Ephesians 4 - What Does Hasan Piker's Mocking Charlie Kirk's Death Have To Do With Ephesians 4
"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received."
If there is one chapter in the bible a church should study, it is Ephesians 4. Chapter 4 moves from who we are in Christ. to how we "live a life worthy of that calling". Some people might misunderstand the idea of "living a life worthy of our calling" as earning one's salvation. I.e. I need to try to be worthy enough for God to love me. This would be to grossly misunderstand what Paul is saying here.
"When we really understand how much God did for us, we will naturally want to serve and obey Him out of gratitude." (Guzik)
This should be the singular goal of every Christian to lead a life worthy of our calling. We have been called by God before the beginning of Creation to share the grace He has given us through His Son, Jesus. So what does it mean to live a life worthy of our calling?
1. Protect the unity of the church through humility and keeping the bond of love and peace in the body of Christ. It is interesting that Paul mentions this first, rather than anything personal or individual in nature. In verse 29 he says to let any unwholesome word to come out of your mouth, but only words that build each other up.
We live a life worthy of our calling. as we submit to the leadership in our church, serve on another in love, and not let anger get a hold of us. We build up and encourage each other, not tear each other down. Paul puts the unity of the church right up at the top!
2. We are each given grace from Jesus, which is unique us. Paul list five of the major leadership roles of the church: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastors and teachers. Then he says something important. All leaders fulfill their calling by equipping the saints for the work of ministry.
"God’s people do the real work of ministry. Leaders in the church have the first responsibility to equip people to serve and to direct their service as God leads." - Guzik
Most leaders feel obligated to do the lion's share of the work in the church, especially if they are paid, but our calling is to equip each other to fulfill their calling using their God given gifts.
3. Become a mature Christian, becoming more like Jesus every day.
"Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church."
Notice that part of being mature is knowing what we believe as Christians. We call this "doctrine",which means "right belief". Although it is important to focus on the relational and emotional aspects of our relationship with God, I cannot overstate the importance of knowing what we believe and why,
This is especially true in a culture that no longer believes in absolute truth. We live in a culture that believes any mention of God, morality, religion, and biblical truth needs to be removed from the public square.
Our kids are taught from a young age that the bible is an old, antiquated book, which is anti-science, prejudicial, patriarchal, and full of half-truths. When Christians speak up. they are often mocked or harassed. Just look at the Charlie Kirk assasination.
Sickeningly just yesterday one of the leading influencers in our culture, Hasan Piker. mocked Charlie's death with many others laughing in the background. This hard to watch and the fact that people are cheering him on almost seems worse.
Hasan Piker Mocking Charlie Kirk's Death
This is a sad state of our culture when the tragic death of a Christian man with wife and two kids is politized by someone who is void of anything resembling a conscience. Other politicians who have been linked to him, fail to denounce his despicable behavior, which is equally bad. But the question is will anyone notice this? Will anyone care?
We need to be ready as St. Peter says, "To always be ready to give an answer to why we believe, doing it with kindness and respect." This is exactly what Charlie did and he paid for it with his life. He is a modern day martyr!
Do you think a Christian should be speaking up in the public arena against what is happening in our culture? If yes, then how would you do that? Is this an important aspect of living a life worthy of our calling?
Jesus, thank you that you lived a life worthy of your calling to be the Messiah and Savior of the world. Send Your Spirit to energize and inspire us to live a life worthy of our Lord and Savior who gave everything for us. May we become perfect and mature attaining the whole measure of Christ. Amen.
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