OUR HIGH CALLING
by Bob Wickizer
Scripture: 2 Samuel 11:26-27, 2 Samuel 12:1-13, Psalms 51:1-13, Ephesians 4:1-16, John 6:24-35
Title: Our High Calling
Author: Bob Wickizer
Text: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13, Psalm 51:1-13, Ephesians 4:1-16, John 6:24-35
One of the ironic things you learn about the Pauline epistles is for example, that Paul's letter to the Hebrews is none of those things. Not written by Paul. Not in the literary form of a letter, and not written to the Hebrews. Along the same lines, the traditional view holds that Paul wrote today's letter to the Ephesians while he was imprisoned in Rome around 62 AD. But since 85% of Ephesians is also found in Colossians and with some other scholarly detective work, this letter was more likely written by one of Paul's disciples around 90 AD. But it is certainly a love letter written to his church about the nature of the church and about how people should relate to one another.
Our mystery writer starts out begging the young church in Ephesus (which is in modern day Turkey) to "lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Today, we may ask what is the high calling to which we have been called?
There seems to be two distinct interpretations of Paul's ideas about the church. On the one hand you find preachers who call for uniformity in the church. Everybody believes exactly the same thing that they are told. Everybody is the same socioeconomic status. Everybody is heterosexual. Everybody votes for the same party. Everybody is white (or black in some places). Everybody has the same social beliefs. Some preachers believe that by building up a church body that more closely resembles a country club they are building up their little body of believers to the high calling to which they have been called.
Let's call this the "Church of Uniformity". It is easy to mix social and political uniformity with a dose of all-too-convenient scriptural interpretation a ...
Author: Bob Wickizer
Text: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13, Psalm 51:1-13, Ephesians 4:1-16, John 6:24-35
One of the ironic things you learn about the Pauline epistles is for example, that Paul's letter to the Hebrews is none of those things. Not written by Paul. Not in the literary form of a letter, and not written to the Hebrews. Along the same lines, the traditional view holds that Paul wrote today's letter to the Ephesians while he was imprisoned in Rome around 62 AD. But since 85% of Ephesians is also found in Colossians and with some other scholarly detective work, this letter was more likely written by one of Paul's disciples around 90 AD. But it is certainly a love letter written to his church about the nature of the church and about how people should relate to one another.
Our mystery writer starts out begging the young church in Ephesus (which is in modern day Turkey) to "lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Today, we may ask what is the high calling to which we have been called?
There seems to be two distinct interpretations of Paul's ideas about the church. On the one hand you find preachers who call for uniformity in the church. Everybody believes exactly the same thing that they are told. Everybody is the same socioeconomic status. Everybody is heterosexual. Everybody votes for the same party. Everybody is white (or black in some places). Everybody has the same social beliefs. Some preachers believe that by building up a church body that more closely resembles a country club they are building up their little body of believers to the high calling to which they have been called.
Let's call this the "Church of Uniformity". It is easy to mix social and political uniformity with a dose of all-too-convenient scriptural interpretation a ...
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