In April 1969, the Beatles released a song with some ties to Tucson. I know that Steve Ponzo, and maybe many of the rest of us, are familiar with these lyrics:
Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it wouldn’t last.
Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
For some California grass.
Get back, get back.
Get back to where you once belonged.
At the time, Paul McCartney’s wife, Linda, was living in Tucson and Jojo’s was the name of a popular bar here, thus the ties to Tucson. But the passage that we’re going to look at this morning is certainly the antithesis to the chorus of that song which urges Jojo to “get back to where you once belonged.” In fact, I think that if we were to write a song based on the writings of another Paul, it might be titled “Get Back? – Never!” Let’s read our passage out loud together:
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
Ephesians 4:17-19 (NIV)
In the previous verses Paul had just finished describing the need for the body of Christ to mature so that they could grow up into the Head, Jesus Christ. He wrote about the importance of developing both their vertical relationship with Jesus and their horizontal relationships with others. But now he is going to change course a bit. He is warning his readers not to return to what they were like before God reached down into their lives and made them part of his family. You’ll remember that Paul had previously described that way of life at the beginning of chapter 2:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
Ephesians 2:1-3 (NIV)
That certainly doesn’t sound like the kind of life anyone would want to return to, but obviously Paul had some concerns that some of his readers were in danger of doing exactly that. When Paul writes “you must no longer live as the Gentiles do”, he is exhorting his readers to never go back to the kind of life they experienced before they committed their lives to Jesus Christ.
Although Paul’s writing in these verses is not exactly a “how-to” manual on how to avoid getting “back to where we once belonged”, he certainly gives us enough insight about how that can occur that we can develop some principles that we can apply to avoid doing that. Although I’m sure there is much more here, I want to discuss five principles that will help us from going back to what we once were.
HOW TO AVOID GETTING BACK:
1. Remember the futility
In verse 17, Paul writes of the futility of the thinking of the Gentiles. Remember that Paul is writing here to believers, primarily Gentile Christians. So when he uses the word Gentiles here, the context makes it quite clear that he is referring to unbelievers. In addition to the passage we just read from the beginning of chapter 2, Paul goes on a little later in that chapter to ask his readers to remember the futility of their life apart from God:
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.
Ephesians 2:11-12 (NIV)
Those verses certainly describe a life of futility. The word “futility” is the very same word that we find in the Greek version of the Old Testament, particularly in the Book of Ecclesiastes where the writer of that book describes the futility of living a life apart from God. There, that same word is translated meaningless, vanity or futility, depending on which translation you use. Those are all good words to describe the emptiness of a life apart from God.
Our spiritual memory is a lot like our physical memory – the older we get, the harder it is to remember things.
I was reading this week about an 80-year-old-couple who were having problems remembering things, so they decided to see their doctor to find out if anything is wrong with them. They saw the doctor and told him about the memory problems they’d been having. After a check-up, the doctor told them that they are physically fine but might want to start writing things down to help them remember things. They thanked the doctor and left.
.
Later that night while watching TV, the old man got up from his chair. "Where are you going?" asked his wife. "To the kitchen," he replied. "Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?" she asked. "Sure," he said. She said, "Maybe you should write it down so you’ll remember." "I’ll remember," he said "Well, I would also like some strawberries on top," she added. "You had better write that down cause I know you’ll forget." "I can remember that," he said, as he began to loose his patience. "You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries." "I would also like whip cream on top," she added, "I know you will forget that so you better write it down." Hopping mad he replied, "I don’t need to write that down! I will remember just fine." He fumed into the kitchen to get the food.
After about 20 minutes he returned from the kitchen and handed her a plate of bacon and eggs. She stared at the plate for a moment and said, "You forgot my toast."
For some of us who have been Christians for a long time, we tend to forget just how futile our lives were apart from our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. But I think perhaps it’s helpful for us to occasionally take Paul’s advice and remember the futility of that life as a great motivation for us to make sure we don’t get back to where we once belonged.
2. Recognize the process
In this passage, Paul clearly describes a process that results in a life of futility. Just as our spiritual maturity is a process that doesn’t happen in an instant, going back to where we once were usually doesn’t happen all at once, either. So I think it’s helpful for us to understand the process that leads to a life of futility.
Although Paul describes the process very clearly here in Ephesians, he goes into even more detail in one of his other letters. Take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 1. We’ll begin reading in verse 18:
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-- his eternal power and divine nature-- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-- who is forever praised. Amen.
Romans 1:18-25
When we look at this passage, along with our passage from Ephesians, we get a pretty good picture of the process that leads to a life of futility.
• Revelation
The process begins when God reveals Himself to us in some way. As Paul points out, that could be through His creation, but the primary means of God’s revelation of Himself is through His Word. And it is that Word that contains truth. Once that truth is revealed, every one of us has to deal with it. And if we don’t accept that truth and adjust our lives to that truth, it leads to the second step in the process.
• Rejection
As Christians, we don’t have a hard time recognizing that unbelievers have rejected the truth of God. But remember that Paul is writing here in Ephesians to Christians and he seems to be warning us against doing the very same thing. Unfortunately, as I’ve shared with you on many occasions, surveys consistently reveal that many of those who claim to be Christians reject some of the basic tenets of the gospel. We live in a culture that provides us with so many choices that we can pick and choose from and that mentality has infiltrated the church. But Christianity is not Baskin-Robbins where I can just choose the one or two flavors I want and reject all the others.
• Spiritual ignorance
Rejecting the truth of God leads to spiritual ignorance. And that spiritual ignorance gets reflected in our actions. Sometimes I think that we unwittingly push unbelievers away from our churches because we expect them to speak and act like Christians. But they just aren’t capable of doing that, as Paul makes clear in another of his letters:
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)
But the same thing can certainly happen to us as followers of Jesus, too. Once we choose to reject the truth of God, we begin to develop spiritual ignorance in our lives as well.
• Hardened hearts
The word translated “hardening” is a word that means to cover with a callous. Before the days of computers when I had to write a lot, I developed a very thick callous on the inside of my middle finger where the pencil or pen rubbed against it when I wrote. In fact, although it’s not as noticeable today, it’s still there. That callous became so thick, that it actually prevented me from having any feeling on that part of my finger. I could poke that callous with a pin and not even feel it.
That’s exactly the picture that Paul is using here. The more that we reject the truth of God and the more that we become spiritually ignorant, the more calloused, or hard, that our hearts get. And the more calloused they get, the harder it is for us to even sense just how far from God we are getting.
• Complete separation from God
Eventually, the hardening of our hearts leads to a complete separation from God. Again, we can easily see this in unbelievers who want absolutely nothing to do with God. But that same danger also exists for us as followers of Jesus Christ. The more hardened our hearts become, the harder it is for us to even sense the separation that results from us turning away from God.
• Given over to their own desires
If we don’t break this process somewhere along the way, we will inevitably come to the point where God will just turn us over to our own sinful desires. As Paul writes in Ephesians 4, we come to the point where we have completely lost all sensitivity to the point that we no longer even care if others even see us live that sinful lifestyle.
Once again, we can observe that in the lives of unbelievers. Sinful behaviors that were once limited to being lived out in secret are now flaunted publicly. But unfortunately, the church is not immune from this kind of openly sinful behavior either. It’s sad to see that those who call themselves Christians have come to the point in there lives where their own selfish, sinful desires completely rule their lives.
This is certainly not a pretty picture. But by understanding the process, we can take some concrete steps to short-circuit that process so that we make sure that we don’t get back to where we once belonged. These last three principles can help us to break out of this process.
3. Renew my thought life
This whole process gets started with what we think. That’s why Paul wrote these familiar words.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...
Romans 12:2 (NIV)
If we don’t want to get back to where we once belonged and conform to the pattern of this world, then it all starts with our thoughts. I have to renew my mind daily. Obviously, that is a topic that we could spend several weeks discussing, but let me leave you with just one practical step that you can take with you this morning. As you might expect, it comes from one of Paul’s letters:
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
So, how do I do that? How do I take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ? As thoughts come into my mind, I have to evaluate those thoughts and determine whether they are in fact consistent with Jesus, the truth, and with His Word. If my thought meets that standard, then I allow that thought to enter into my mind and I allow myself to dwell on it.
But if that thought is not consistent with Jesus and His Word, then I need to reject it. But that’s only the first step. I then have to replace that thought with something that is consistent with the truth.
Let me give you an example. I’ll pick on us men this morning. Let’s say that you’re walking through the mall with your wife and you notice another attractive woman walking by. Perhaps you’re like Drew Anderson of Tucson who submitted this item to Reader’s Digest several years ago:
While my wife and I were shopping at a mall kiosk, a shapely young woman in a short, form-fitting dress strolled by. My eyes followed her. Without looking up from the item she was examining, my wife asked, "Was it worth the trouble you’re in?"
There is nothing wrong with noticing an attractive woman. But where we get ourselves in trouble is what happens next. As Martin Luther reportedly commented, “You can’t keep the bird from flying overhead, but you can keep it from nesting in your hair.” Unfortunately, for us as men, the look at an attractive woman often begins a thought process in our mind that is not consistent with the truth of Jesus and his Word.
So my first step is to immediately recognize that my thoughts are not in accordance with God’s truth. But if I stop right there, I’m going to be in trouble, because if all I do is to try to stop thinking of those wrong thoughts, what am I going to do? I’m going to keep thinking about them. I know we’ve all been there.
So the next step is that I focus on the truth, which is that God has given me a wonderful godly wife and it is through her that God is going to satisfy my God-given needs and desires. And when I do that I short circuit the process that might eventually lead me down a road I don’t want to travel.
4. Resist the urge to be self-centered
I won’t belabor this point since we’ve talked about it quite a bit in our journey through Ephesians. But one of the best indicators that I’m headed down the road to a life of futility is when I begin to focus a lot on myself.
Although our culture urges us to “look out for #1”, Paul has consistently emphasized throughout his letter that the church is a body where every member is a part of that body for the overall good of the body, not just for themselves. Obviously we receive many benefits by being an integral part of that body, but the body does not exist to serve my needs, it exists to serve the purposes of the Head, Jesus Christ.
As we saw just a few moments ago, the last step in the process that lead to a life of futility is that God will give us over to our own, selfish desires. And while that might initially seem like it would be fun, we soon discover the emptiness, vanity, meaninglessness and futility of that kind of life. So when I begin to be overly self-centered, when I begin to look at everything only in terms of what’s in it for me, that ought to be a warning signal to me that I’m on the road to a place where I don’t want to go.
5. Refuse to violate my conscience
God has given us a conscience to help us understand when we are violating his standards. That’s why when people commit acts that are wrong, they try to do them in a manner that no one else will discover what they are doing. Even unbelievers are usually not so brazen as to commit their sin right out in the open, at least not at first.
But when we consistently violate our conscience, it becomes “seared” so that it will no longer operate properly:
Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
1 Timothy 4:2 (NIV)
Once that occurs, it leads to the situation Paul describes in verse 19. Although the word “sensuality” refers primarily to sexual sin, it describes any uninhibited indulgence that is committed without shame and without concern for what others think or how they are affected. And as Paul points out, once a person gets to that point they live a lifestyle that is characterized by a continual lust for more.
Just because we are followers of Jesus Christ doesn’t mean that we are immune to going that far. In fact we probably all know fellow believers who allowed their consciences to be seared and eventually ended up at a place where they were so ruled by their sin that they no longer tried to hide it and they needed more of that sin – both in quantity and intensity – in order to satisfy their selfish desires.
I’m sure most of have heard this statement before, but it bears repeating once again:
Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you are willing to pay.
So which words of Paul do you want to follow today – the words of Paul McCartney that urge you to get back to where you once belonged or the words of the Apostle Paul that say “Get Back? – Never!” I know which Paul I’m going to choose.
