Through The Bible in a Year - September 10, 2026

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” - Ephesians 4:31-32

Francis Schaeffer was one of the greatest Christian philosophers of the 20th century—but he nearly walked away from the faith entirely. Not because of intellectual doubts. Because of what he saw in the church.

Time and again, he witnessed church leaders, who defended the truth of Scripture and said they represented Jesus’s priorities, speak as spitefully as anyone in the world about their political enemies, their church enemies, their family enemies. These leaders claimed the indwelling presence of Christ while demonstrating almost none of His fruit. Schaeffer more and more felt that he belonged to a church that spoke of Jesus but sounded like the world.

So, the philosopher and pastor asked an honest question: “How is the church any different from the world? And if it is no different, is the living presence of Christ real at all?”

Paul’s words in Ephesians 4 address the realities of these issues. The apostle makes clear what makes the church’s witness of Jesus to philosophers and ordinary people wither? Bitterness. Wrath. Anger. Slander. Malice. Not out-and-out evil—just the ordinary habits of a competitive, comparison-driven community that builds itself up by tearing others down.

The kinds of bitterness and division that Paul was addressing in Ephesus still exist today. In the apostle’s time, Greek believers who celebrated the intellect, compared themselves to others in the church and said, “I know more than you.” Jewish believers who celebrated rigorous religious practices, responded with the retort, “I do more than you.” Each camp was establishing its standing before God by comparing itself favorably to the other.

We can recognize the attitudes immediately because we still carry them and express them. Snarky comments. Mean-spirited texts. Sarcasm about other camps. Unwillingness to forgive grievances of the past. Not allowing people to grow or change. Gathering with like-minded people and throwing collective ridicule at those who differ.

The witness of the church withers still with such comments and behaviors. These are not dramatic failures of morality or doctrine, but are the infections of pride and party spirit that cause the competition and comparison that blooms into bitterness and withers witness.

Respond: Where is bitterness, comparison, or quiet contempt leaking into your relationships—in your church, your family, your community?

Schaeffer’s faith crisis began not with doubts about God’s truth but with what he observed in God’s people. However, his renewal of faith began when he looked inside himself rather than at the misbehaviors of others. When he recognized his own need for Jesus’ heart to keep from being bitter over others’ meanness and pride, then he knew again how much he needed a Savior – and how Jesus brought real peace to hearts like his own.

Where have the attitudes of the world crept into your witness without your noticing? This week, audit one relationship where comparison or resentment has been quietly at work. Name it honestly before God. And ask for what Paul promises is available—tenderhearted forgiveness, not manufactured but received from the One who first forgave you.

Prayer: Father, I confess that bitterness and comparison have been leaking into my witness without my fully noticing. I’ve built myself up by diminishing others, justifying my bitterness by their failures. I’ve withheld a heart of mercy that You’ve freely extended to me. Forgive me. Let all bitterness be put away from me—not by my effort alone but by the power of the One who forgave me first. Let the words of my mouth and the expressions of my heart sound like Christ, not like the world. I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.