Ephesians 5:8-14

In this passage Paul reminds us again that we were once darkness, but now we are light in the Lord. He then describes briefly what living in the light looks like by listing the fruit it bears. He again reminds us to have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness but rather expose them to the light.

Again Paul interrupts his train of thought on darkness vs. light to list the what the fruits of our life should look like. He then returns to reiterate the importance of having nothing to do with the deeds of darkness.

Two things stick out to me in this passage. The first is the importance of a changed life in following Christ. Over and over Paul gives us specific actions, and traits to cultivate and here again he can't resist the desire to impress upon his reader's what the fruits of their lives should be. Therefore I need to constantly be looking at what I am doing in my life to cultivate those features. Secondly I wrestle with the call to expose the deeds of darkness. This immediately sounds like moralizing rather than loving, or a holier than thou preaching because these are common images we are familiar with. I recognize that this is not what Paul had in mind. I think what Paul had in mind is that secrecy allows sin to continue to hold its power. When we are honest and open it loses some of its glamour, part of its allure. We need to learn to be bold and thoughtful in not only proclaiming sin, but I think in our times explaining why it is sin. For some sins, pornography is one that comes to mind, we cannot simply call it sin but we need to explain why it is sin and what effects that sin has. In a non-bible based society we need to thoughtfully demonstrate why we are against things because we cannot simply assume that all agree with us based on the Bible. This places an extra challenge as we interact and balance love and grace as Jesus did.