Fullness in Community

What are some ways you can trade falsehood for truth in your relationships and rhythms?

Ephesians 4:25

So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with your neighbor, for we are members of one another.

The writer of Ephesians offers a list of “ethical exhortations,” which really are descriptions of the “new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (4:24). Those who would come from diverse spiritual and ethnic backgrounds to join the church are changed by faith: they form a new identity, “renewed in the spirit of your mind,” which finds fullness in community–we are members of one another. 

The Hebrew and Christian visions of community challenge the hyper-individualism of the modern West: we are connected by Spirit, we have a responsibility to one another. Falsehood, whether shone through lies, deceit, or disingenuousness, imperils the foundation of any community, as it creates separation and disintegration; truth, while not always convenient, builds trust, unity, and growth.

What are some ways you can trade falsehood for truth in your relationships and rhythms?

— Evan Amo