What does it mean to put away our former selves and put on the new self as the author from Ephesians asks us to do? This week’s reflection suggests that our former selves limit their love to those within their group, while our new selves embody the inclusive and expansive love that Jesus showed for others.

August 4, 2024: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time‍

Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15

Psalm 78:3-4, 23-25, 54

Ephesians 4:17, 20-24

John 6:24-35

Putting on the New Self

A reflection by Jeff Vomund

The Pauline letters are often problematic, especially when contemporary readers try to translate these context-specific communications directly into modern, moral one-liners. At various places in the Pauline writings, we hear that women should not speak in church (1 Corinthians 14:33-36), and that one should only get married if they cannot control their lust (1 Corinthians 7:8-9). LGBTQIA+ people within Christian communities can also be confronted by Paul’s assertion in Romans 1:26-27 that it is unnatural and shameful that men lust for one another. People who are sexual minorities may have to reckon with the Pauline list of those who will not inherit God’s reign found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, which includes all who engage in immoral sexuality, as well as those who drink too much and those who are greedy. At least this passage – if one is to take it literally – promises that wherever we go after not inheriting our Divine reward, we will be surrounded by lots of people that we know!

Today’s passage from Ephesians, likely not written by Paul, offers similar problems, although perhaps the familiarity of the text hides its difficulties from the casual reader. In this passage, the author of Ephesians suggests that we must not live as the “Gentiles” do, whose lives are marred by hardheartedness and greed. Literally, this passage accuses all those of non-Jewish descent of living in the futility of their thinking. Quite a claim to make of over 99% of the people in the world! Despite the clear historical meaning of the word “Gentile,” modern Christians effortlessly read this text as condemning not non-Jews, but non-Christians. Still, one could argue an astonishing claim to make: that roughly 70% of the world’s population is marred by greed and hardheartedness. The warning of this passage amounts to an admonition to the readers not to be “like them.”

Most readers, I suppose, simply gloss over the blatant racism or ethnocentrism (take your pick) of the passage and receive it as a warning not to backslide into their “former” way of life, and to continue to prioritize the Christian way of life as they have come to know it. We have put away our “former selves,” the author tells us, now we have to keep living as our “new” selves.

The trouble with this advice is that living as our “new” selves, whatever that means, can be tricky. Today’s selections from the Hebrew Scriptures and the gospel both attest to that. In the passage from Exodus, the newly freed Israelites are complaining that being freed from slavery is too difficult. They would rather have been slaves and well fed than free and hungry – an understandable, but less than heroic position. Meanwhile in the gospel, Jesus criticizes those who are looking for him because they want to be fed (this passage comes directly after the feeding of the multitudes in John’s gospel) and are not really interested in accomplishing God’s work. These passages remind me, embarrassingly, of how often I turn to God only because I want ease: make my sorrow go away, help my life work out the way I want it to, let me succeed in my current efforts.

Frustratingly, we can instinctively turn to Love precisely for things that Love cannot do. Perhaps that is the “old self” to which Ephesians refers: a self that identifies Love as belonging primarily to “my” community and favoring “my” way of life, of a Love that has chosen me over those “other” than me. The “former self” within me seeks a Love that prioritizes my hopes and dreams over those of another: saves my candidate or supports my team.

This new self to which Jesus invites us seems to understand Love as that which we offer especially to the outcast in our world (Matthew 25:31-46). This new self also seems rather uninterested in who is on “our” side, having a Love whose light shines on the good and bad alike (Matthew 5:45). What would my love look like if I took on more of that “new self?” What actions might my Love embody if I cared equally for the righteous and the unrighteous as Jesus suggests? Or to the extent my love was not equal, it favored those whom my society disregarded? Jesus seems to suggest love which falls short of that is from a former self, that is, simply what non-believers do. I wonder, can one claim to have truly Christian charity without these characteristics? … Regardless of baptism, eucharist, reconciliation, etc., can we claim a Jesus-inspired love if that favors our own group?

How different might the world be if Christians’ loving looked more like Ephesians and the gospels describe? We “put away” our tribal affiliations and the love that applies only to “us,” and instead find a love that is as broad and inclusive as God’s. I especially wonder how that type of love might impact Christian involvement in our US elections or political affiliations. Or how it might impact our conversations with those with whom we disagree? Perhaps the “former self” we are called to put away is that self who sees Love as turfy and territorial? And the “new self” is embodied in the Love described by Jesus – equally available to everyone?                                             

Jeff Vomund has been a member of Dignity/Washington for over 10 years although he currently lives in Knoxville Tennessee. After 15+ years of full-time parish ministry and 7 years of teaching students with particular learning needs Jeff is now a Senior Researcher at the Social Work Office of Research and Public Service (SWORPS) in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee where he focuses on the accessibility affordability and quality of early childhood care. He is finishing his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at George Mason University.