Ephesians 5:12 – What The Disobedient Do

It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

Summary: Being disobedient is a way of life for some. The result of rejecting God is that we step out on our own, become our own judge, and have to decide what is right or wrong for ourselves. The only problem with that scenario is that when we leave this life, we have to stand before our Maker and defend those decisions.

Yep.

I was tempted to publish this post with only one word, “Yep.” It is hard not to agree with Paul on this matter. Worse, how do we talk about what is shameful to mention? Isn’t that like trying to unsee what you never should have seen?

So instead of mentioning the specific things the disobedient do in secret, let’s talk about the general categories of things they do. Paul gives us a list in his letter to the church in Rome:

“Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.” (Romans 1:28-31)

It is important to note that those with a “depraved mind” don’t think of themselves as disobedient. They simply reject God. As Paul put it, they don’t consider the knowledge of God “worthwhile.” The disobedient are not wracked with guilt over being disobedient. They simply don’t care about rules they have decided do not apply to them.

Arrogant people don’t see themselves as arrogant. The envious are justified (in their mind) if they take what is not theirs. Gossips are simply sharing information, not realizing they are stealing someone’s reputation and murdering their standing in the community.

Having rejected God and elevated themselves to the level of “Ultimate Authority,” those who reject God find themselves with unlimited options. Anything is possible to the one who does not acknowledge any limits. All that is needed is to get other people to cooperate with your ambitions. This is why so many people in life come across as users. It is only in the embrace of God that we can enjoy true relationships with others. In Jesus, we are all equal. In the Father, we are all children.

The reason Paul writes the things he does is that his spiritual eyes have been opened by Jesus. He sees the truth. He knows what happens to people who reject the only way to heaven: they end up in hell. Forever. He also knows that we cannot serve both God and ourselves. We have to make a choice.

Application: Don’t imagine that there is anything you can do in secret that won’t be found out by God.

Food for Thought: How does God look at the things we do “in secret” in the privacy of our own minds?