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Author: Mark Whitters, from the Servants of the Word, an international, ecumenical brotherhood of men living single for the Lord.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes: “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Paul begins by calling himself “a prisoner for the Lord” and finishes by calling his Ephesian audience into a “bond of peace”, analogous to a prison bond. What is this new prison bond? Unity in the face of brotherly disagreement, lowliness and meekness instead of communal aggression, patience and forbearance instead of division and separation, and finally peace instead of brotherly conflict. The calling of the Lord does indeed free us from one kind of bondage—bondage to sin, especially sin in the form of egotism and individualism—but it bids us enter into another bond, this time a bond in relationship with others in the body of Christ.

Are we ready to be, like Paul, a “prisoner for the Lord”, happy to carry out our calling in our bonds with members of the body of Christ?

Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.