Ephesians 4:1-3
Walk In A Manner Worthy Of the Calling With Which You Have Been Called
Characteristics of the Christian Calling
Humility
(a) Christian humility comes from self-knowledge. The twelfth-century theologian Bernard of Clairvaux said of it: ‘It is the virtue by which a man becomes conscious of his own unworthiness, in consequence of the truest knowledge of himself.’
To face oneself is the most humiliating thing in the world. Most of us see ourselves as playing great parts in life. There is a story about a man who, before he went to sleep at night, dreamt his waking dreams. He would see himself as the hero of some thrilling rescue from the sea or from the flames; he would see himself as an orator holding a vast audience spellbound; he would see himself walking to the wicket in a test match at Lord’s cricket ground and scoring a century; he would see himself in some international football match dazzling the crowd with his skill; always he was the centre of the picture. Most of us are essentially like that. And true humility comes when we face ourselves and see our weakness, our selfishness, our failure in work and in personal relationships and in achievement.
(b) Christian humility comes from setting life beside the life of Christ and in the light of the demands of God.
God is perfection, and to satisfy perfection is impossible. As long as we measure ourselves by what is second best, we may come out of the comparison well. It is when we compare ourselves with perfection that we see our failure. A girl may consider herself a very fine pianist until she hears one of the world’s outstanding performers. A man may think himself a good golfer until he sees one of the world’s great professionals in action. Some people may consider themselves to be scholars until they pick up one of the books of the great old scholars of encyclopaedic knowledge. Others may think of themselves as fine preachers until they listen to one of the great inspirational preachers.
Self-satisfaction depends on the standard with which we compare ourselves. If we compare ourselves with our neighbours, we may well emerge very satisfactorily from the comparison. But the Christian standard is Jesus Christ and the demands of God’s perfection—and against that standard there is no room for pride.
(c) There is another way of putting this. The Archbishop of Dublin, R. C. Trench, said that humility comes from the constant sense of our own creatureliness. We are in absolute dependence on God
Gentleness
a) Aristotle, the great Greek thinker and teacher, has much to say about praotēs. It was his custom to define every virtue as the mid-point between two extremes. On one side there was excess of some quality, on the other defect; and in between there was exactly its right proportion. Aristotle defines praotēs as the mid-point between being too angry and never being angry at all. The person who is praus is the one who is always angry at the right time and never angry at the wrong time. To put that in another way, the person who is praus is the one who is stirred by indignation at the wrongs and the sufferings of others, but is never moved to anger by any personal wrongs and insults. So, the person who is (as in the Authorized Version) meek is the one who is always angry at the right time but never angry at the wrong time.
(b) There is another fact which will shed light on the meaning of this word. Praus is the Greek for an animal which has been trained and domesticated until it is completely under control. Therefore, the person who is praus is someone who has every instinct and every passion under perfect control. It would not be right to say that such a person is entirely self-controlled, for such self-control is beyond human power; but it would be right to say that such an individual is God-controlled.
Patience
(a) It describes the spirit which will never give in and which, because it endures to the end, will reap the reward. Its meaning can best be seen from the fact that a Jewish writer used it to describe what he called ‘the Roman persistency which would never make peace under defeat’. In their great days, the Romans were unconquerable; they might lose a battle, they might even lose a campaign, but they could not conceive of losing a war. In the greatest disaster, it never occurred to them to admit defeat. Christian patience is the spirit which never admits defeat, which will not be broken by any misfortune or suffering, by any disappointment or discouragement, but which persists to the end.
(b) But makrothumia has an even more characteristic meaning than that. It is the characteristic Greek word for patience with others. John Chrysostom defined it as the spirit which has the power to take revenge but never does so. J. B. Lightfoot, the New Testament scholar, defined it as the spirit which refuses to retaliate. To take an imperfect analogy—it is often possible to see a puppy and a large dog together. The puppy yaps at the big dog, worries it, bites it, and all the time the big dog, which could put the puppy in its place with one snap of its teeth, bears the puppy’s impertinence with a forbearing dignity. Makrothumia is the spirit which bears insult and injury without bitterness and without complaint. It is the spirit which can suffer unpleasant people with graciousness and fools without irritation.
The thing which best of all illustrates its meaning is that the New Testament repeatedly uses it of God. Paul asks unrepentant sinners if they despise the patience of God (Romans 2:4). Paul speaks of the perfect patience of Jesus to him (1 Timothy 1:16). Peter speaks of God’s patience waiting in the days of Noah (1 Peter 3:20). He says that the forbearance of our Lord is our salvation (2 Peter 3:15). If God had been like us, he would long ago in sheer irritation have wiped the world out for its disobedience. Christians must have the patience towards their neighbours which God has shown to them.
Love
(4) THE fourth great Christian quality is love. Christian love was something so new that the Christian writers had to invent a new word for it; or, at least, they had to employ a very unusual Greek word—agape.
In Greek, there are four words for love. There is eros, which is the love between the sexes and which involves sexual passion. There is philia, which is the warm affection which exists between those who are very near and very dear to each other. There is storgē, which is characteristically the word for family affection. And there is agape, which the Authorized Version sometimes translates as love and sometimes as charity.
The real meaning of agape is unconquerable benevolence. If we regard people with agape, it means that nothing that they can do will make us seek anything but their highest good. Even if they hurt us and insult us, we will never feel anything but kindness towards them. That quite clearly means that this Christian love is not an emotional thing. This agape is a thing not only of the emotions but also of the will. It is the ability to retain unconquerable goodwill towards the unlovely and the unlovable, towards those who do not love us, and even towards those whom we do not like. Agape is that quality of mind and heart which compels Christians never to feel any bitterness, never to feel any desire for revenge, but always to seek the highest good of absolutely everyone.
(5) These four great virtues of the Christian life—humility, gentleness, patience, love—lead to a fifth, peace. It is Paul’s advice and urgent request that the people to whom he is writing should eagerly preserve ‘the sacred oneness’ which should characterize the true Church.
Peace may be defined as right relationships one with another. This oneness, this peace and these right relationships can be preserved only in one way. Every one of the four great Christian virtues depends on the obliteration of self. As long as self is at the centre of things, this oneness can never fully exist. In a society where self predominates, people cannot form anything but a disintegrated collection of individualistic and warring units. But when self dies and Christ springs to life within our hearts, then comes the peace, the oneness, which is the great hallmark of the true Church.
