Ghosting

Photo from https://arts.eu/insights/article/job-ghosting-the-sudden-silence/

Apparitions

We are coming up on the holiday when most folks are thinking about ghosts and goblins. As Christians, we know that spirits are real. Each of us is a spirit as well as a body and soul. However, humans do not hang around to haunt their enemies or to finish some old business. The Bible is clear that at the point of death people go to the place of the dead. This place is called Sheol in the Old Testament. In the New Testament it seems clear that unbelievers go to a place called hades (bad place) awaiting the day of final judgement (Luke 16:22). While believers, on the other hand, go to be with the Lord. There they wait to be clothed with a glorified body in the resurrection secured by Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:1-10).

However, there are spirits that are active in the world. One type of spirit would be the ministering spirits who are actively attending God’s people with blessing from His generous hand (Hebrews 1:14). These angelic beings are spiritual beings that have kept their created state of obedience to their Creator and are in submission to their glorious role. Their counterparts are those fallen celestial beings which are in rebellion against God. As with all rebels against God, they are fighting a losing battle. But these beings are also spiritual. They are liars, for they follow after the one who is the father of lies (John 8:44). They are seeking to deceive and destroy the image bearers of God. One of their favorite tactics is to cause people to believe in mystical, spiritual, or extraterrestrial realities to erode faith in genuine reality and the one true God.

But ghosts and spirits are not really what this post is all about. The point I want to talk about today is that we can do great harm to one another, especially in the church through neglecting the promises we have made and the community to which we belong.

Terminology

The term “ghosting” is a relatively new colloquial term usually used in dating relationships to refer to when one person abruptly stops all contact and communication without any evident reason or explanation.  Now I haven’t been in the dating game for two decades, but I think that this term can also be applied to other relationships of which we all are apart. All of us have relationships imposed on us through the circumstances of our lives. What I mean by this is that most of our regular relationships are with family members and coworkers. However, the relationships that are most likely to be “ghosted” are not these relationships, but those relationships that we have entered upon as a clear choice and probably ones that we believe we can just as easily remove ourselves from if desired.

Bonds

Ephesians 4:1-6 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,  eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism,  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 

This text of Scripture is addressed to a local church and deals with the practical way that they are meant to be devoted to one another and responsible for one another in the local church.  Do you think that it would have been ok for a member of the Ephesian church to just stop—not only attending, but communicating and engaging with the brothers and sisters in their fellowship? The word ekklesia refers to the “called out” ones. It is the word that is translated church. It is a congregational word. The word denotes those belonging to a group. An individual Christian is not the church. The church is the covenant body of the local church. It is not just insensitive or disrespectful for someone to “ghost” the local church, it is sinful. The hebrews writers counsel those in danger of being drawn away from their steadfast commitment to Christ and His church to not forsake the assembling of the church (Hebrews 10:24-25). This term “ghosting” should be the world’s word and it should not be found among the saints.

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