Loving And Truthful Communication - Part 3
"...we need to 'put off' the old ways of communication, and 'put on' the new, Christ–like way of conducting ourselves in our relationships with fellow believers."
Loving and truthful communication is such an important aspect of both our lives as Christians and in our roles as church musicians.
Over the last couple of weeks, we've looked at how this relates to us, drawing truths from the book of Ephesians.
Let’s look at one more passage, then, from Ephesians 4:20-32. Making a contrast between the unsaved Gentiles and God’s people, Paul writes…
[Ephesians 4:20-32 ESV] 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
I encourage you to slowly read over these verses a few times, letting the truths sink in, as there’s so much that is helpful here about loving and truthful communication.
I’m just going to list some of those truths that we see in these verses…
Firstly then…
The way we communicate with each other should be a witness to the world of the character of Christ (v. 20-25)
We are new creations in Christ, and we have a new family in Christ. Therefore, we need to 'put off' the old ways of communication, and 'put on' the new, Christ–like way of conducting ourselves in our relationships with fellow believers.
Our communication should be devoid of lies, anger, unwholesome words, unedifying words, unfitting words, bitter words, loud words, slanderous words, malicious words, & unforgiving words (v26-32)
It’s good for us to be reminded of these things, as saved sinners working alongside saved sinners is a situation that can create sparks at times. If we’re not careful, the flesh can get the better of us, and we can give way to ungodly communication.
When it does happen, remember that we have a place to go and a Saviour who offers us forgiveness and hope. By His grace, we can walk in a new way, which is to communicate in a way that is consistent with what we read in Scripture as an alternative to ungodly communication.
So in relation to this, we see that…
By God’s grace, we can communicate with other believers with love, truth, grace, kindness, edification, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness. (v26-32)
As we look at these verses in Ephesians, it’s vital to remember that these are “imperatives”, which are “instructions” or “commands” to be obeyed. However, they are given to us with the backdrop of the first 3 chapters of Ephesians, known as the “indicatives”, which indicate and communicate to us that it’s only because of what Christ has done for us, and in us, that we can live this way.
So, instead of seeing it as “You’ve got to communicate this way, if you’re a true Christian”, we should see it as “Because of Christ, you get to communicate this way”. And when you see it in that way, you'll discover what a blessing it is.
Let's recap the truths we've drawn from these passages in Ephesians 4...
The way we communicate with each other should be a witness to the world of the character of Christ
Our communication should be devoid of lies, anger, unwholesome words, unedifying words, unfitting words, bitter words, loud words, slanderous words, malicious words, & unforgiving words
By God’s grace, we can communicate with other believers with love, truth, grace, kindness, edification, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness.
I hope these truths encourage and equip us to have a stronger biblical foundation in the way we conduct ourselves towards our fellow brothers and sisters in the church, as both church musicians and church members.
And remember, this is not a list of “to-dos”, but rather, it shows us what Christ has already made available to us through the gospel. Because of that, these are truths we can live out in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit.
When we communicate lovingly and truthfully, God is glorified, and the world is witness to a beautiful testimony of God's redeeming work in our lives.
[Return to The Church Piano Player Website]
This blog post was written by pastor and pianist Kris Baines, from The Church Piano Player. Kris lives in the UK with his family, having recently moved back from New Zealand where he worked as a pastor for the past 26 years (also leading worship/worship teams). Kris has also spent over 35 years writing, recording, and performing music and is now bringing all that combined experience together to help equip church piano/keyboard players.
Check out the church piano player website for more information on online courses by Kris Baines.
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