“Driving Between the Lines”
Ephesians 5:15-18
We see them every day but most of us don’t pay much attention to them. Since I have been preparing this series I have paid a lot of attention to them. They’re called guardrails. Guardrails are that invisible part of the driving experience….we’re glad that they are there when we need them but for the most part we really don’t pay much attention to them. One of the things I have noticed about guardrails is that generally they are built in areas where you could actually drive if you think about it. The point of the guardrail isn’t to say don’t drive right here. The point of the guardrail is to say don’t go beyond this point. The guardrail is not really the problem. The danger is on the other side. The guardrail is usually constructed in an area where there is actual danger. But nobody really ever argues the point and says hey I don’t know why they put guardrails on this bridge. They need to take them down because if they did I could drive much closer to the edge.
The idea behind a guardrail is that if you hit the rail you will do less damage than if you actually hit what was on the other side of the guardrail. So the guardrail causes a little bit of damage as opposed to a lot of damage without it in place.
Now let’s begin with a definition. A guardrail is a system designed to keep vehicles from straying into areas that are either dangerous or off limits. So now we are talking about guardrails as a standard of behavior that becomes a matter of conscience. Standards of behavior that when you violate them you would feel like you’ve actually done something wrong. As you begin to bump into these guardrails, little warning lights, red flags, danger…danger… you are bumping against something that if you ignore it or continue to bump up against it, it may lead into an area where I might live the rest of my life with regret. As your pastor I want to keep you from that if I can.
Now here’s the thing. This is why I say every week, open your Bibles, read your Bibles, look at what God’s word has to say because what I am talking about today is all over the Bible. The first thing I want you to write think about today is this…This is our GOD book and it is our GUIDE book. God uses it to establish boundaries in our lives. And He does that because He loves us and wants to keep us out of danger. (2) NEXT, If you look carefully you will notice that you will see them basically in 3 places. On bridges. On bridges there really is not any margin for error. You see them in a median – they keep us from driving too close to cars moving in the opposite direction. The 3rd area is typically at a place where there is an unexpected change in the road-for instance at a curve.
Today I want us to look at the book of Ephesians chapter 5. It’s in the NT and it’s just a letter that Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus. In the 5th chapter Paul is talking to a group of people who if you can imagine this were even more immoral than our culture today. Not only was adultery acceptable it was actually practiced as a part of their religion.
So you can perhaps imagine Paul’s response to all of this. He writers to tell them if you do this you’re going to destroy your marriage. If you keep heading down this path you are going to be in danger.
Ephesians 5:15-18
Here is the next truth Paul gives us. Paul is saying to you and me that we must learn to drive between the lines. He is trying to keep us from going into an area that may be dangerous. Now this is not a matter of legalism, it is a matter of character. It is a matter of doing the right thing.
Now this little word here “live” in the Greek actually means walk. In fact your version of the Bible may say be very careful then how you walk. Now this may not be the best way to illustrate this but you will understand what I am talking about. Someone told me this week that they have several dogs and they let the dogs out every morning and they do their business in the same area every morning. So when people come over to visit them and they have to walk through the yard to get to the house they always say.. be careful. Watch where you’re going. Watch your step. Why? Because that’s the danger zone right over there because our dogs visit that area—so just be careful where you walk. Paul is saying as you live your life, as you walk through relationships, as you deal with people, as you deal with your marriage or if you are dating someone… be very careful how you walk.
v. 15. Don’t be like those who are unwise. Unwise means careless… like I could care less. But walk as wise, making the most of every opportunity. When we use our time wisely it means we are intentional about the way we live. Paul is saying pay attention to how you live your life – pay attention to how and where you walk; pay attention to how you use your time. Here’s why.
v. 16. Because the days are evil. Paul says you are living in a dangerous time. If you’re not careful there will be a price to pay. Why? Because the days are evil. Now I don’t think I have to spend a lot of time convincing you how dangerous the days are that we live in. Financially most of us have too much debt. And we wonder how did we get there? These are dangerous days to live in financially. We have to be very carefully. We have to be careful in a marriage or dating relationship or whatever it might be. Because we live in dangerous times. NEXT Truth… to drive between the lines we must exercise judgment/wisdom, not carelessness. Because when we move outside the boundaries we place ourselves in serious danger.
Ephesians 5:17. Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is. Now this is a bit strange because Paul is actually commanding us to understand something. Jot this down. This is what Paul is saying. To drive between the lines, we must understand where the lines/boundaries are. They must be established early in life. Do you remember when you were a kid they did this thing in school where you had to go up to the board. They would call your name and say do math problem #3 and you do problem # 4 and they would send you up to the board. But sometimes when you got there you really didn’t understand the problem. Now imagine your teacher while you’re up there and you turn to them and you say, I can’t do problem number 3. I don’t know how. And she says understand! Understand! And you’re like wait an minute, you can’t command me to understand. But that’s exactly what Paul does here. He is saying you need to get this, you need to understand…and sooner than later. And here’s why. Because there are some here today who are playing with fire right now. You have either already stepped over that boundary or you’re about to. There used to be a guardrail there but you removed it. You’re flirting with disaster in some area of your life and you have strayed off into a danger zone.
What Paul is doing here is kind of taking a 2x4 and hitting us upside the head—because some of us need it. Because we’re running too close to the edge-we’ve crossed the boundary line and you are about to make a mistake that you will regret for the rest of your life.
v. 18 Do not get drunk on wine. The Bible teaches that when we give our lives to Christ that His Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of us. I believe that He lives in our mind. He will prompt us, guide us and direct us. For me I have found that the Holy Spirit never screams at me-never yells at me. Usually in fact it’s like he says ahem. More like a nudge.
Now before I give you this full illustration, I want to tell you a couple of things…3 actually. (1) I don’t drink alcohol. Not at all. Never. Nothing. I don’t drink….any. I have by the way but it has been over 35 years. Several reasons why I don’t. My Father drank enough for all of us. At least a pint of whiskey every day for many years. He actually stopped drinking the year I left home…never figured that out. So all of that had a profound impact on my life and when alcohol directs or guides your life there will always be trouble. (2) I believe the Bible teaches that it is wrong. I can show you at least 75 verses of scripture, OT and NT that warn against it. Not just using to excess but against it period. People will say well you just have to learn to drink it responsibly. I don’t think that those two words go together. Drink…responsibly. It’s a drug and it’s powerful and addictive drug. (3) I have never seen anything… not one good thing come from drinking. I’ve seen wives who got beat up, men who lost jobs, fights, kids who were hurt… I could stand here for the rest of the day and tell you story after story of what alcohol has done to people’s lives and in every case the results are bad. And here is why.
Look at verse 18 again. Do not get drunk with wine which leads to debauchery. Have you ever been debauched? We don’t even know what that word means. Here is the definition. It is extreme indulgence that leads to a loss of control. Your character changes. You become a different person. So you have to establish a guardrail here. Let me tell you something in my years of ministry that I have never heard..I have never heard anyone say Pastor, we used to have so much trouble in our marriage but you know what we did….we started drinking and now everything is better. My children were having problems….they wouldn’t listen to me so I said hey let’s have as drink and now everything is fine. Once we had some alcohol we all lived happily ever after. My finances were in trouble so I started drinking and now everything is fine. It just doesn’t happen that way. We don’t plan for it to be that way but we just don’t establish those guardrails. And it leads to regret.
Paul closes with this last statement. V. 18. Instead, in place of this kind of behavior, be filled with the spirit. Last, to drive between the lines our lives must be filled with the best things. All of us fill our lives with something. Work, greed, laziness, desire,…. something. What would it be like if all of us filled our lives with just one thing? The Holy Spirit. What it would be like? In most churches today if the Holy Spirit left most people would not even notice….because we are much too accustomed to doing everything instead of depending on Him. We get way too busy with other things.
In Antioch in the early church the Bible says the early believers were first called Christians. Really it was a term that was kind of meant as an insult. Look at the little Jesus. Look at the little Christ. But they just said yes we are. That’s who we are. We want to be Jesus to the world.
I have gotten to the point in life where I don’t just want to talk about these things.. I want to live them. I don’t just want to talk about Jesus. I want to be Christ to other people. After all we are called Christians. I don’t want to just talk about the Holy Spirit. I want to experience the Holy Spirit. If we build a church in our own strength it will collapse. It is one thing to know about God. It is quite another to know him personally. I want this church to be Jesus to this world.
This message was preached first by Andy Stanley. It is presented here with numerous changes and revisions but the idea was his.
