Completely Gentle under Christ? Really?
The Bible has a command to be completely gentle under Christ. Take note of the following verse in Eph 4:2:
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
What does it mean to be completely humble, gentle and patient?
To be completely humble is to know who you are in Christ without any need to prove. In John 4, Jesus was quite gentle with the Samaritan woman, but he was totally not gentle with the religious leaders. No one would describe Paul as completely gentle. Note, how he approaches the Galatians when they fall away. Neither Jesus nor Paul ever apologizes for these strong words. Patience is important, but let’s put it aside for now.
So what is Paul saying when he says be completely humble, gentle and patient? In Chapter 4, he is begging the Ephesians to live in unity. Completely is a good term for seeking unity. From reading Paul’s many letters and seeing his strong actions in Acts, we can all see that Paul is a man of intensity with little gentleness at a minimum. He is more like a Christian tank rumbling through Asia Minor.
Ok, can we just ignore what he said about being gentle? If Paul the Apostle with Jesus beside him was here with us, would he say just ignore it?
Completely Gentle Under Christ? Takes Deeper Understanding
No, to seek unity, we deeply need, and the Beatitudes describes a person much like Eph. 4:2. These are important values of the kingdom as a general rule. There are clear cases where Jesus and Paul are clearly leaving these rules behind out of love for these people. We must live by the Spirit of the law and follow the Spirit to make such decisions to leave the path of completely gentle.
God help us to seek your face and abide with you that we might have a living faith to love a hurting world Also, may we see when to help this world and our friends by being tougher only when holding your hand and the hand of others in accountability.
