Ephesians

22nd June
Hmm… Haven’t been amazing at updating my blog recently. However, I’ll blame that on the lack of internet access we’ve had. The internet tends to be dependent on the electricity, and when a tree falls on the line somewhere, it tends to be off for a few days. However, due in large part, I suspect, because of the necessity of having electricity to watch the World Cup, the repairs were done remarkably speedily.

In our Fellowship group on Sunday night, we’ve been looking at Ephesians, which has been really interesting. There’s a lot in there about turning from your old way of life and taking on a new way of life. There’s quite an emphasis on truthfulness, which I’ve always taken as being quite a given for anyone, let alone Christians. Yet being in Congo has casted a new light on reading this passage. I think that in the UK we sometimes take for granted our Christian heritage, and what that has meant for the standards and norms in our society. In Congo, truthfulness is not something that is rooted in the society. There’s a general attitude of ‘I’ll say what I need to in order to improve my life’, which, as you can imagine, has quite a wide impact! For example, on CVs people will write what they think the employer wants to hear, not necessarily their experience, and create certificates to back it up. If discovered and challenged, e.g. at an interview, then the response is bemusement that you even have to ask - ‘well how else was I going to get the job?’ In reporting what work has been done or how much something costs, it’s really hard to know whether the person is actually telling you what’s happened or telling you what he thinks will work out best for him. That’s quite cynical, I know, but when you know that it happens it’s difficult to know what you can trust the person or not.

If this was happening in the UK, the people would (hopefully!) quickly learn that ‘creative’ reporting just isn’t done. And if people lied, it would be assumed to be deliberate dishonesty. However, because lying is not widely perceived as dishonest in Congo, it’s difficult to determine their motivations, their awareness that it’s not acceptable, or their character. Tearfund are very clear in our inductions, briefings and processes but you can’t overcome deeply engrained habits of a lifetime that quickly! Not that we’ve had major issues here, but I am aware of how much we expect from our staff in terms of standard of behaviour. It’s reasonable, and necessary (and the norm in the UK), but as an employer I think we’re seen as very demanding! In some ways, it feels as if we shouldn’t be coming into another culture and imposing our own expectations and norms. However, I also feel that things like truth are vital in building a strong society, and that part of our role in being here is not only help 4,500 households increase their agricultural production but to model working with professionalism and integrity.

To return to Ephesians and the emphasis on a change of life and behaviour once you know Christ… I think a lot of people (UK, Congo and anywhere else) see becoming a Christian as a one-off thing – ‘ok, I’ve believed in Jesus, had my sins forgiven, done and finished’. However, Jesus talks about following him, loving him, obeying him – all continuous actions in the present tense. And if we’re living for him that’s got to result in a change our attitudes and behaviour. I believe that some of this comes about naturally, without our design, simply as a result of asking God to work in us. Other things require a recognition that this or that behaviour is not consistent with living for Jesus, and a determination of will that we’re wanting to change (God can then give us a measure of strength to help). If things are so deeply engrained in society, then recognising that a certain behaviour or attitude is harmful is very difficult. I think it’s possible for anyone, through reading and reflecting on the Bible, our behaviour, and the consequences of our actions, as well as spending time with God. However, most people don’t do this and the behaviour continues.

Apart from things like untruthfulness, as mentioned earlier, sexual immorality is also something that’s so engrained in the culture that people don’t even question it. Our friends who teach at the Bible School have described how they teach on sexual purity and highlight all the passages on being faithful to your spouse. For the majority of students, this is the first time that they’ve realised that their behaviour is contrary to the Bible. Cue questions such as ‘that only applies if my wife is well, right?’ or ‘how long does it mean for – after 2 weeks away from home that no longer applies I assume?’ of ‘how do you expect us to go for a whole term without having sex?’ Quite a challenge for them… And if this is true for students at a Bible school, imagine how much more it’s true for the general population. Apparently most of the students do go away and recognise that if they do want to be wholesale for Christ they will have to change their behaviour.

Maybe you’re reading this thinking ‘Christianity shouldn’t be enforcing their own narrow ideas of behaviour on people’. I agree, to an extent – I have no right to enforce my standards of behaviour or ‘what the Bible says’ on another person, though if I can see that someone’s behaviour is harming themselves or others I am going to care about their well-being. But if somebody is actively professing to worship Christ, then I think they have a responsibility to reflect on any behaviour that they discover may not be what Christ wants for them. If, after investigating, reading, spending time with God etc. they come to the conclusion that it is contrary to following Christ then they also have a responsibility to change. Maybe they reflect and decide that actually the behaviour is fine – that may well be true, though I’d also be cautious of how strongly our self-interest can want that to be the case. This is the advantage of having others around us who we trust – they tend to be a more neutral third party!

Paul was a Jew, brought up in a culture where the laws of the land encouraged truthfulness. He was writing to the Ephesians, a culture which hadn’t been based on such norms, which meant it was necessary to write what he did (Whereas when he writes to the Jews it often tends to be about their legalism and lack of grace). I wonder if he found it as surprising as I do to look at the culture and realise that the things he had previously taken for granted were not actually givens. Being here has given me an added appreciation of Ephesians, and a greater understanding into the importance of the things he was writing. Maybe I find it more obviously applicable to the culture here, where there are stark differences. But living in another culture also reveals the deficits in your own – which you haven’t noticed because you’ve always grown up with them and you don’t know anything different. For example, take “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food, and you say ‘go, I wish you well’ but do nothing about his physical needs – what good is it?” (James). Africans would be (and are) horrified by our lack of hospitality and lack of community and regard for family. Let’s not deceive ourselves into believing that we’re a civilised society without fault!

So read Ephesians (all of it, but particularly chapters 4 & 5) and reflect on what it really means to put off our old self and ‘live as children of the light’…..