Consistency

Have you ever known someone who was not very consistent? You know the type: not dependable, always late, rarely finish assigned tasks, float from job to job and relationship to relationship, and never seem to do what they say they will do.

In classical deductive logic, a consistent theory is one that does not contain a contradiction. When we are talking about a person’s life, we say that consistency means that you walk to talk.

Walk the Talk

¹⁵ Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— ¹⁶ making the most of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸ And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:15-18)

Paul shares several examples in this passage of how you can walk the talk. He cautions us to not be foolish in how we think or act, but to understand what God wants for us and from us. To do this, we must continue to grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Bible, which is God’s instructions for our lives.

In verse 18 we see that Paul knew his audience well when he told them not to be drunk, because it would lead to reckless actions. The Ephesians were from a Greek culture that annually celebrated the feast of Bacchus, the god of wine. The Greek philosopher, Plato, wrote that there was hardly a sober person to be found in the whole region during the feast.

Paul wanted to remind the church that drinking to excess as was common among their culture was not living a life that honors the one true God. Instead, they should be filled with the Holy Spirit. How? The next 3 verses answer that:

¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. (Ephesians 5:19-21)

Speaking to others in music does not mean that we sing everything we say to people. It means that we use the wisdom and teachings of the scripture in how we interact with others. Remember that Jesus said that all of God’s commands could be summed up in these two: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

We are to live our lives with consistency. Martin Luther said this as the eulogy for pastor Nicholas Haussmann, "What we preach, he lived." That is consistency. Walking the talk.

Creativity is Expected

Consistency does not mean that our worship should be mundane. Oscar Wilde said, "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." I think he got consistency and complacency confused. We can worship in consistency and still be creative. We first worship God through psalms, songs based on the Bible, and then hymns, the old songs of the church, and also spiritual songs, which are new songs of praise that we sing to God. Paul continues by instructing us to make new songs to God from our hearts.

We must be creative in how we worship God. Anytime we refuse to create new songs of worship to God, we see a staleness that sucks the joy out of our worship. But we also must continue to sing the old songs that remind us of our past and how God worked through us and the church. Worship isn’t about one style or the other, it is about all and then some. 

Through our music we let God know that we are thankful for all that He has done, is doing, and will do for us. But don’t just sing a bunch of songs that say, “Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul.” Be creative, expressing your joy, sadness, hope, love, struggles, and more through the music of our souls. Opening up to God in all things so that He sees just how thankful we are.

Be Vulnerable

Finally, Paul instructs us to be vulnerable. Not vulnerable to sin, or evil, or the world, but to be vulnerable to one another, our brothers and sisters in Christ. Too often we come to church or speak to each other wearing masks. We have this persona of who we want others to see and that is all that we show them. But that is not the real us.

True submission to one another can only be accomplished when we are willing to drop the masks and let our real selves show. We do this so that we can help each other through this messy, sticky, difficult, hellish life that we live. God never intended for you to try and grow stronger in your Christian life all by yourself. He gave you a family to help along the way.

Family that accepts you and loves you enough to help you grow in your knowledge of God. Brothers and sisters that can help guide, instruct, and care for you. Family that will laugh with you, cry with you, be there for you. Family that loves you no matter what you have done. Family that doesn’t expect you to be perfect.

That means that you must be willing to be vulnerable. To submit to the spiritual authority of others knowing that what they do and say is done and said because they love you as part of the family of God. Submission here is done between all, not just submitting to one central authority. We all have roles and we all must submit to each other.