Vince Deagler

hi out there. as you know by now, if you have been following along, i am a pastor in modesto, ca. recently we have been working through pauls letter to the ephesians. now i realize many people out there may feel the bible is completely irrelevant to life today, but i’m not one of them. in fact, i believe the more we can align our life with the teaching of scripture, the better our life is gonna work out. i’ll have to blog on that sometime. getting back to what i was trying to say, as you study ephesians paul starts with a doctrinal section (chapters 1-3) and then launches into a very practical section (chapters 4-6) where his focus is on the believers lifestyle as a follower of jesus. in this section we are challanged to live a life worthy of our calling in christ (4:1), live a life of distinctiveness (4:17), live a life of love (5:1-2), and what i want to tackle in this blog, live as a child of the light (5:8). now i don’t want to dig into everything paul says in this passage, but i do want to look at one particular issue that we christians really have to address. as paul challanges us to live in the light he says there shouldn’t even be a hint of sexual immorality, any kind of impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, or course joking among us. texts of this nature are somewhat difficult to deal with on a number of levels. for instance, we live in a non-absolute world of moral relativism. in that kind of culture passages like this really are counter-cultural. to some, perhaps many we christians are seen as kill joys. they do not like the message of self denial, because they are obsessed with self indulgence. but that presents a whole different set of problems. we have all just lived through the unravelling of our national economy. depending on who you listen to, you have already judged who acted appropriately and who has not, and you have assigned blame as to how this has occured. but on what basis. if you are a real non-absolutist, it is not wrong to deceitfully apply for a mortgage you could never qualify for or repay because it works for you. nor is it wrong to hook people into mortgages that they do not understand and you know when they reset they will be unaffordable because its right for you. nor is it wrong to take these flawed investment products and sell them to someone else again this works for me. nor is it wrong to take kick backs from the mortgage companies and other financial institutions to look the other way instead of doing the job of regulating the system (do i even need to say it again). nor is it wrong to scream emergency, and take tax payer monies to bail out all involved. there is no such thing as morality to a non-absolutist. truth, right and wrong are what i determine it to be for me, its what works for me. and since it is not a moral issue, well no one will get hurt. right? that is until everyone gets hurt. if you care to look up the passage i am referencing. do you see the word greed. greed is responsible for the economic mess we are in as a nation. and everyone has been hurt. except for maybe those getting gov’t bailouts. so i guess god did know a little bit about whats good for us. then look at the rest of the passage. however you see the subject of human sexuality, you cannot deny reality. the further we stray as a culture from gods norm, the more problematic it becomes. i could go on and on…i’ll spare you. my point is simple. gods word is still very relevant to our 21st century world. moral relativism leads to chaos where far too many people get hurt. now having said all that, let me point something out that i feel is very important for we christians to understand. paul calls us to reject things like sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, and course joking. can someone show me where each of these concepts are defined with enough clarity as to leave no doubt as to pauls intent??? paul also calls us to bear fruit as we live in the light. the fruit he lists consists of goodness, righteousness, and truth. again, where are the clarifying definitions that guarantee we have the correct understanding of these terms so there is no disagreement. my point is simple. when we engage in interpretation, we are engaging in an inexact science that leaves much room for human error. now some of those terms are easier to understand and thus to apply than others. but even those terms, the further you seek to interpret and apply the more room for disagreement arises. and then there are the other concepts. at great personal risk i ask, what is foolish talking? knowing full well that some of you out there are saying, this blog is. feel free to change the channel if you feel that way. do you get what i’m saying? what is foolish talking to some, may not be to others. if you don’t believe me watch a political debate sometime. so what can we do`. let me make a few suggestions. first, what something means to you is not the issue. the issue is what did god meant when he said what he said. to determine this we really need to seek out other relevant scriptures to get a fuller understanding. but remember this is an inexact science. so, do not elevate your opinions to make them equal with scripture and binding on others. this is what the pharisees did. you remember them, don’t you. they were the guys upset with jesus for healing or restoring the sight of a blind man on the sabbath. now i don’t know what you think, but the law says “remember the sabbath to keep it holy…so do not work on the sabbath”. they saw christ’s healing as work. i see it as an act perfectly consistent with keeping the sabbath holy. god is holy. god desires man to live in holiness. but man rebelled against gods rule (called sin) with both moral and physical consequence. the need for healing was the direct result of mans problem with sin. so, when christ healed it was in perfect harmony with gods holiness and his desire for our holiness. i grant it wasn’t in the realm of the spiritual (like forgiveness of sin), but it is still consistent with gods holiness. so i see christs action as perfectly fine. the pharisees sure didn’t, they wanted to kill christ for this kind of thing. why? because they took their interpretation, elevated it to be equal with scripture, and then imposed it on others. last time i checked, we have been called to be like jesus. think about it. so what am i trying to say? we need absolutes. god has given them. there is enough clarity to give us real guidance, but enough obscurity to be gracious toward those who may come to a different conclusion. we have a huge problem dealing with the moral relativism that infects our culture. so lets not get divided over whose interpretation is more correct to the place where the only one who wins is satan. remember him. he’s the enemy, not our fellow christians. why should he get a free pass, while we fight with each other. lets give him a taste of defeat, while we give others with whom we disagree a taste of god. i’m pretty sure this may provoke some real dialogue. i sure hope it will. drop me a line and i’ll get back to you. blessings. vince