old, ungodly habits, certainly, but only to make room for new, holy habits to replace the old. Paul’s final point, found in verse 30, is quite profound: The Ephesians were called to be in tune with the Holy Spirit and not to grieve Him, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God whom by you were sealed for the day of redemption,” (NASB). The verse is deep and surprising; the thought that Christians, then and now, can grieve the Holy Spirit is a sobering one. There are two particularly important words in verse 30: grieve and sealed.Grieve in this context, is a “love-word” referring to how we treat the Spirit, (MacCorkle 169). It is the Spirit’s job to show Christ’s beauty through us, but when we sin or act out of alignment with His will, we grieve the Spirit. We cause Him to take time from that work of blessing others and cause Him to have to show us our own ugliness apart from the grace of Jesus Christ (Van Ryn 127). However, says Van Ryn, notice that the passage does not say “do not grieve the Holy Spirit away.” He will never leave us, no matter how much we grieve Him, (Van Ryn 127). That is another unifying quality of the church under Christ’s heading—an unquenchable love from on high.“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you,” (NASB, Eph. 4:31-32). Verse 31 began with an implication that should have caused a sigh of relief to resound through the Ephesians: “let.” Why should this be a relief to the church at Ephesus? If they had to let all of the sinful qualities be removed from them, they were not able to do it alone (Van Ryn 128). They had to get out of the way and let the Spirit do all the work while they became pure. Paul again gives them instruction of what sins to expel from their lives and offers a counteraction to help them replace the empty space it leaves within them: bitterness, wrath, and anger are to be replaced with kindness and tenderheartedness; clamor, slander, and malice are to be taken care of at their life-source with forgiveness; the corrupt disposition is to be put away completely, once and for all. Then Paul dropped the bomb, the one thing the Ephesians could not avoid he said, “just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” They were once as blind and lost as those around them—until Jesus’ grace opened their eyes and made them clean in the eyes of their Father. Who then, were they to refuse forgiveness to their fellow humans?“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice shame on me.” “What goes around comes around!” “Always look out for number one.” “Karma’s a…” The list of quotes of self-preservation goes on and on. “You did me wrong once before and it will not happen again,” we exclaim! We refuse to be made a fool of, be hurt, or to humble ourselves to those who just downright are not good people. Paul was talking directly to us throughout his entire letter and these last verses are no different. Christians are commanded to let go of the bitterness we have toward the earthly father that left our lives, to resist practicing our sign language when we are cut off in traffic, and to forgive the partner for forgetting our birthday…again. We are called to be Christ to them, forgiving them happily and being kind and tenderhearted—always. We get to bless those around us by reflecting the grace our Lord showed us, and we get to do it with our hands, feet, side, and brow completely intact. The Titans wasted many taxing hours on the football field and in the locker room making life miserable for one another. They studied the playbook for hours and the coaches conditioned them relentlessly, dragging them grudgingly through tough practices and drills. Finally, after they spent all the energy they could hating each other, they began to realize they were on the same team. The defense started blocking and sacking; the offense started passing and scoring. Unbreakable bonds and irreplaceable memories were made until skin color was no longer an issue of significance among the team. In 1971 the T.C. Williams High School Titans were crowned the state champions. So, why does a letter written by a man none of us have ever met to an ancient group of people on the other side of the earth matter to us today? Because we, like the Christians in Ephesus, are born again believers, and we too must shun the standards of the world and unify in love for one another through Jesus Christ and obey His authoritative commands. Letting every aspect of our being be transformed to a reflection of Christ, we must be the light to this blinded world. We have the playbook, brothers and sisters, and we are playing in the super bowl. We already know our team wins; let us unite together and conquer the opposition—Ready? Break!Works Cited Barth, Markus. Ephesians: Translation and Commentary on Chapters 4-6. Garden-City, NY: Doubleday, 1974. Print.Bertier, Jean. "Remember the Titans Movie True Story” Web. 24 Sept. 2010.Bowland, Terry A. Make Disciples!: Reaching the Postmodern World for Christ. Joplin, MO: College P., 1999. Print. Boll, R. H. Lessons on Ephesians. Louisville, KY: Word and Work, Print.Bruce, F. F. The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1984. Print.Carter, Les. Good 'n' Angry: How to Handle Your Anger Positively. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker,1983. Print.Erdman, Charles Rosenbury. The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians; an Exposition. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1931. Print.Foulkes, Francis. Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL:InterVarsity, 2007. Print.Graham, Michelle. Wanting to Be Her: Body Image Secrets Victoria Won't Tell You. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity , 2005. Print. Head, Dr. Peter M. 10 Sept. 2010. Ferdinand Christian Baur Home. Web. 9 Sept. 2010. Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of Ephesians. Grand Rapids:Baker, 1967. Print.MacCorkle, Douglas B. God's Special Secret: the Case Paul Argues in the Epistle to the Ephesians. Cocoa Beach, FL: MacCorkle Bible Ministries, 1993. Print.Maston, Brad "Ephesians 4:17-19." Home. Web. 10 Sept. 2010. "Ephesians Intro." Home. Web. 10 Sept. 2010.Remember the Titans. Dir. Boaz Yakin. Perf. Denzel Washington; Hayden Panettiere; WillPatton; Ryan Hurst. 2000. FilmVan Ryn, August. Ephesians, the Glories of His Grace. New York: Loizeaux Bros., 1946. Print.Wilson, Dr. Rolf F., "Introduction to Paul's Letter to the Ephesians." Bible Study -- the JesusWalk Bible Study Series. Web. 10 Sept. 2010. ................
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