Put Your Truth Pants On

Ephesians 6:14a

We use lies and secrecy to cover ourselves where we are weakest. This is a stupid strategy if your God and your enemy already know your weak points.

Being true before God and your community protects you where you are most vulnerable. This means sharing who you really are and what you really do before others. Share your weak points so your fellow soldier can help guard and protect you.

Put your truth pants on.

Cup Check

Very important piece of baseball equipment: the "athletic protector." Aka, the cup.

So important that they would check us in baseball to make sure we were wearing one. One ref, in particular, would have both teams line up in front of the dugout, walk down the line "cup checking" each of us with a bat.

I'm not sure that was regulation... but nobody forgot their cup. Kids would be running back home to get their equipment.

Belt of Truth

So we are in the beginning of a series at the end of series. The Armor of God as we move through Ephesians.

In light of our spiritual reality (which includes real spiritual enemies) we want to be strong in His strength and stand in HIs victory. The Armor of God is a powerful metaphors of the ways of thinking and acting that help us do that.

So for each piece of armor we ask:

What is it?

Why does it help in spiritual warfare?

How do we put it on?

We take those questions to the text.

Ephesians 6:13-14

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness

The Armor

Not to make too big a deal of which piece of armor goes where… but this visual is too good.

If you forget your belt, your pants fall down!

Literally “having girded your loins with truth.”

“Passing round the loins and by the end of the breastplate (in later times supporting the sword)… especial use in keeping other parts in place, and in securing the proper soldierly attitude and freedom of movement.”

“Girding” is the process of gathering up the robes in preparation for activity. Ever run in a robe? Gather that stuff up, tie it off, good to go. This was the armored equivalent of that.

Could include the leather apron beneath the armor, but even just the “belt” protected all the lower abdomen.

Not just the belt that holds your pants up, the armor that protects your vulnerable areas. Your precious parts. Target of opportunity for anyone who is fighting dirty!

Literally, it refers to your “loins” which is a not-so-subtle reference to your reproductive organs!

The Truth

The truth has been a thread throughout Ephesians. Both the content of truth and the practice of truth.

Ephesians 1:13

13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit

So we put on the word of truth, the gospel in which we believed, and Jesus himself is that truth.

So that is an important aspect of it, but the more common use of truth in Ephesians, and that used in more immediate context, is this idea of truthfulness in community.

More than just “not lying” this is a call the truthfulness and the truth. Already in Ephesians we have this call to truth.

This is a pro-active thing, not a passive thing. We put on truth, we are truth-tellers, we actively pursue truth and telling truth and sharing truth.

Ephesians 4:15

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Ephesians 4:25

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

Truth as Armor

How does this help in spiritual warfare???

When you have any kind of weakness, you have two options. One option is security through obscurity. This is useful when you have reason to think that no one knows your secret. Think Achilles heel. It’s a weakness, but nobody knows it’s a weakness, so just keeping it secret is protection. In that case, decent strategy.

In the case where your boss and your enemy already know your weakness, security through obscurity is a stupid strategy.

And yet, that’s what we do.

We take the areas where we are weak and we hide them. Areas of sin. Areas of struggle. Areas of weakness. Where we are vulnerable, we hide, we keep it secret, we keep it safe.

Only… it isn’t SECRET! God knows, of course. He is not shocked or surprised at the best or the worst we have to offer.

But, while our enemy is not omnipresent or omniscient, it is foolish to assume that our “secrets” are any kind of secret in the spiritual realm.

We use lies and secrecy to cover ourselves where we are weakest. This is a stupid strategy if your God and your enemy already know your weak points.

Cup Check

Everyone knows it is going to hurt if you get hit in the vulnerable parts. In baseball, if anyone takes a hit to where their cup should be, they wince in sympathetic pain. IT IS NOT A SECRET! We have to assume that in the spiritual realm, that everyone knows your weak vulnerable areas. You may be hiding it from your friends, your family, your church... but it isn't hidden to God and it probably isn't hidden to any enemy, spiritual or otherwise, who wishes you harm.

Lying to the Church, Lying to God

How seriously God takes this issue? How important is this? How does God shape this into the early church?

Acts 4:30-5:11

32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

5:1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

At the beginning of the church, this temptation snuck in: to lie for “religious” gain. Look how spiritual I am! Look how holy I am! Look how much I give, how much I sacrifice.

And they were generous! They were sacrificing. They were giving, they were part of it.

But that little-less-than-truth was so incredibly damaging to them and to the early church that God supernaturally set an EXTREME (uncomfortably extreme) example right then and there. Dead.

Pants – Protecting One Another

Being true before God and your community protects you where you are most vulnerable. This means sharing who you really are and what you really do before others. Share your weak points so your fellow soldier can help guard and protect you.

Soldiers standing in line, the Roman legion, one next to another. And you turn to your brother in arms and say “guard me as I guard you.” Here is my weakness. Here is my strength.

Share who you really are.

Share what you really do.

Put your truth pants on.

It is more than just not lying.

This changes your conversations with people. People in this room. It means you have a different answer to questions like "how was your weak?" "How are you doing?"

Not every time (that would be exhausting). And I know this is terrifying to some of you, to the introverts in the room. We need to setup this door so some can sneak in and out of church without having these conversations.

It doesn't have to happen Sabbath morning. You don't have this conversation with everyone. You don't have to share your most vulnerable moments from the stage, your toughest truths with every handshake.

But you do have to share, be honest, with brothers and sisters in Christ who are in fellowship with you. You have to be honest with God always. You have to honest with the people who love you and are in covenant community with you. We have promised to one another to help, to do life together, and we can only do that if we are honest with one another.

How are you? I'm struggling this weak. I am having a hard time with this...

How are you? It was a great week, I am learning this and loving it.

How are you? I am weak. Weak in sin and stupid, and I am worried it is going to impact my family. Pray with me, stand with me, be my spiritual brother and sister in arms.

Our Vision as a Church

This is part of our vision as a church.

Worship in spirit and in truth: in "honesty" before God.

Fellowship participating in each others lives.

Holy living, encouraging one another to lead holy lives... that only works if we share our real lives with one another!

We put our armor on together. We wear the armor of God together. We stand in His victory together.

Stand in His Victory... Put your truth pants on!