Partners

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

PARTNERS

Eph 5:3-7

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person — such a man is an idolater — has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.   6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.

NIV

Here is where it gets a little dicey. First of all, it would seem most believers would not engage in any sexual immorality or of any kind of impurity. Yet we also know the statistics regarding the percentage of believers, unfortunately, including members of the pastoral segment who are in fact involved in some form of impurity, and we will leave it at that. But any of this type of attitude or behavior is kept deeply under wraps and is not discussed. However, greed is a little more openly discussed. It almost seems to be a normal way of life for most people including believers. We may not think of it as greed, but all the concern about storing up for the future, having enough for retirement is not just being prudent, it is being greedy. Again, it is doubtful that any, or at least few believers would use obscenities or engage in foolish talk or coarse joking. It is most definitely out of place. Instead, we should always have this attitude of thanksgiving. God has provided everything for us, first and foremost eternal life. What would our life be like if all we have to look toward was death? Whatever death means, it still is not life. Whether it is the ceasing to exist, or being thrown into hell, it is not eternal life in the paradise of God, with all the benefits being there. We can be sure any immoral, impure, or greedy person, who God calls an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. That is pretty darn straight talk. Again, it seems most of us would have nothing to do with immoral or impure behaviors. It might be possible we are tempted, and those thoughts creep in, but we would dismiss them immediately and move on. Yet this greed issue seems to linger on more than it should. The word is quite clear, we cannot serve both God and money. It is not that God desires we all be poor, or live in poverty, or have no money at all. He knows all things, and he knows where he brought us into the world, in the culture and time frame, and that in order to live in this society we require a certain amount of resources to procure housing, clothing, transportation, food and, yes maybe even some luxury items, so we have a variety of forms of methods to produce various amounts of money. But it is the attitude we have about money which God speaks to in regard to greed, or the continuous want for more. The never being content with what we have, but want to increase our net worth. This does not always have to do directly with money, like the parable about the rich farmer who built bigger barns. Greed is simply about wanting more, never being content. It can be applied to any material thing, but that always comes back to having enough money to have more of something. We have to be careful regarding morality, impurity, and greed. We have to be careful about how we talk, our words. Foolish talk, or silly talk or buffoonery, which is behavior that is ridiculous but amusing. Does that mean we have to be deadly serious all the time, never a smile, or saying something humorous? That would be a very boring existence, and being a very boring person, that certainly would not attract any non-believer to explore the truth of God. But, course joking and just silliness is not the way either. So we live and move in the Spirit, and let him do what he does best, influencing our heart and reflecting that influence to the world. If we partner with the Spirit we will not partner with those who are disobedient.