Ephesians and “Cheers”
What does the 1982-1993 TV sitcom Cheers have to do with Ephesians? Plenty! Bible scholars describe Ephesians as Paul treatise on the doctrine of the Church. A less intellectual and more personal way to express it is: Ephesians is an invitation into God’s neighborhood hangout.
How Ephesians Is Like Cheers
Ephesians, like the other New Testament letters, was written to believers who met in private houses. To 1st century believers “church” did not mean a building, a place, or a formal institution. To them “church” was a gathering of people who confessed “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
Because the size of their houses kept the groups small, they were literally places “where everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came.” That’s the key line of the theme song of the TV show Cheer, about a community of people who frequent a bar in Boston. Although Cheers is only fiction, it speaks to a real human need: to know and be known, to love and be loved by other people. Worn and tattered, we long for a close-knit community to keep us from completely unraveling.
As you read Ephesians, imagine you are receiving Paul’s teaching in the context of a close fellowship of friends devoted to Christ and to each other. Yet we know that relationships are not always rosy. People don’t always get along. Feathers get rumpled. Tempers flare. Rumors and gossip fly like Molotov cocktails. All hell breaks loose. Wounds are licked. Grudges are harbored – forever.
These observations are accurate. Interpersonal disasters do occur. But our brother Paul was not unaware of them. In fact, Paul wrote Ephesians in part to address these very concerns.
Seal and Deposit of Guarantee
In Eph. 1:13-14 Paul describes the unifying impact of the Holy Spirit with two unusual metaphors: “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (NIV, emphasis added)
How is the Holy Spirit like a seal? In Roman times a seal was placed on a shipping container to indicate ownership and to guarantee the accurateness of the container’s contents. The seal that believers receive is God the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord sends to dwell in us. The Spirit’s presence in us indicates that God owns us and guarantees that everything Christ has attained for us is indeed ours.
How is the Holy Spirit like a deposit? A deposit or guarantee in those days was “of the same kind.” That means that if you were to inherit 100 pounds of gold, your preliminary deposit/guarantee would be a gift of a smaller amount of gold.
What do Christians living in close community gain from the Holy Spirit’s presence? Truth, faith, relationship, fruit, gifts, guidance, counsel, and so much more. The deposit of the Holy Spirit guarantees that even more will come our way when we will receive “the redemption of those who are God’s possession” (v. 14), referring to Christ’s return on the Last Day. Until that Day, the Holy Spirit helps local believers to be a community “where everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came.”
Theodore or Dorothy?
Have you experienced “church” as a such a safe place? Imagine two siblings named Theodore and Dorothy, who each will inherit 640 acres of farmland upon the death of their bachelor uncle. In the meantime, as a preliminary deposit/guarantee, they each are granted possession of two acres of their future spread, plus a farm house that stands on that parcel. Dorothy so values her future inheritance, that she and her family make it their week-end, get-away place. They plant a garden and hang hammocks in the shade. Whenever Dorothy stands on the porch, she joyfully gazes at the panoramic view of her coming inheritance.
Theodore never visits the farm and hardly thinks about his inheritance. Why not? He doesn’t like to get his hands dirty and can’t stomach the fragrances of a farm. He neither understands nor appreciates the country-folk neighbors. He considers his farm house a “fixer-upper” and even wonders if the old house, with it’s creaking floors and whistling windows, is haunted.
How much do followers of Christ utilize and enjoy their deposit, the Holy Spirit? The answer varies among Christians, according to what they have been taught and experienced about the Spirit. Some Christians have been taught to welcome the Holy Spirit, just as Dorothy welcomed the deposit/guarantee of her inheritance. Other Christians have been advised to question the value of the Holy Spirit, resulting in disinterest and even disdain, similar to Theodore’s reluctance to use and enjoy the deposit/guarantee of his inheritance.
Pertinent Questions
- In Eph. 1:13-14, does Paul sound like a Theodore or a Dorothy?
- How much am I utilizing and enjoying my deposit, the Holy Spirit? Am I a Theodore or a Dorothy?
- What have I been taught about the role of the Spirit in the life of a believer?
- What qualities and activities of the Holy Spirit draw me to seek His assistance?
- What causes me to shy away from engaging with the Holy Spirit?
- How will we draw on the Spirit’s provision to become a community “where everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came”?
Dig Deeper
It comes as no surprise that Community and Holy Spirit are among the 10 building blocks of life in Christ found throughout the Bible. The post you just read is an excerpt from the 133-page ebook Fullness or Fraction in Ephesians: Our Adoption Papers by Phil Bickel. To learn more:
- Read a brief outline of the book.
- Download a free copy at the Faith Trekker Store.
- Learn about “FULLNESS or Fraction”.
