Call & Response

CALL

As Christians we have been asked to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, to put away all malice, to put away all falsehoods- to put off lewd jokes.

I found myself last week texting a friend of mine something cheeky. It was inappropriate to the nature of our friendship. Next time I see him- i'll gracefully apologize. Protect each other!

Make sure our "call" is out of truth, and not out of falsehood.

We have been asked to get rid of falsehoods- to die to flesh, to walk in a manner worthy of our calling.

That calling is laid out specifically in Ephesians 4: "with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace".

lowliness in some texts is translated also as humility which is defined as "to be happy and content when we are not in control or steering things our own way"

gentleness: to bear reproach or slight without bitterness

patience: some scholars described it as "self restraint that does not hastily retaliate a wrong" and "Spirit that has the power to take revenge but never does"

bearing with: not merely showing tolerance in love but taking on the weight of a burden with someone

Pretty legit.

Often though I wonder if we forget to take this to the next level.

If we take this to the truest point, the thoroughest resonance of walking in truth...

Call & RESPONSE works like this:

I say "hey!"  You say "ho!"

"Hey!"  "(Ho!)"

"Hey!"  "(Ho!)"

How about, I say- you say "We love Jesus yes we do we love Jesus how about you!"

 "We love Jesus yes we do we love Jesus how about you!"

"(We love Jesus yes we do we love Jesus how about you!)"

How about, I say - "something false that isn't edifying", you say "something to validate me as a person because you're afraid to respond in truth"

"something false that isn't edifying"

"..."


No?  Are you sure?  How many times do we find ourselves in conversation with someone where we may not be acting in falsehood, we may not be acting out of malice or contempt, but we are responding to it. We may count our actions as good based on the calling laid above but our response is also action.  Let me reiterate, our response regardless of the means or mode is action.

Let me clarify & repeat, our response is AN action. Which means don't engage in arguments that aren't edifying. Speak to the issue with truth. Don't respond to people's competition of earthly ideals by competition but point to where our treasure really is. If we continue to talk to the world the way the world wants to talk, we miss the point of being called out in truth.

Scholars have said for a long time that you should never react to something, you should respond.  But, make sure your response is coming from a place of truth- a place of honesty, and not in response to falsehood- for that would mean simply returning from a place of void.  This is also a chance to encourage yourself when making decisions.  Any decision you make that follows with a, "but what if they think that I mean something else", or "what if they do this..." is ALSO responding to falsehood.

My friend stayed upright, walked in a manner worthy of his calling- and did not respond out of falsehood.

Let this be a lesson to you, cause it is sure is a lesson to me. :)