Walk in a Worthy Manner

by Timothy Howe

When a person joins a team, he or she takes on the shared values and purposes of that team. He or she shares makes its objectives and goals his or her own. In doing so, they agree to the standards and aims of the team and the hopeful outcome is success in accomplishing the team's goals. Ephesians lays out some of the standards of joining God's team.

¹ I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

Ephesians 4:1-3

Walk in a Worthy Manner

Look at that phrase "walk in a manner worthy of the calling." God expects His children to live life with a higher calling. He calls us to put into practice the principles that His works instills in us. Specifically in this passage, this "manner of calling" refers to believers living in unity with one another. It is God Himself who has called us to live a life of unity with other believers. We cannot refuse God’s will for us if He really is our Lord, can we?

We are called to live ethically.

Once we give our lives to God, we have a higher standard by which to measure our actions. We must conduct ourselves in a "worthy" manner. What does this mean? Well, it means that we must consider every action and how it reflects on Christ and on our fellow believers. Too often there is no distinction in our a follower of Jesus lives life than a person who does not follow Him. We must be a people above reproach.

We are called to live ethically before all people.
Our calling to ethical living is not meant to be something that we do on Sundays. It should especially be lived out on Mondays through Fridays. We should constantly be living out exemplary lives without exception. Unfortunately the charges of hypocrisy leveled against Christians too often ring true. We must live out the teachings of the gospel. James exhorts us - 

But don't just listen to God's word. 

You must do what it says. 

Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

James 1:22 NLT

We are called to live ethically in all circumstances.

Our calling to ethical living remains in force no matter how unethical the people we deal with become. People treated Christ extremely harshly and yet He continued to live out His plan. Temptations will arise to cut corners when coworkers do so. Temptations will arise to return evil for evil. Temptations will arise to try to get away with something when no one is looking. We must remember to live worthy of the calling even when no one is watching. 


We are called to live differently towards other Christians.
Ultimately, in this passage, Paul is speaking about how Christians should treat each other. This is not to say that Christians should not treat non-Christians in a less respectful manner. There are plenty of how passages that speak directly about how we are to treat all people. But in this passage Paul was addressing the very real problem of Christians behaving badly towards other Christians. He insists that there is no room for this in the church. If we are truly a part of a family, then how we treat each other matters. Paul prioritizes this teaching first in this practical section of his letter.


We are called to live in harmony.
So, how should Christians treat each other? Paul instructs us to live in harmony. Harmony does not mean that we are all blind to each others' differences. What it means is that we look past those to the common purpose for which we were brought together. If ever there was a place where backbiting, gossip, bitterness, grudges or malicious talk should not exist, it is in the church. We are called to lived better than that. This week we will examine how Paul teaches us that we are able to do so.