When the bailiff swears in a witness to testify in a trial, he asks them if they are willing to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. No half truth. No shaded truth. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth. It’s absolutely necessary that the witness spill the beans. There’s a need for full disclosure. Paul asks the Ephesian church to pray for him. “And also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel” (v19). He realizes that he needs supernatural power in order to make a difference for Christ. Paul knows the importance of full disclosure.
Paul asks for prayer. It certainly makes sense that he wants prayer. He’s in prison for crying out loud! In the very next verse, he says that he’s “an ambassador in chains” (Eph 6:20). That’s his way of saying he’s locked up in the joint. But the apostle doesn’t ask his Ephesian friends to pray for his release. He doesn’t ask them to pray that he’ll be moved to a better cell. He doesn’t even ask them to pray that he’ll get better food. He pleads with them to pray that God will give him courage in telling people about Jesus. The man from Tarsus sees his incarceration as an opportunity to share the Good News with anyone who will listen. So he wants boldness. Godly boldness. He’s going to leverage his prison bid for Christ. He sees his stretch in the slammer as a unique privilege to tell prisoners and guards the Gospel.
Do I see every circumstance that way? When things don’t go my way, do I understand that my situation could actually be a divine appointment? Has Jesus placed me where I am “for such a time as this?” (Est 4:14)? Here’s my problem. All too often, I’m too hung up on myself and my problems to worry about anyone else. Woe is me. Or in the words of the great philosopher and theologian Warren Zevon, “Poor, poor, pitiful me.” Rick Warren is right on target with the opening line of “The Purpose Driven Life.” “It’s not about you.” Good or bad, my situation is NOT about me. Paul understands that. I’m still not there yet. I’m still obsessed with me. It’s like what the self-absorbed dude said. “Well, that’s enough about me. What do you think about me?” Well, enough about me…
Paul wants the Ephesians to ask God to give him the words to say to tell folks about Jesus. But he’s not looking for slick techniques or clever illustrations. He wants to be able to speak “boldly” (v19). This is the Greek word parresia. It’s a compound word that literally means to speak everything. Don’t hold anything back. It’s to speak openly, frankly and freely. The apostle wants to speak fearlessly in the face of intimidating circumstances. Courageously. Confidently. Publicly. Without reservation. With cheerful courage and a joyful sense of freedom. It’s free speech. Americans commonly call this exercising our First Amendment rights. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Full disclosure.
Just as that’s not the case in most countries around the world, it was certainly not the case in the first century. Jewish leaders intimidated people to such a point that “no one spoke openly (Gr. parresia)” about Jesus (Jn 7:13). Later many of these same religious leaders are blown away by “the boldness (Gr. parresia) of Peter and John” as they told about the resurrected Rabbi/Carpenter (Acts 4:13). The writer of Hebrews encourages folks to hang on tight to their courage in living for Christ and the “boldness (Gr. parresia), which has a great reward” (Heb 10:35).
The Gospel was and is a threat to culture. In the earliest days of the church in Jerusalem, religious leaders were doing everything possible to shut up Jesus’ followers and wipe them off the face of the earth. As authorities dropped the hammer on the church, believers prayed, “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak Your word with all boldness Gr. parresia)” (Acts 4:29).
Full disclosure.
So what’s this whole truth that Paul so desperately wants to share? “The mystery of the Gospel” (v19). Here’s the problem. We don’t really have an English word that translates the original text very well. For us, a mystery is something that’s darn near impossible to explain or understand. But the Greek word musterion describes something just a bit different. This is a secret that has been revealed or something hidden that has been disclosed. It used to be a mystery. It used to be a secret. Not anymore. It’s a secret in the past tense. We now know what’s behind door number three. God is revealing His amazing goodness to His church. Jesus told His crew that they were in on this divine breaking news. “To you it has been given to know the secrets (Gr. musterion) of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Mt 13:11).
Paul’s past tense mystery is the “Gospel” (v19). The Greek word (Gr. euangelion) simply means good news. News that makes you happy. Info that causes you joy. Words that bring you a smile. Jesus uses the man from Tarsus to break into programming with the most spectacularly Good News the universe has ever heard. God’s impossible standard has been met! Jesus has lived the perfect life that I’ve failed to live. He died the brutal death for my sin that I should have died. He rose to a spectacular new life that I certainly don’t deserve. God sees me as His spotless, sinless Son when I place my trust in Jesus. He did for me what I could never do for myself. That’s not just Good News. That’s GREAT NEWS!!!
But the apostle’s divine assignment has a special focus. Jesus has handpicked this former Pharisee to reach out to non-Jews (Acts 9:15). The Jewish Messiah isn’t just for Hebrews anymore. When Jesus throws open the doors of God’s kingdom to Gentiles, the fecal matter really hit the whirling device. There were a lot of folks at the home office in Jerusalem who thought that Gentiles must convert to Judaism before they could follow Christ. After a big confab of church leaders, they decided that if Jesus was saving them who were they to say differently (Acts 15).
This certainly was very Good News to the folks in Ephesus. On Paul’s second expedition, he dropped into this massive seaport for three years (Acts 20:31). Dr. Luke spends an entire chapter of his sequel telling what went down there (Acts 19). While he started his work there telling Jews about Jesus, synagogue leaders soon gave him the boot. At that point, he started spreading the Gospel to everyone who would listen. Jews AND Gentiles. Earlier in this letter, Paul reminds his readers that Jesus drafted him to be His spokesmen to tell non-Jews the Good News (Eph 3:1-9).
For the apostle to do so took boldness. That means full disclosure. No half truth. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. For the Good News to be good, the bad news has to be bad. REALLY bad. And it is bad. REALLY bad. We can’t meet God’s perfect standard. Not no way. Not no how. Not without Jesus anyway. To tell folks the Good News means telling them the bad news. That takes boldness. So Paul asks for prayer to tell folks the whole truth. He knows that the grace of Jesus is the only real hope. So he needs boldness. In the opening portion of his letter to the Romans, the apostle puts his hands on his hips and writes, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel (Gr. euangelion), for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16).
Full disclosure.
Am I willing to ask people to pray for my boldness to share the Gospel?
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