For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you
– Ephesians 1:15-16
Have you ever been introduced to a total stranger, who upon hearing your name nods and says, “oh yeah – I’ve heard a lot about you”? I don’t know about you, but for me, there’s always a brief awkward moment where I stare at the new person, desperately trying to read what it is they’ve heard about me. After all, that might not be a good thing!
What do people hear about you? What characteristics so define you that when people mention you, they think of those things? For example: Marcus Elliott, our Minister to Families, is a servant. Through his various jobs and connections, he learns where the needs are and has a knack for finding solutions to complicated problems. I’ve known him for several years, and that’s just who he is – he’s going to do those kinds of things whether that’s part of his job or not. This is a defining characteristic of the guy, and the City of Anna gave him the Citizen of the Year award on Saturday night.
The believers in the fledgling Ephesian church had a similarly defining characteristic. They were so characterized by their “faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,” that word made it all the way to Paul’s prison cell, where he was writing. When Paul heard that, he says the news caused him to praise God unceasingly for them!
And no wonder! In Roman times (as in ours) the primary “success metric” was money, power, and prestige. You know how this goes, right?Just like ours, Roman society was broken into two groups: you either had money and prestige, or you were trying to get it. The hunt for this kind of success defined not only the individual Roman citizens, but the culture of the Empire itself. In contrast, Paul reveals that the Ephesians – at least to some degree – were beginning to shift from a normal success metric (power, prestige, financial/professional success) to a new one where faith expressed in love for the saints was “success”.
And this is important. “Love for the saints” is not optional. It’s not one of those “that’s not my gift” kinds of things. If you are a believer, then you will show it by “love for the saints.” Jesus Himself said that love for our fellow believers is a defining mark of being a Christian:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34-35
This is a pretty strong statement Christ makes, isn’t it? To put it another way, Jesus is saying that you can know all the answers, memorize whole books of the Bible and give lots of money to your church (all of which are good things, of course) – but if you don’t love your fellow believers, you have no evidence that you’re Christ’s disciple.
Does love define you? Is your faith demonstrated by your love for others? When you meet someone new, and they say, “Oh yeah – I’ve heard so much about you,” will at least part of what they’ve heard about you be the way you love other people?
Is your faith evident?
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