Ideas of Normalcy- Second Glances at Ephesians

I urge you to walk in manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with each other in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  

Ephesians 4: 1

Paul is quite methodical in his letter to Ephesus.  He starts out chapter one by reminding the church that EVERY follower of Christ is blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing and receives the FULL inheritance of what it means to be a son or daughter of Christ- regardless of gender, race, or age.  Next, in chapter two, Paul reminds the church that we have been shown a huge amount of grace- so therefore we need to show grace to each other because we are all one in Christ.  And then in the following chapters he specifically addresses how to live out this unity and grace within the broken cultural system of the day.  And actually- this letter isn’t just to any old clumping of people- it’s written to a church.  This letter is about how to address the broken cultural system within the church.

The church in Ephesus had a lot of broken systems- but foremost in Paul’s mind was how people interact with one another.   In those days, children, women, and slaves would fall into the category of THINGS- things to be ruled and governed over by men.  Men made the decisions because they were believed to be more fit leaders and armed with more appropriate spiritual gifting to make decisions and rule.  This concept flew in direct contrast to the very first opening chapter in Ephesians- which is that actually ALL followers of Christ have EVERY spiritual blessing- from leadership, to teaching, to giving, to showing mercy.  In writing the letter to the Ephesians, Paul sought to both gently nudge the church leaders towards the relational shift necessary for the blossoming of the church culture while simultaneously reminding those who were marginalized by the current system to not grow bitter but to continue to honor, respect, and serve because they are indeed serving God, not men.  

It’s funny how God is willing to speak in a very direct way if I bother making the time to listen.  This last little while I’ve been percolating over our own church culture.  Some things are great…but some things are broken.  The problem with percolating is that sometimes I end up with an extra-strong coffee that no one can possibly stomach.  I remember my sophomore Western Civilization teacher once saying to me, “Heather, you have a ferocious justice-o-meter.”  The problem being that I easily allow my desire to make things right turn into bitterness- which is exactly what Paul admonishes kids/women/slaves about- their need to continue to honor/respect/serve even in the face of hardship and mistreatment.  It’s also why the final chapter on dressing oneself with the armor of God is so fitting.  The fight is not against our brothers and sisters- against flesh and blood- but against the spiritual forces that would distract from The Point and extinguish compassion and love.

Clearly it is important to Paul that each person have the opportunity to live out the giftings that Christ has given as an inheritance AND it’s important that the unity within the body of Christ is maintained.  It’s one of those tricksy teeter-totter balancing act.  The ability to nudge the church towards a more true reflection of God’s vision of restoration while blocking the ugly arrows of resentment.

It’s something I’ve struggled with- but I also felt like God met me concerning this issue this week.  He reminded me that I DO need to live out the calling to which I have been called- even if it rocks to the boat- but the living out needs to be done with humility and gentleness.  It’s good to be reminded that God is both my champion and defender and also wants me to take each step with wisdom and care.

The Chief End of Man

And the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden for serving and for keeping. Genesis 2:15

Adam and Eve. There’s lots of hubbub about Adam and Eve these days (partly in thanks to Christianity Today’s new article). Can humankind all come from the same gene pool? What about all those other people in the land of Nod that Cain was afraid of…Where did they come from? Did God really want Adam and Eve’s Big Life Plan to be gardeners? Does that mean I should be a gardener? These are serious questions.

So you may look at this Genesis 2:15 verse I put up and squinch your nose and say something like, wait a second, my NIV says, …Put him in the garden to work it and take care of it. “It,” of course being the garden. Interesting titbit I found. The Hebrew of “to work and care” literally translates to say, “to serve and to keep”. The “it” was added by translators but was not part of the original text. So what is Adam supposed to be “serving and keeping?” It seems rather ambiguous.

So I looked deeper. In Hebrew, the idiomatic interpretation of the phrase “to serve and keep” is “to worship and obey.” It seems, then, that God put Adam in the garden for the express purpose of worshipping and obeying. This strain sounds vaguely familiar. I also found that the literal translation of “to put” means “to set aside” or “to dedicate.” Adam was set aside and dedicated for the express purpose of worshipping and obeying God. What does this sound like? It sounds like what Israel was supposed to be. A people set aside in the Promised Land, wholly dedicated to worshipping God and obeying the Mosaic Law. It makes sense that Adam was basically the first priest, a proto-Israel- God set him aside in a beautiful land to serve and obey Him. Adam and Eve did not obey the law that God set up for them and so Adam and Eve were exiled out of the Garden. The Israelites did not obey the Law and so were exiled to Babylon. Noteworthy correlations, ay?

So what does this mean? Does it even matter if God’s original intent for Adam and Eve was to “work and tend [the garden}” rather than “to worship and obey.” I think so. I think it emphasizes that people were chiefly made to have intimacy and relationship with God. Something along the lines of the Westminster Catechism…The chief end of man is glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

It amazes me that you, the Almighty God, desire intimacy. Thank you for creating a way for me to know you. Help me to live each moment in worship and obedience.

An Ezer

And the Lord God said, “It isn’t good for man to be alone. I will create a companion, a helper suited to his needs.” Genesis 2:18

To me, the word “helper” is chalk-full of connotations. I think of little girl “helping” mom make cookies, ie: making a mess while mom does everything important. I think of someone less strong or less capable assisting someone more powerful or more skilled. So really, my go-to definition of a woman being a man’s “helper” is weak. Limited. Is this what God had in mind?

In Hebrew the word for “helper” is ezer. It turns out that the word ezer pops up everywhere in the Old Testament, and not just under our go-to definition. It describes how God tends to (or helps) His people. For example:

1. Exodus 18:14 says, “The God of my Father was my ezer and he delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.” So in this instance, ezer means a warrior, a deliverer, a shield.

2. Psalm 70:5 says, “But I am afflicted and needy. Hasten to me, O God! Thou art my ezer and my deliverer.” Through this verse, we see that ezer can mean someone who supports, someone who offers relief to one who is suffering or lacking.

3. Psalm 121:1-2 says, “I will lift my eyes up to the mountains; from where shall my ezer come from? My ezer comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” These verses suggest that an ezer offers hope to a despondent and desperate heart.

So it seems that ezer isn’t a namby-pamby word. It is a strong, freeing word. It suggests that women were made to be warriors and deliverers. Were made to relieve suffering. Were made to offer hope to the sensitive, hurting places. To me this is something, not nothing. It challenges my go-to definition of femininity, but more, it broadens my picture of who God is. Genesis talks about how God made man AND woman in his image- together they give a more complete picture of the character of God.

I have been really struggling to know what the role of women is in the church. Heck, let’s be real, I’ve been struggling to know what MY role is in the church. It’s hard. It’s hard because society has some pretty twisted propaganda about how women are supposed to be. And really, historically the church also has had some pretty twisted ideas too. I mean, even theological big shots like Augustine said stuff like, “I cannot think of any reason for woman’s being made as man’s helper, if we dismiss the reason of procreation” (as quoted in Fincher, 2007, p. 90). Since women are God’s image-bearers, this is a pretty wimpy view of God- only good for producing stuff when we want it.

This refined definition of ezer makes me think that maybe, maybe, God has a bigger plan for women, a bigger plan for men, too. I couldn’t possibly pretend to have All The Answers- but reading through this, I have been challenged to rethink what I have been accepting as status quo- from the media, from the church, from what I tell myself. It challenges me to pursue the True Heart of God in how He sees people.

Holy God, you are so big and so beyond my comprehension. I worship you. Help me to pursue seeing who you are more clearly and to pursue seeing men and women as you see them- image-bearers of the Lord Creator.