Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

Friendly conversation abruptly fell into awkward silence at the matter-of-fact statement. The sergeant didn’t believe people could change. He’d worked too long among those who hadn’t. Seen the same faces return through the back door as had walked out the front only a short time before. He applauded our dedication. He approved our work. He admitted the possibility of it helping. But he didn’t believe it would. Had never seen it happen. Didn’t believe that attending Sunday morning services or evening Bible study would affect the statistics. He’d never seen anyone change their preposition. He didn’t believe anyone could. 

A few weeks prior to my conversation with the sergeant, a group of us had started a Sunday evening Bible study at the county detention center. I had been tasked with teaching Ephesians 4:20-32 to a group of men whose lives and reasons for being residents there indicated they had not previously learned those truths. Or they simply hadn’t adhered to them. Perhaps they’d never been taught. Maybe they hadn’t liked what they heard. Perhaps some had been drawn aside by negative influences, unfortunate circumstances, or the wayward desires of their own evil hearts. It didn’t matter. Regardless of the impetus of their presence, we were doing our best to encourage them to turn from evil and embrace good, pouring into their minds everything we could teach them about God.  

Joy zinged through my being the first time they correctly answered the questions I asked. I was ecstatic! They had actually been listening! I wasn’t sure they had. Until that point, I wasn’t certain the small congregation of blue scrub-clad men squeezed into rows of school-style desks was even paying attention to the words I said. It seemed more likely they had gathered to catch a glimpse of the ladies in our group. Shake our hands. Make small talk. Have some connection with the outside world. And maybe those things brought them there initially. But now they were listening. They were learning. Storing up knowledge about God. 

That was the problem so succinctly pinpointed by the sergeant. The men in that assembly were simply learning about God. They could quote His traits, His laws, His expectations. They could sing the songs extolling His greatness. They could quote the words they knew I was going to say with amazing accuracy. Yet, when the rubber met the road and they were released back to their lives, they weren’t putting the knowledge into practice. Why? Because they only knew about God. They didn’t act like Him. Different preposition. Different result. Knowing about God would never cleanse their hearts, change their lives, clean up their actions. Knowing about God wouldn’t keep them from re-entering the door at the back of the building. No. They had to be like God. Let Him change their hearts, redirect their lives, resurrect the part of them that would choose good over evil. Knowing about God wouldn’t change their future. Living like God would.

It is the same message Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus. Yes. The church. Not to the prisoners serving jail sentences. Not to the random sinners in the town square. Not to those who blatantly denied the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. No. Paul wrote it to the church. To those he addresses as God’s holy, faithful people. People already claiming to be Jesus’ followers. Those who attended every church service, regularly dropped money in the collection plate, who could quote the law of God backwards and forwards. Paul originally wrote the words to those people. Good people. Upstanding citizens with sparkling clean records. People in whom the world would find no fault. People who possibly believed they didn’t need those words or their admonition. People like us.  

Halfway through chapter 4, Paul’s words become very direct and forceful. Paul leaves no room for interpretation, no area for argument. They are unequivocally not who they were before they met Christ. They can’t be. If Christ lives in them, their old self is dead. They are alive in Christ. They are no longer selfish, greedy, impure people following the desires and wishes of their own evil hearts. They have put off the spirits of deceit, anger, and laziness to work hard and help others. They now consider every word before it passes their lips, ensuring that every utterance builds up and benefits rather than tearing down and damaging. At least that is what they were supposed to be doing. It was what they should be doing now that they have learned to live like Christ. Yet the fact Paul had to write and reiterate these lessons to them seems to indicate they were just as human as we are. They seem to be slipping. Not because they don’t know how to live. They do. They have been taught to live like Christ because simply knowing about Him will never be enough. (Ephesians 4:20-32)

It’s not enough for us, either. It never can be. You can use all the right words, quote the Bible from cover to cover, recite God’s laws, pinpoint His requirements, remind those around you of His judgment, but if your life hasn’t been changed by putting off your old self and living like Christ, it all means nothing. You have to have more than head knowledge. You need heart knowledge. You need to know Christ and the cleansing, changing power of His life-breathing resurrection. And your life needs to show it. Your words and actions need to reflect the new, God-created self you have become, exhibiting righteousness and holiness. If they don’t, you haven’t. There’s been no change. No putting off of the old self. No renewal of your mental attitude. No new self. You need to change your preposition. You need to be like Christ, not simply know about Him. 

Where I would never presume to have reached Paul’s spiritual stature, I often wonder why the words God writes on these pages come out the way they do. Why does God speak these things to people who have already chosen to follow Him, to live like Him? It seems the answer lies in the words of Hebrews 2:1. Pay attention to what you have heard and been taught. Remember how you have learned to live like Christ. Don’t forget it. Don’t get distracted. Don’t drift away. Don’t rely on knowing about Christ. Be like Him. Speak like Jesus. Act like Jesus. Model your life after Jesus Christ alone. Show the world that you have been renewed in your heart and soul by the power of Christ. Live like you are different. Live like Jesus. Your preposition matters. Choose it wisely. (Proverbs 4:11-13; Philippians 2:5; 4:9; II Timothy 3:14; I John 2:6; 3:7;John 13:13-17; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 5:1; Philippians 3:10-11)