No Spiritual Elite
Ephesus - Year 10
Ephesians 2:11-18
There is a sad tendency on the part of all churches, including Ephesus and Norma. That some people become regarded as a spiritual elite. That they, in some way, have more of an expectation to be heard by God and to have a say in the church’s operation than everyone else. This is a subtle mistake.
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men) — remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Ephesians 2:11-18 (NIV)
There is no "Christian Elite"
In the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, the pigs are in power and have a saying:
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
The Jews in Ephesus knew so much more about the Scriptures than the Gentiles it was hard to see everyone on equal footing. How could a person who had been worshiping idols only a few years ago be as righteous as someone who had grown up in the shadow of the Torah? It only makes sense.
This sort of thing need not be fed by either side of the equation. Jews may not have felt spiritual superiority or have tried to encourage that kind of thinking. On the other hand, the Gentile believers might have felt that the Jewish relationship to the Scriptures made them natural leaders of the assembly. Out of humility and respect, They may have given Jewish believers places of honor.
Paul sees this as a rise of a spiritual elitism and warns against it. In Christ all are equal, Jews and Gentiles. He carefully explains that things are different than they used to be, for Jews and Gentiles. He explains it using an illustration. He refers to it as a dividing wall.
The Jerusalem Temple was divided into courts. The outer courts were for anyone. Jewish men and women were allowed in the inner courts, but courts were separated by a wall. It stood 4 1/2 feet tall and was topped with pillars that supported the porch roof. On this wall were 13 plaques that said this:
No foreigner is allowed to enter within the balustrade surrounding the sanctuary and the court enclosed. Whoever is caught will be personally responsible for his ensuing death.
Symbolically, the closer a person got to the Holy of Holies, the closer he was to God. Only priests could actually stand in the Presence. Gentiles were not allowed to even approach the sanctuary without being killed by a mob. Paul is saying that God is destroying the wall. All can be close to God ... as close as priests. The Jews and their relationship to the Scriptures are not closer to God than the Gentiles.
It may have been intentional power grabbing on the part of the Jews, or it may have been deference on the part of the Gentiles, but elitism was happening. Paul is not denying that some people are more spiritually mature than others, but he is denying that race determines power.
Some people just seem to have an inside track to God
As a minister, I encounter this all the time. People think that if they ask me to pray, God will hear me better ... because I am a minister I have some kind of privileged place. Not true.
I am more spiritually mature than some of you. And some of you are more spiritually mature than I. This is our personal walk with God, and helps to define our reactions to the world around us, but it does not make me more precious to God or give me greater access.
• Faith in Jesus Christ to save us, in contempt of any other god, aside from our own good works
• A pursuit of prayer to keep an open line of communication with God
• A life in harmony with the Holy Spirit
• A thirst for the Scriptures that teach us the Character of God and His will
• Dedication to the body of Christ that moves us to extend love and peace to each other and the world
These are marks of the believer in Jesus. Certainly we are all going to be in different places at different times, but it is that relationship with God that matters. Relative maturity puts us in a position to learn from others or gives us a responsibility to teach, but it does not give more direct access to God’s heart or His ear.
In our church, the tendency is to see certain people as being somewhat more equal than the rest of us.
I’m treading thin ice
They will deny that this is an accurate way of looking at things, but some do anyway. We have a few families from traditional Mennonite backgrounds. They are elders in the Church and are marked by Christian maturity. All these are good things.
But do you realize that:
• Dan
• Lois
• Martha
• Lloyd
• Pauline
Are not loved by God or heard by Him any more clearly than you are? They will agree with this. Do you realize that their background as Mennonites does not make them more spiritual than you? Do you realize that their connection with Lancaster County does not make them more qualified as leaders?
Their spiritual maturity has given them places of honor among us, but that same position is available to everyone in the room who matures in the faith. As any of us mature and become more like Jesus, the gifts that the Holy Spirit blesses us with makes us, in our own capacity, as worthy of honor as any of them.
This could be seen other ways:
• I’m no more spiritual because I’m white
• I’m no more spiritual because of my checkbook balance (whether it’s higher or lower)
• I’m no more spiritual because I’m a man
• I’m not even more spiritual because I’m a minister
We are equal at the foot of the cross, and my relative spiritual maturity is the product His grace and of my relationship with God and how actively I pursue it.
My intellectual knowledge of the Bible has nothing to do with it any more than my intellectual knowledge of a woman’s anatomy and psychology make me a good husband. In fact, a thorough knowledge of these things can make for a manipulative and hurtful husband, if his heart is not intent on love. And thorough knowledge of the Bible can make a man arrogant. Knowledge puffs up, the Bible says.
• God’s grace says we are equal before Him
• Our pursuit of that grace measures our maturity
But we are all loved equally
See yourself as much God’s child as the Apostles themselves
Paul was telling the Gentile believers that in spite of the Jews’ backgrounds, all believers were equal in God’s site. A person’s gifts and spiritual maturity - not his ethnicity or any other external factor made them leaders. As far as their qualification to give input or to participate in the ministries of the church - there was to be no preference given to anyone based on their background.
You are the same.
You have the same footing before God and He will hear you and respond to your pursuit of spirituality as He will anyone else. You are as dear to Him as John was. As a believer, if the Spirit has gifted you in a particular way, you have as much right and responsibility as anyone else to be involved in the ministries of this church. If God is maturing you and you are gifted with leadership, you can be a leader as much as Lloyd or Dan.
• Pray with faith that God hears your prayers as much as He hears theirs
• Assume that this is your church as much as it is theirs
In many ways, it is more your church than it is mine. I am hired by this church to serve in leadership. I am an outsider fitting in. Some things could happen that would cause me to move on to another place. You would still be here. Your children and grandchildren will still come here. Your legacy is much more lasting.
The church at Ephesus was much more their church than it was Paul’s, Priscilla’s or Aquila’s.
Perhaps you have felt that it is more your church than another attender’s.
This is sin, pure and simple. If you believe you belong here more than someone else, repent and free yourself of that arrogance.
• Your ethnicity
• Your background
• Your financial bracket
• Your education
Do not give you any more legitimate power in this place than anyone else has. It does not qualify you for power or for influence any more than being a Jew qualified the people in Ephesus.
What is your relationship with God? That is the key question. I have seen churches get bogged down in power struggles. It is an ugly thing. I believe one of the keys to avoiding this problem is right here. The realization on everyone’s part that power is not the privilege of a few, but the legacy of all believers as God’s children. Leadership is distributed by gift of the Spirit, not by wealth or family inheritance.
Influence is the burden of the mature, not the right of the staff.
Pray, knowing that God hears you as much as he hears Billy Graham
You are heard by God as clearly as I am or Pastor Frank is. We encourage people to pray for each other, not because some people are better at it than others. God hears us no matter how pretty or organized our words are. We encourage mutual prayer because it is good for us to bear each others burdens.
This week:
Pray with abandon
Pick three huge issues in your life and pray about them every day. Ask God to address the problems associated with those issues. Ask Him to resolve them for His glory and not your own.
This is a difficult thing to do. If you are not used to it, you will have trouble remembering and following through every day. This is part of the spiritual maturing process, regular and intensive prayer.
Take responsibility for the effectiveness of the prayer. If you feel that your own sin is blocking the answer to the prayer, then take the sin by the throat and in the power of Jesus, get it under control. And continue to pray. Both the repentance and the praying will bear spiritual fruit in your life. Even if you don’t see the answer you want, if God says no to all three prayers, you will emerge understanding His will better and having a more solid relationship with Him.
Break a chip out of a wall
We are all prejudiced. Dark people have tension with light people. Light people have tension with dark. Rich people have tension with poor people. One sure sign of this prejudice is the introduction to a statement:
I’m not prejudiced but ...
The statement that follows could be prejudiced and the speaker is aware of it. Even deferring to traditional Mennonites is a sign of prejudice and low spiritual self esteem, it is harmful. It is an assumption that Lloyd, because he wears a beard without a mustache and knows why he does it God is closer to him. It is an assumption that Martha, because she wears a covering and knows why she does it, is loved by God more. It is assuming that Dawn, because can read the music above and below 606, and that not only can she read the music she doesn’t need to, because she knows it by heart, is somehow more spiritual.
Not so.
You are God’s dearly beloved child, as close to His heart as the Apostle John. Take a step to really get to know someone you are naturally distant from. Learn a new name today. Talk to them about their hobbies, their families, their personal likes and dislikes. Become real people to each other, and not just projections of spiritual constructs that we see from a distance Sunday to Sunday.
In short, if you are a believer, you are a child of God with all the privileges and responsibilities that implies. Take your place. It is yours to take.
