Renewing our Resolve: “Modeling Clay” – Colossians 3:18-4:1

molding clayPeople need more than directions; most require models to really understand a concept. That’s absolutely clear to any of us who have assembled most household items by looking at the pictures rather than by reading through the directions. Furniture and toys aren’t the only things that require assembly – children do as well. God cares, in the womb, for the knitting together of the body. He leaves to us – parents, families and communities, the task of knitting together a conscience. Right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable behaviors are mostly learned in the context of our early life. Americans have come to realize in recent years the powerful nature of the two “e’s” that are shaping our children – education and entertainment. We have looked at the trends in education at various times together, but occasionally we also must lend a “nod” to the field of entertainment. You might be interested to know that TV guide has come up with their “must see list” for new shows for the Autumn 2013 season across the US, and even a short examination of the shows reveals “family models” that Hollywood is offering for our nation in the days ahead.

On the roster, there is plenty to help those who are hungry for new superheroes, and those who need another dose of the undead. Even vampires make their way back for yet another year – as if the world needs another Bram Stoker revival. There are a few new cop and robber dramas, and some interesting forays into history – though told without any of those “pesky constraints” like the actuals facts of the events. Yet, we can always draw particular comfort in the golden city’s depiction of the American family, as they shape and model what they think people live like – or should consider living like. Look at the “diet” of “new models” we are to digest in the name of entertainment:

Back in the Game (ABC), a comedy which stars a divorced single mother and former all-star beer-swilling ex-baseball player. Father and daughter reconnect when they start coaching a Little League team together.

Betrayal (ABC), a story about unhappily married photographer that starts a torrid affair with a lawyer for a powerful family. It turns out that her new love is defending a murder suspect who is being prosecuted by her current husband.

Dads (Fox), a story of two video game developers whose lives are disrupted when their fathers move in with them and fill the house with crass, sexist and racially insensitive jokes.

Hello Ladies (HBO), a new cringe comedy where a tall, gawky English web designer who moves to Los Angeles is taught to “have game” with the ladies.

Masters of Sex (Showtime), exploring the Life and Times of Williams Masters and Virginia Johnson, who pioneered research of human sexual response, and diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders in the ’50s.

The Millers (CBS) a comedy about a news reporter who makes the mistake of telling his parents that he just got divorced. Why? His dad leaves his mom and moves in with him!

Sean Saves the World (NBC) the story of a career-oriented divorced gay dad who is determined to become the “world’s best father” after his 14-year-old daughter moves in with him.

Trophy Wife (ABC) the tale of a reformed party girl who marries a man she met at a karaoke bar. He comes with a lot of baggage though: three manipulative kids and two ex-wives!

We Are Men (CBS) the comedy about a man who was left at the altar, and his move to a short-term apartment complex, where he’s befriended by three fellow bachelors: an OB/GYN in the middle of his second divorce, a four-time divorcee and ladies’ man, the third is a guy who’s desperately trying to win his wife back after he got caught in an affair.

I am not picking on people who have gone through a failed marriage. Nor am I making specific commentary about the shows – I haven’t seen them and (from the sounds of them) very likely never will. All that I am trying to show is this: If you are placing your hope for the future of America’s families in the forthcoming models of entertainment, plan on frequent divorces, lots of gay interaction, and a continuous call for the shaping of immorality into amorality. Hollywood’s answer is that our word is not our bond, marriage is not a covenant, and the best way to solve difficult times at home is to find a new home. They can complain about church, but they are doing more PREACHING than any Pastor I know about how we should all aspire to live.

Here’s my point: Many young people in our nation will learn from the Hollywood model. They will be shaped by what they laugh at, sing to, and have their heart strings pulled by. One hour in Sunday School cannot reverse twenty hours of shaping and sculpting by morally depraved producers. It won’t happen – even if the child is in the home of a believer. The line-up of new shows is woefully deficient in one category – two biological parents that love and honor each other, and thoughtfully raise a child. Apparently, they are either no longer living in Hollywood, or no longer worth really exploring for our next generation.

What are we to do? First, recognize the problem. People are “pressed into the mold of the world” as a natural consequence of living in it, and we have to limit the exposure to ourselves and our children by the shaping process. Don’t trade what is right for what is funny. A few laughs, at the expense of wholesome thinking, are the cracks in the foundation of a godly home. Be careful little eyes what you see. Second, and absolutely essential to the future of our nation, LIVE TRUTHS that you know God’s Word expresses. Nothing else helps more. Let me say it another way:

Key Principle: The most prominent place for our faith to be lived in is our daily relationships.

That was Paul’s point when he wrote to the Colossian church in the first century. In the opening of the letter (chapter one), Paul offered three details to set in context his words on relational behavior:

He started by telling them they needed to know what Jesus has done for mankind (Col. 1:3-14) and Who Jesus truly is (Col. 1:15-20) – so that life is placed in the context of the Master – His saving and transforming work. When we know Jesus for Who He is, and we see what He has done for us – we WANT to live to please Him!

He explained why they needed to see who they were when Jesus met them (1:21-23) to remind them they didn’t find HIM – He found them. When we are reminded of who we have been, and confront anew God’s goodness is offering us a relationship with Him – we WANT to live to please Him!

He reminded them of who he was as an Apostle on a mission (1:24-27) and what his goal was in relationship to them (1:28-29) – to see them all mature and ready to meet the Master. When we recall that the goal of ministry is NOT just to reach people for Jesus and give them the Gospel, but to GROW them to maturity – we WANT to live to please Him!

Paul was hindered from getting to see them face to face (2:1-5) and that frustrated him. Add to that, Paul knew some distractions were tugging on them, and some were slipping away from a positive walk with Jesus. Paul made the problem clear:

Some felt like there was “something deeper” than the Gospel and a walk with God (2:6-15). They were attracted to the “philosophically deep” discussions invented by lost men.

Some felt pressured to conform to religious practices posed by others (2:16-23).

Some were so pulled in by fixation on the physical world; they allowed themselves to wallow back into the mud of immorality (3:1-11). They spent their time thinking about THIS WORLD and its pleasures – trying to “gain the whole world” but in danger of “losing their own soul”.

With those problems pulling people back (worldly philosophies, religious practices, and licentious living), Paul made it clear that there were, in fact, “Six Markers of God’s Transforming Work” that he wanted to see in them as they progressed toward his goal of obvious maturity. We looked at these in the last lesson briefly:

Marker 1: God’s people saw each other (and the world) with new eyes of love and compassion (3:12-14). They were to be kind people.

Marker 2: God’s people walked with a new steadiness – peace ruling them (3:15). They were to be settled people.

Marker 3: God’s people will learn the new tone of thankfulness (3:15b). They were to be people filled with gratitude.

Marker 4: God’s people will offer the sounds of a new voice. They will sing a new song (3:16). They were to be people who shared faith with their mouths.

Marker 5: God’s people will learn a new goal – to do all that we do in Jesus’ name (in His character and under His authority with personal responsibility). They were to be dedicated people.

Marker 6: God’s people will focus on a new pattern of relational behavior (3:18-4:1). They were to LIVE OUT truth in their daily walk and relationships…

That is where we want to focus our attention for the next few moments. The passage ends with an insightful list of instructions about RELATIONSHIPS that change when we practice God’s Word in daily life. Look at the text. Paul wrote:

Colossians 3:18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart. 22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who [merely] please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. 4:1 Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.

These aren’t unfamiliar words… but they may be unfamiliar actions in our lives, and are CERTAINLY unfamiliar patterns on our TV sets! Look carefully at the list – because it reveals key conflict areas in relationships of the Roman world. Many of them continue to be problem areas today, suggesting the conflict is broader than a single culture and time:

Wives: be subject to your husbands. The term is hypotássō (from hypó, “under” and tássō, “arrange”) – properly, “arrange yourself under”. It is used in the New Testament as making choices that submit to the Lord’s stated plan or order. The word is something A WOMAN CHOOSES TO DO as a mark that she belongs to and follows Jesus. Look carefully at the phrase: “as is fitting in the Lord”. This is the term anḗkō (from aná, “completing a process” and hḗkō, “come”) – which combined means to “come up to a particular standard of expectation” or “to fill out the required obligation”.

When women live in submission, they live according to the place God put them in the world; they celebrate God’s right to shape them as He desires. They worship Him by submitting to His plan for them.

Let’s face it, ladies. You know the truth. He can’t make you voluntarily place yourself in a serving position in your marriage – but I will tell you the truth: He yearns to be respected. Men want to be respected more than they desire to be loved. That respect is clearly transmitted when you place them above you in rank, though (and we know it is true), we men are often not nearly as smart as YOU! This “befits” a believer according to the text. This doesn’t befit Hollywood. This doesn’t befit Washington. Yet here is the truth: There is no such thing as a “two-headed” marriage. Someone leads in every one of them. This is your opportunity to serve Jesus by serving your husband. Maybe he isn’t as bright as you. Maybe he lacks many of the character traits you wanted in a man. That’s fine – because JESUS DOESN’T – and He is the One you serve when you obey His Word.

Husbands: There are TWO instructions. The first is LOVE your wife. The second is to deliberately toss out of your heart anything that will allow bitterness to take root inside you concerning her. The word used, pikrainó, can mean “to make bitter” or “to make harsh”. The Spirit calls to believing husbands – address issues and then LET THEM GO. Love her, and cherish her. Let her know you are fortunate to have her in your life.

When men love their wives and act in patience toward them, they recognize God’s headship over them and His patience with them. They worship and serve Him by serving their wife.

Go back in time for a moment, and recall that Colossians weren’t Americans – they were Romans. If you think modern America doesn’t treat women in a proper way, you will be amazed at ancient Rome. The Roman poet laureate Vergil summed up well Roman feelings about women, in a line that he used of Dido, Queen of Carthage. He said: “A woman is an unpredictable and fickle creature.” Most Roman men would no doubt have agreed with him. In fact, as late as the C 2nd CE we still find Galen, the foremost medical writer of Roman times, describing women as “less perfect” than men on the grounds that their bodies are colder. It gets worse…

The standard under Roman Law for women was they were considered in frequent references of two phrases: They had “infirmitas sexus” – the basic infirmity of being female, and “levitas animi” – or inflicted with a fickleness of mind. It appears that some men in Rome felt the need to stop women from overshopping – and devised a legal remedy in the Oppian Law (215 BCE) (named for Gaius Oppius). He proposed a law that limited to half an ounce—the amount of gold that a woman was allowed to possess. This was passed at a time of dire hardship—one year after Rome’s catastrophic defeat at Cannae at the hands of the Carthaginian general Hannibal—and it was later repealed. I guess he figured if they outlawed too much jewelry owning, they could cut down on jewelry buying. Just telling women to “take it easy on the shopping” didn’t seem to be enough for the afflicted and weak-willed among them.

It would SHOCK your modern sensibilities how much inequity was actually enshrined in Roman law: If a woman committed adultery, it was a criminal offense, whereas if her husband committed adultery it wasn’t. Constantine later decreed that if a woman was raped in the city, she was automatically partly responsible, guilty of what we would call today “contributory negligence,” because if she had screamed sufficiently loudly, the neighbors would have come to her rescue and prevented the rape.

Valerius Maximus, a C1st CE writer, wrote a number of examples of women being “punished” (Read: abused) by their husbands. He referenced one man who clubbed his wife to death for drinking wine and was left unpunished. Valerius observes: “And so, long ago, when the misbehavior of women was kept in check, their minds were prevented from scheming.”

I mention all this because it was the world that Paul was addressing. He knew men could be brutal, and for their harshness, they would not be held accountable. He knew they needed to learn both LOVE and FORGIVENESS… and so do we. For generations, the law has been unequal in regards to women – so we must be even MORE CAREFUL to understand the gift they are to us. They aren’t OBJECTS – they aren’t BEAUTIFUL PLAYTHINGS. They are God’s first gift to man after life itself – and they are a PART OF US – taken from our own flesh. No man in our free society EVER has the Biblical right to physically harm a woman – ever. If you raise your hand to your wife, you are NOT acting as a man – period. I have NO room for this. NONE. Cease the sin, and stop looking for some way to excuse this abysmal behavior.

Children: In a bare-knuckled, no-nonsense way, Paul says: “Please the Lord and obey your parents.” He is addressing this to those who are not considered adults, and he is saying that parents are supposed to be honored and respected.

When children obey their parents, they kneel at the authority of God. They recognize God’s position by recognizing the positions of authority God placed in their lives.

The term “teknon” means a “dependent”. It refers to one who is unable to care for self and needs the guidance and assistance of another. Children must learn they are not providing for themselves, and they need to heed the voices of parents who are offering the provision.

How are we to enforce this Biblical view in modern society? Lest we bypass the war on Biblical principle in modern society, let us hear the voices that are educating our modern sensitivities. Al Mohler offers this comment:

As [Daniel] Zalewski [of the New Yorker Magazine] argues, today’s young parents “learn that there are many things they must never do to their willful young child: spank, scold, bestow frequent praise, criticize, plead, withhold affection, take away toys, ‘model’ angry emotions, intimidate, bargain, nag.” In other words, “nearly all forms of discipline appear morally suspect.” Modern “experts” like Alfie Kohn [considered a leading figure in progressive education] now go so far as to argue that rewarding children for good behavior is virtually as injurious to the child as punishing children for negative behavior. Arguing against what he calls “conditional parenting,” Kohn came out against everything from the “time out” to positive reinforcement. Writing recently in The New York Times, Kohn asserted: “Conditional parenting isn’t limited to old-school authoritarians. Some people who wouldn’t dream of spanking choose instead to discipline their young children by forcibly isolating them, a tactic we prefer to call “time out.” Conversely, “positive reinforcement” teaches children that they are loved, and lovable, only when they do whatever we decide is a “good job.”

I want to deliberately encourage parents to recognize some important stages of raising children. Though the war against parental authority, as a subset of war against all authority in the country, is alive and well, parents must NOT abandon their role in the blur of cultural distraction. Studies show that an infant needs to learn to settle themselves – or they are far more likely to need a bottle or a pill to get to sleep years later. A toddler needs to learn to clean up their toys, or they will find themselves on a job twenty years later without the proper tools in their bag. An elementary child needs to be able to make the sandwich and clean up the mess, or they will lack experience in the joy of caring for one’s self. Discipline, if handled properly, is a selfless act. A godly parent sets aside their desire to feel the short-term love and warmth of their child’s approving affections, in exchange for helping the child’s long term development.

Fathers: Paul returned to the men of the congregation and directed them to learn some tempering gentleness when dealing with their children. Roman fathers “accepted” or “rejected” a child immediately after birth when someone placed the child at the foot of the father. He was under no legal obligation in Roman society to claim the child, and could order the child abandoned. Such dictatorial power over even life and death for a child could have easily given them an un-tempered harshness with their children.

When fathers deal with their children sensitively, they show sensitivity to the Spirit of God, and obedience to His command.

The term “provoke” is “er-eth-id’-zo”, a word that meant to “stir up or provoke”. Dads were admonished not to stir up the child, in part, by setting a standard that is unattainable. We must press our children to accomplish more, but we dare not set a bar ever higher and higher with no reward or affirmation. Unable to reach our standard, children will turn their disappointment to disillusionment and anger. Toughness and harshness is not the same thing. We are to be tough (because life will be) but fair – and never harsh. As parents recede in expectation, children enter the work world without the benefit of truly understanding that they are not equal in position to their boss – a problem that is plaguing American business today.

Slaves: Paul told slaves who knew Jesus to serve Jesus by serving their masters. Though the rewards may not have come to them in this life, their real inheritance was beyond this life. Look closely and you will see some great principles for how God wants us to think when we are in unjust situations.

When slaves recognize that they can serve Jesus best by serving Him in the confines of where they have been placed – they can look past issues of injustice in this life and focus on honoring the God that made them.

Paul told them to serve Jesus in every task – and know He sees their labors. When we remember that we belong to the Lord, and He sees every moment and every thought – we can be encouraged. He misses nothing! He knows if we give our absolute best efforts at what we do. Others will “cut corners” – but we cannot and will not – for our “real boss” is watching. Every deed I engage has the potential to become a point of both worship and celebration – when I do it my best because I want to honor Jesus.

Masters: God’s Word to those who held power over others was to look up, and remember God had power over their lives!

When a master treated his servants well, he remembered that God was above him, and he was treated with greater grace than he ever deserved.

Common to all of these relational commands was the one idea that is so hard for the world to understand – other person centeredness. The Gospel is all about how Jesus saw our need as a greater value than His comfort (Phil. 2:1ff). Yet the world trains us to think in the opposite way – to think of SELF FIRST.

• A wife that thinks of herself first, will assert herself rather than place herself in a submissive role. Isn’t that what women learn in our world to do?

• A man that thinks of himself first will wander the internet with roaming eyes because his wife hasn’t been all he wanted. Is that so “out of the ordinary” in our day?

• A child that asserts him or herself instead of listening to those obtuse parents is seen as great leadership material for the future in our modern view.

• A father can’t possibly learn sensitivity – he is the MAN of the family and they need to understand the PRESSURE ON HIM and stay out of his path – isn’t that clear in modern life?

• No one needs to serve another – they need to GET what they can. Bosses need to know I have a life outside the office. Employees need to shut up and be glad they have a job…

In many places you look in modern society, SELFISHNESS is interpreted as LEADERSHIP and SERVANTHOOD is cast as WEAKNESS. The fact is, the opposite is true. Servants lead and other person centered thinkers are strong. When trouble strikes the nation, it isn’t selfish egotists we seek, but quiet servants. They pull us from the rubble, and they douse the fires we inflict on ourselves as a society.

Enter the room, two thousand years ago. Look at the reclining disciples, and watch the Savior move about the room. What was He doing? The Bible showed what Jesus did to show relationship and authority to the men:

“Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything; that He came from God and was on his way back to God. So He got up from the supper table, set aside His robe, and put on an apron. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of His disciples, drying them with His apron.” -John 13:3-6 (MSG)

The most prominent place for our faith to be lived in is our daily relationships.

Renewing Our Resolve: “The Outburst” – Colossians 3:12-4:1

laughterI don’t know if you have ever had this happen, but I would be willing to wager that at least a few of you have been in this desperate position. Imagine you are in a public place, and someone said or did something very funny, or something just struck your funny bone in a way that you could not control. Maybe you were in a place where laughter wasn’t appropriate. Maybe you were halfway into drinking a soda. You get the idea… Not long ago I saw a YouTube clip of a weather man on a local station that just couldn’t do his job. Whatever happened just before the live broadcast started, the guy just LOST IT on camera. He tried to fight through it. He attempted to offer the weather… but there was simply NO HOPE. As I watched, something within me was routing for him to win against the overwhelming impulse. It never happened. He collapsed, unable to finish. He was overtaken by an outburst of laughter that would not be controlled.

I mention it because I believe that is the pattern for real change that happens when God works within you. It is not that you collapse on the ground in laughter – but rather that an inner change comes unmistakably to the surface with undeniable force. The most profound changes Jesus works are within His followers – but they do not remain there. You can most often see them in the relationships between His followers, because of attitude changes. You can sense them in a new compassion, a new peacefulness, and a joyful thankfulness. Maturing believers learn, step by step, to navigate life together with the guiding principles of His insightful direction from His Word. We behave with a privileged sense of representing Him and His Kingdom. We seek to dwell together in unity. It is not our loud preaching that invites us into the lives of hurting people; it is our kindness, our Christ like attitudes, and our behaviors toward one another, and toward a hurting world. It is humble living, not boisterous protest of their lifestyles.

Key Principle: The profound changes WITHIN us work their way OUTSIDE us. Christianity is a relationship with God through Jesus that changes the way we live our daily lives.

Paul knew the small community of Colossae in Asia Minor. He worked out of Ephesus, the great port city of the region, but he kept in touch with the believers in the more remote areas of Hierapolis, Laodicea and Colossae. The Colossian church was a small one- probably meeting in two or perhaps three homes – not more. Paul knew what it meant to work in the big city, but also the small town. In fact, my life journey has taken me on that same path…Along the way, I have taken special comfort in Paul’s writings to the small agricultural first century town of Colossae, and his especially warm words to Epaphras, one of its chief disciple makers.

I have walked the tell – the archaeological ruin – and the city was tiny. I love this little letter, because in its pages you find encouraging words about the fullness a surrendered believer can have in Christ, in spite of the small and rural town that was receiving the letter along with its sister cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis. The theme of Colossians appears to some scholars as “completion and fullness in Christ”. You can get that idea from a quick survey of the language…

1:9 asking God to fill you with all understanding… 1:19 all fullness dwelt in Christ…. 1:25 I have become His servant by the commission God gave me to present the Word in its fullness….1:28 We proclaim Him, that we may present everyone perfect (full grown, mature) in Christ. 2:2 My purpose is that they may have the full riches of complete understanding…. 2:9-10 In Christ the fullness of the Godhead dwells… and you have been given fullness in Christ.

Can anyone else spot the utter irony in this theme? Paul wrote about completeness and fullness to the smallest church in the New Testament! Most of us don’t think of small churches in words like “fullness” and “completion”. Here is my point: smaller churches cannot ease the work of making completed disciples, while they settle on citing their inadequacies and long for the profound programming of the larger churches that make the news. Our ministry profession is to make disciples that make disciples.

Years ago I heard a speaker mention this: “When we think of small churches, we tend to think of the incomplete nature of the church. We see limitations, and believe that it isn’t really possibly to “fully complete” discipleship like the church that has all the departments and the programs.” I want to urge you that such thinking is very American, but not at all Christian. Paul told believers at Colossae – by my count (at most) a total of thirty people, that they could produce by God’s power, people who were complete in Christ.

How? They had no gym, no youth program, no power point – and yet they could produce mature believers! By now the church at Rome probably had a cool logo on their chariot bumper stickers – but Colossae had no budget for such things. I am forced to conclude that the small church – if it is acting in obedience in discipleship and honest diligence in outreach – is just the right size to get discipleship done. What do I mean? I don’t mean that small is better, or bigger is better, but let’s be practical – if you live in a town of 1000, dreams of mega-church building are both unwise and unlikely. But here’s the catch: No matter what size the town or the church – our commission of growing people to maturity is NOT beyond our reach nor beyond our responsibility!

Let me say it this way: There is no purpose of the local church that cannot be accomplished in the smaller church – but it will require of the Pastor and workers a deliberate attention to the discipleship process, just as it should in the larger church. If they are truly reaching out to lost people, they are the right size to be all that God called them to be – but they must not secretly pine to be what they are NOT. The New Testament is a record of small places, and small fellowships building great people.

I am not speaking against large churches, nor am I speaking against avid evangelism. What I am saying is this: the small church Pastor cannot let himself off the hook in raising believers to maturity because of the apparent inadequacies of buildings, budgets and bodies. That isn’t Biblical, and that excuse must be put to rest. There is no evidence, in the history of world missions, that the church is more or less able to grow people to greater spiritual maturity in the larger setting. Big churches are wonderful in many ways, but they aren’t necessary to accomplish our mission to make disciples that make disciples. God CAN bring the fullness of Christ to our people through His Word, His Spirit and His gifted people. We must not cop out and long to be what we are not. We need to refocus the task on BOTH evangelism and impact of the lost community – as well as the growing to real maturity in Christ those we have been given.

Let me ask a question that will guide our thinking in the next verses as we study them. What does a “life transforming work” of Jesus look like in a man or woman as they submit to God? Our text offered six clear markers:
Six Markers of God’s Transforming Work:

Marker 1: New Eyes.

Our eyes are the windows through which we look at life. People who are transformed by Jesus gain a new perspective by a spiritual “eye replacement” surgery – they see life differently. Paul made clear that we begin to see each other with love and compassion – because we recognize how much we have received in compassion from an absolutely perfect and holy God.

Colossians 3:12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things [put on] love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

• Note that he reminds them, first of all, that they have been chosen of God. You and I who follow Jesus did not search endlessly for truth and find a reluctant God hiding from us. That isn’t the Bible’s claim. The Scriptures say that God sought us “while we were yet sinners”. The Bible’s earliest search was God looking for a sinful Adam and Eve who were hiding from Him. If you know Jesus, God chased you to grab your heart. If you don’t know Jesus, can you feel His tug? He brought you to hear this lesson today.

• Second, Paul reminds them that they were distinct and beloved of God. The Bible says that: “We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). God’s love is initiating; ours is responsive. Why is that important? Because it showed the pattern of loving relationship. Someone has to take the first step. In our case it was God, perhaps using someone else. Now it is OUR TURN to be used by God as an instrument of His love.

On the basis of those two ideas – they were chosen and separated out by the love of God – Paul placed a list of eight commands of changed acts on their lives:

• Put on a heart (splangkh’-non) of compassion (oyk-tir-mos’): the idea is represented in two Greek words. The first term is the word “bowels”, and the second (oiktirmós) is properly, an emotional pity or. deep feeling about someone’s difficulty or misfortune.

• Put on kindness (chréstotés): We have no word that translates this directly, but a good way to think of is “useful kindness” – a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22) whereby the believer is empowered to meet the practical needs of another.

• Put on humility (tapeinophrosuné): This compound word is two terms – tapeinós – which means “lowly or humble”, but implies becoming God-reliant rather than self-reliant (which ironically brings us true worth, cf. 1 Pet 5:6); and phrḗn – a word for “the midriff (the root word for “diaphragm”), referring (figuratively) as “the parts around the heart”.

• Put on gentleness: praótēs, was derived from the root pra- (emphasizing the divine origin) and the term meekness, or “gentle strength”. This is a word for power with reserve, ever exercised in controlled measure.

• Put on patience: makrothumía is a compound word from makrós, “long” and thymós, “passion, or outbursts of anger”. The word has the import of one who consistently chooses to wait sufficient time before expressing anger, thus avoiding the premature use of force or retribution.

• Put on “bearing with one another”: anéxomai is from “completing a process” and exō, “to have” – properly it is translated “forbearing” but actually means to “bear up while understanding a process is in action”. It has in view that our ability to help is enhanced when we see the faults and weaknesses as another being dealt with by God – as He is maturing them.

• Put on forgiveness for one another: xarízomai is literally “favor that cancels”. The term is used of God giving His grace to pardon, not based on any merit of the one the gift. In the believer, it denotes an attitude of grace despite any work that makes the recipient worthy.

• Put on love – the superglue that holds us together: agápē – properly, love which centers in moral preference.

The point is that we need to SEE differently. Instead of convincing ourselves that we were somehow BETTER and MORE APPEALING to God than other people around us – we must recognize that we have been the recipients of God’s love and care. He pulled us to Himself because of love – and we must see each other as valuable. God said that those who are around you – other annoying believers that you worship with – were worth His love, His purchase, His selection, His Son! If that is true, we must SEE EACH OTHER through the new eyes that reflect that value. Then we must ACT ACCORDINGLY.

2: New Steadiness

People who are transformed by Jesus are to learn to allow the peace of Jesus rule their heart.

Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body;

The word PEACE is the New Testament term eirḗnē, taken from the word eirō, “to join, tie together into a whole” and means wholeness, a completion. Something is wrong with a generation of believers constantly stirred up – they seem to be lacking something. I have been talking to believers, trying to figure out what is keeping them stirred up. Here are a few of the WHOLENESS ROBBERS I have discovered:

Fear of loss of the past: A great many people in America today live with the constant fear that new government programs, new propaganda planted in our educational system, and an emerging new moral system that is casting off the most basic constraints are about to topple our way of life. They may be right, but their response is not. Living in fear of eventual loss sours you to living with today’s joys. The constant whining of some under the guise of “we have to make people aware of the problem” seems like those who share prayer requests in order to gossip – it isn’t honest. If you are spending hours a day reading and reposting articles about how the government is being ruined – you aren’t spending those hours in peace, nor are you sharing Christ or discipling others. What will you accomplish with a lifetime of Facebook complaints about America? I know what you would accomplish by using that time to learn and teach God’s Word. In the process, you would gain back a measure of wholeness. Every time you allow yourself to be stirred by a problem you have no ability to directly influence, you surrender peace.

Fear of coming troubles: Akin to the loss of the past is the ever threatening voice of “their going to take your guns”. They are going to take away our religious freedoms. They are going to come and make our children do wrong. You know what? I think you may be right, but I am not worried. My years on this earth are limited, and my purpose is primarily to see that those who need to hear about Jesus, do. Washington doesn’t care about my opinion. I give it regularly to be a good citizen, but I don’t believe my belief system is in the majority. I cannot get overly excited about what is going to happen in the country while I forget that my neighbor doesn’t have Jesus.

Fear of loss of control: From health care to guns, from school curriculum to state welfare – we are constantly being campaigned to join a cause. It has become a national obsession. Believers confess to me that they dance between immersion in the news cycle and retreat from media, only to come back and do the dance all over. I appreciate wanting to be informed about issues, I truly do. We aren’t running a monastery here. At the same time, we have to recognize that liking an article is not making new legislation. Pick what you are concerned about, and find a practical way to make a difference in that area. Leave the rest for prayer. God is not going to hold you personally responsible for the back door dealings of the Congress – because you can’t do anything about them. Practice some version of the serenity prayer:

During the Second World War, servicemen heard the prayer that originated by Reinhold Niebuhr. A version of it is still circulated in AA meetings:

God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it.

Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.

I am not declaring you all alcoholics, but I am saying there are too many believers that are too stirred up, and we are commanded to put on the ruling mastery of peace. Note the language of the text that carefully calls us to allow God’s gift of WHOLENESS to take charge of our heart. It is simple rebellion to resist the ruler ship of peace and turn over the realm to worry.

3: New Demeanor

When we learn to see each other differently, and let peace stabilize our daily walk, the third mark will show profoundly… We will learn to be thankful!

Colossians 3:15b “…and be thankful.

The word “thankful” is euxáristos, taken from eú, “well” and xarízomai, “grant freely”. It means you become “thankful for God’s grace working out what is (eternally) good”. It is a LONG TERM look at life – a look with eternity’s values in view. It is a heart recognition that leads to a positive outlook.

Let’s be honest. You and I have no control over the issues of life. Forget that you don’t control the government… as we age we are struggling to control our own “plumbing”. Don’t be embarrassed by the fact that as we age, we realize that control is an illusion lived in the minds of the young. Yet, we are not to panic – we are to face facts. We were NEVER in control. We have journeyed through the battlefield of life and have no idea why some who lived more healthy lives were taken long before we have been. Some of us can admit we pulled CRAZY stunts without a scratch, but were badly injured by household chores. You don’t have control, but you DO know Who does. You DO know what His big purposes in the world are, if you know His Word. If you know Him, how can you look at eternity with Him and not be unbelievably thankful?

4: A New Mouth

With a thankful and peace guarded heart, I must learn that as a follower of Jesus I need to fill my mind with the Word of Christ daily. When I do that, I will want to recite it in three ways:

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms [and] hymns [and] spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Did you see the three recitations of God’s goodness? They are found in the words “Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs”. What are they?

Psalms: the term “psalmós” was originally Scripture sung and accompanied by a plucked musical instrument (typically a harp). It was an old Hebrew tradition that made its way into the early church.

Hymns: hýmnos is a word taken from hydeō, which means “to celebrate”. In antiquity, these were generally songs that praised heroes and conquerors. The emphasis was they were “historically well known” songs. Many church hymns were set to tunes known in celebrations and even pubs. Luther encouraged the German church to place Christian words to already popular tunes.

Spiritual Songs: An ōdḗ was a song that wove a tale with a moral exhortation. In some ways, it was like a ballad that unwound a story in song. The term was used of spontaneous, impromptu (unrehearsed) melodies of praise, giving testimony about a walk with God to other worshipers.

Whether we sing out the Word of God (something I wish we did even more than we do), sing historic and well-structured hymns and songs of the faith, or whether you are simply “making music as the Lord leads” in “spiritual songs” about your journey with Jesus, your mouth will reflect what is going on inside – transformation!

Ephesians 4: 29 reminds: “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” For those who have struggled with a “bad mouth” before Jesus (and sometimes after), I suggest you change your musical diet. Sing the Word more! Sing Praises more! A new vocabulary comes with practice!

5: A New Purpose

When we sing out in joy, and walk in the stability of peace, we begin to challenge attitudes and actions in ourselves that do not agree with our new heart. We see that our purpose in life is changing. We learn to being to do all that we do in Jesus’ name (in His character and under His authority with personal responsibility).

Colossians 3:17 Whatever you do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Note that Paul carefully covered every word and every deed. Your faith on Monday should sound like your “church faith” on Sunday. Also note that Paul talked about a testimony of acting out truth – DOING SOMETHING thankfully.

Let me ask a pointed question: When was the last time you really felt like your actions clearly showed others your faith? I don’t mean that you did a good deed or were a nice person… I mean, when was the last time that your actions so clearly pointed another to Jesus, they knew you were a believer – not just a nice person?

Paul said that we were to do EVERYTHING WE DO, and say EVERYTHING WE SAY according to Jesus’ character. We are to say and do all this THANKFULLY.

When asked to list what he was thankful for, one little boy wrote, “My glasses!” “That’s good,” said the teacher, “they help you see better”. “No,” responded the child, “I’m thankful for my glasses because they keep the other boys from hitting and fighting with me and the girls from kissing me.” This little guy clearly understood the meaning of gratitude! (from William Akehurst in Sermon Central).

The songwriter said: “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOT TILL IT’S GONE!” It is SO true! Our power is shut off, and suddenly we become thankful for electricity. Our garbage is not picked up, and suddenly we become thankful for the garbage collector’s weekly stop. A good friend dies, and suddenly we discover how much he meant to us. Our water becomes too polluted to drink and suddenly we appreciate having good waterWHO and WHAT are you looking past today that God is blessing you with?

6: New Relational Behavior

The passage ends with a laundry list of instructions about RELATIONSHIPS that change when we practice God’s Word in daily life.

Colossians 3:18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart. 22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who [merely] please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. 4:1 Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.

These aren’t unfamiliar words… but they may be unfamiliar actions in our lives! Look at the list:

Wives: be subject. Let’s face it, ladies. You know the truth. He can’t make you voluntarily place yourself in a serving position in your marriage – but I will tell you the truth: He yearns to be respected. Men want to be respected more than they desire to be loved. That respect is clearly transmitted when you place them above you in rank, though (and we know it is true), we are often not nearly as smart as YOU! This “befits” a believer according to the text.

Husbands: There are TWO instructions. The first is LOVE your wife. The second is to deliberately toss out of your heart anything that will allow bitterness to take root inside you concerning her. The word used, pikrainó, can mean “to make bitter” or “to make harsh”. Address issues and then LET THEM GO. Love her, and cherish her. Let her know you are fortunate to have her in your life.

Children: In a bare-knuckled, no-nonsense way, Paul says: “Please the Lord and obey your parents.” He is addressing this to those who are not considered adults, and he is saying that parents are supposed to be honored and respected.

Fathers: Paul returned to the men of the congregation and directed them to learn some tempering gentleness when dealing with their children. Roman fathers “accepted” or “rejected” a child immediately after birth when someone placed the child at the foot of the father. He was under no legal obligation in Roman society to claim the child, and could order the child abandoned. Such dictatorial power over even life and death for a child could have easily given them an un-tempered harshness with their children.

Slaves: Paul told slaves who knew Jesus to serve Jesus by serving their masters. Though the rewards may not have come to them in this life, their real inheritance was beyond this life. Look closely and you will see some great principles for how God wants us to think when we are in unjust situations.

Masters: God’s Word to those who held power over others was to look up, and remember God had power over their lives!

A few years ago, a magazine offered this little nugget: If you were to Google the phrase “Christians are known for” what do you think the results would be? What are people who call themselves followers of Christ known for… whether good or bad?
The following are some of the results you would find:

… being trustworthy and honest and having high levels of integrity
… building governments based on fairness
… respect for others and tolerance
… their intolerance of non-Christians and other religions
… their high level of integrity, their moral character
… their homophobic views toward anything remotely gay
… their gratitude and thankfulness
… their hatred, not the good and love they claim to practice
… what they are against, not what they are for
… denying birth control to families in the so called ‘third world’, resulting in hungry, unwanted babies
… replacing science with superstitions in the schools
… looking for trouble in the hopes of controlling others
… their love of others and towards God.

If you think about that list you will see some things that are quite contradictory. You will see items that are fortunately true, unfortunately true, and items that are false. What I hope you see is that the simple question of: “what are Christians known for” is not an easy question to answer. –www.orcmagazine.com

Colossians 3 says that the redeemed show it in actions and attitudes – not just labels and memberships…

The profound changes WITHIN us work their way OUTSIDE us. Christianity is a relationship with God through Jesus that changes the way we live our daily lives.

Renewing Our Resolve: "The Siren's Song" – Colossians 1 and 2

sorrentoLast week, I was staying in a hotel on the beautiful cliff-side southern Italian town of Sorrento, overlooking the Bay of Naples. If you imagine it to be a beautiful place, you are only beginning to get slightly “warm”, for it is much more than that! In fact, it is almost a surreal setting. They routinely grow lemons the size of American footballs! I mention the visit, because when I am overlooking the cliffs, I cannot help but recall the origin of the name of the place.

The name “Sorrento” was taken from ancient Greek mythology, originating with the Homeric epics and eventually making their way, as tales do, into the Roman tales of the past found in the works of Vergil in his masterpiece, “The Aeneid” (written shortly before the time Jesus was born in Bethlehem). The ancient mariners told of three beautiful sirens that beckoned to sailors and distracted them from properly watching the rocky shoals. Distracted by their song and small glimpses of their beauty, the sailors would find themselves crashing into the rocks near to the shore, trying to get closer to the sun bathing sea nymphs that appeared once as birds, but now as beautiful women. In the stories of Jason and the Argonauts, the sailors had to get past the women or fall prey to their trap, which would have ended their journey and left them crashed below the cliffs. What the sailors learned was simple: distractions are dangerous… The beautiful women and their irresistible voices had to be avoided or the distracted men would drift from their labors, and they would turn their ships into broken wrecks, as many a crew did before them.

They are everywhere… distractions. Long before cellphones and televisions in restaurants, ions before the first “billboard” ever made its debut… people were finding themselves distracted by the enticements of this world. Paul knew very well that early believers in Jesus were facing that temptation… and some were drawn away by enticements that often resulted in destroying their walk and witness for the Savior.

Key Principle: The only way to accomplish God’s call is to recognize and avoid the distracting beckoning of the sirens, and build defenses to keep focused on the mission ahead.

In my life, I have seen many bright testimonies drawing near the hazardous rocky shoals of sin, and suffering the damages of the sharp danger lurking in the rocks beneath the surface of the rough tide. This isn’t new, it has always been the case. The enemy has always used the sounds of sirens to pull away God’s workers. Recognizing that, Paul wrote to a small group of believers in two tiny house churches in Colossae, in Western Asia Minor a letter that has circulated ever since among believers. It was not his easiest writing to grasp, and has been far less preached that his other works. In some ways, this writing is his most complex, with perhaps the exception of Galatians – which is so often misunderstood. Yet, the little letter of Colossians, written from near the Tiber River in Rome around the years 61-63 CE, is FULL of important warning and practical instruction that is needed for the easily distracted among us.

The temptations mentioned are significant, but Paul’s case began in the first chapter with something we must understand before we can launch into the controversial matter of what pulls believers away from their walk with Jesus. Paul opened the letter with an important foundational set of truths that laid the foundation of his warning. He spoke of seven truths, broken three ways:

• Two of the truths concerned the Savior.
• One concerned the recipients.
• The balance concerned Paul’s mission and problems.

Truths about the Savior

What Jesus Did

First, on his way to challenging them to pay attention to dangers, Paul made plain what Jesus did for them when He found them as lost captives to the enemy of God (1:13).

Tucked into the middle of a prayer for the Colossians, he mentioned in verse 1:13: “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Jesus rescued them and moved them from the dungeon of the deceiver, while granting them a new place to live, within His Kingdom. The importance of that truth was they no longer needed to serve sin, because they were out from under the evil enemy’s grip, and were now free to follow their new Master. People that don’t understand the freedom they have in Christ are much more likely to live in perpetual defeat, because they do not understand the incredible power of the Master, and they don’t truly understand that the shackles that bound them to an endless cycle of sinful behaviors has been broken. Jesus was their RESCUER, so they could look at life differently, and no longer live as victims caught in a trap.

Who Jesus IS

Second, he reminded them of Who Jesus truly IS (1:15-20).

He continued in 1:15 “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Look at the list of qualifications Jesus has to do a work in us! We could spend all our time looking only at the depth of resume Jesus draws from in setting people free.

• He is the expressed image of God – He shows exactly what the character of His Father in Heaven is like – but He did it in HUMAN form, where we could see and touch it.

• He is the one with the double inheritance of a firstborn son, one who could speak for the Father and His Word was the bond of the whole family – just as His Father’s Word.

• He was the agent of all Creation – nothing as made apart from His specific action.

• His mind was before all creative events – nothing was, until He called it into being.

• He binds all the universe together, and is both the head of the church and the first fruits of the Resurrection – guaranteeing that we will be raised in the same pattern He was.

• He is the Supreme ruler of all throughout the ages – both in Heaven and on earth.

• He is the bridge to again reconcile things broken by the ravages of the Fall of man as well as the Fall in the Heavens.

He is the Highest, the Supreme, the Creator, the Sustainer, the Powerful, the Master, the King, the binding glue of both the physical universe and spiritual powers themselves!! Why did Paul explain so much of the Savior? There is a simple reason… Telling people they are free only helps if they grow to understand the incredible power the Savior has at his disposal. We are NOT simply dealing with a baby in a manger, nor the broken body of a man crucified on Calvary. He is no static symbol of the medieval past. He is ALIVE, POWERFUL and ACTING NOW. We are finding our solace in the Magnificent One, the Architect, the Sustainer of all that has EVER been created. He has the power to MAKE, the power to KEEP, the power to SAVE and the power to BIND. In fact, He invented the word POWER, along with every other word or idea ever brought into existence.

Truths about the Recipients of the Letter

Who believers WERE

A third foundational truth reminded the Colossians who they WERE before Jesus grabbed their lives (1:21-23).

Colossians 1:21 “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”

Paul made it clear that the Colossians did not live their lives in deep search of truth, kindness and God. They walked apart from God, and frankly, like us, many never even thought about it! Just like us, the Colossians of old lived in a dark and selfish rebellious state into which they were born. We must recognize something essential about ourselves: There must be an ingrained humility in sharing the Good News of Jesus… We didn’t get a relationship with God because WE brought so much to bridging the gap with God, but because God bridged the gap with us. Reminding ourselves of that will return our voices to humble tones… the gentleness of the “there but by the grace of God go I” sense of viewing sinful and rebellious people. When we become judgmental, it is so often because we have come to see ourselves as someone “GOOD” that reached out to touch God and earned His favor. Nothing could be less true – it is an absolute lie. Salvation is a privilege brought to us by a God that loved us while we walked about ignoring Him, pressing selfishly in the other direction. Those who walk in rebellion now are no different than we were in that state. It is Jesus Who did the work to reconcile us, and it is Jesus has a goal to present us spotless to His Father. We are the privileged, but not the more deserving… not at all.

Truths about the Writer

Where Paul WAS

With the fourth truth, Paul began a discussion about his own life, call and obstacles. He made clear WHERE he was (1:24) – the imprisonment was part of what he called experiencing in “my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions“. Here is a remarkable truth for our day… trouble was welcomed when it was unavoidably part of following Jesus! It is impossible to take this apart too carefully to a generation of believers that has been soaked with the notion that salvation is about producing comfort and peace this side of glory. That message may resonate with American Christians, but does little among the hurting Christians in Africa, the broken hearts of Syrian and Egyptian Christians, or any other group that has truly suffered for Jesus. We must recognize, especially as the days grow difficult that the Gospel’s promise of abundant life was not meant to be a “pile of cash” and an “ease of lifestyle”. That kind of preaching has left us an anemic church, unable and unwilling to stand up to the wall of persecution and trouble the enemy is working to bring against us. Paul counted it a privilege to fill up the lacking dimension of suffering in his day – and we may need to recognize that we deserve no better treatment in the lost world than he received, or our Savior before him. Was Paul chafing at his arrest, or wounded that God would allow him to pass through trials? Not at all! In Colossians 1:24 he thankfully shared: “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” Carefully focus on that word: REJOICE. It is beyond most of us to grasp rejoicing in troubles – but Paul wasn’t raised to believe in Christ he would not face them.

What Paul WAS

As he continued, he made clear a fifth truth that concerned WHAT he was (1:25-27)- he was a man on a mission!

Colossians 1:25 “I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Paul recognized that he was a minister of a revealed truth, and a steward of the teachings of Jesus from His Word. Oh that our churches of today would grasp this truth!!! We are not called to make people comfortable with their sins, or to find new counseling methods to ease their consciences. We are an organization the stewards carefully a great and precious treasure – the Words of our Creator! We explain the truths He has carefully uncovered in the revelation of His Word. It is our delight, and it is an entrusted stewardship of the Most High! Let the church hear this: We are called to steward the truth, not blend it with modern error that would make it more palatable to the taste buds of lost men and women. It is our call to hold fast the precious Word on every issue – sinful behavior, the high place of marriage, the careful handling of both the body of our own vessel and the Body of Christ, His church. We are to clearly stand against the selfish waves of consumerism sweeping the church, and the dulling effects of self-interest that has swelled the ranks of prosperity hungry Americans. We are to warn of trouble and warm from the cold of a dark world. We are not here to compromise truth, but to deliver it like warm and comforting care to those who have lost the arrogance of self hope.

What Paul WANTED

In the sixth important foundational truth of Colossian 1:28-29, we recognize that Paul had a GOAL.

Colossians 1:28 “He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.”

Look at the verbs, the action words of these verses: proclaim, admonish, teach, present. Here is a great message of Paul’s simple but powerful vision. What began with a simple announcement of the truth of Jesus’ life and work, became a warning that response to the gift of God MUST come. After that response, the acceptance of Jesus, there followed the need to teach men and women of a walk with God. All of this work – the preaching, the teaching, the warning – had a single goal – to present those reached as followers that delighted Jesus, and completed the work in them! Do we really CARE if those in the body of Christ are getting ready to meet Him? Do we even think – with our culture so thoroughly soaked in the “It’s nobody else’s business but mine what I do” that we SHOULD care about whether our brothers and sisters are becoming stronger in their ability to live and work for Jesus? Individualism is the world’s way – body is the Bible’s way. Paul stood opposed to individualism that allowed people to name Jesus as their Savior without responsibility to the body of Christ in their daily walk. With so many churches – many built on the ego of men and women – people move about without any real accountability and think they have founded a new “individualist Christian way of life”. Paul would have clearly argued they were completely wrong. Only a believer who thinks himself or herself accountable comes under admonishing preaching and teaching. The others ignore it, and live a half-surrendered, self-made version of the original Christian message.

What Obstructed Paul

Finally, Paul made clear what stood in his way to accomplish his goal – so that the Colossian believers would be able to pray and recognize the issues behind the struggles of Paul (2:1-5).

Colossians 2:1 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

Paul was concerned for those who knew Jesus and followed the message, but Paul had not yet met face to face. He was forced to settle with being “with them in Spirit” but being entirely unable to dwell together with them. Paul craved the personal touch in ministry, not a long-distance ministry aided by secondary methods. I think he would have used electronic ministry methods, but as a disciple maker, I think he would have disdained the impersonal nature of them. He used writing, because it was the best option available to him at the time.

The foundation was clear:

o Jesus sought us and found us.

o He is the Sovereign Creator, and has the ability to change us and clean us.

o We did not seek Him, He grabbed us in our sinful rebellion.

o His servants are not exempt from the pains of life now if their participation in them will further the message of the Gospel.

o Paul therefore, was undistracted by his house arrest, and was a man focused on his vision – to persuade people of Jesus and present them as grown and functioning disciples to His Master.

o He frustrated over distance and delay – just as we all would – but he recognized the work was getting done in God’s way.

Here is where Paul focused the people of the church at Colossae. He wanted them to pause and focus on four very powerful distractions that could pull them from Jesus and effective living for the Truth:

Don’t get afraid this will go on too long. The foundation we built in the last few minutes was very strong, but the argument Paul made was actually quite simple and straightforward… He warned believers long ago of four very powerful enticements, and some who are participating in this lesson are no doubt feeling the tug of them even today… consider each carefully. They come in the form of the word “therefore” in the coming chapter…

Enticement One: The Deception of Something More (2:6-15)

Colossians 2:6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Paul took the believers back to where they began. They were taught to live IN CHRIST. They were told to find their rooted security IN HIM – not is their self-importance, their bank account or their political freedoms. They were strengthened by HIS WORD and built up in HIS SPIRIT – not trained to draw their significance from their peers, their children or their church. It was a live dependent on the Word of God, and the WORK of God in them… and it popped out of their mouths in thankful words. If you are grousing and complaining all the time – you need TIME OUT in the corner with God. You need a cleansing of the inside that comes when you are again worked from the inside out by Jesus.

The truth is, many people don’t want that. They want something more IMMEDIATE, something that meets the demands of their FLESHLY DESIRES in the here and now. Paul wrote:

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

In a world where Romans greeted their departed ancestors daily in the atrium of their house, where they prayed for their spirit guidance and looked for assistance from the long dead for matters ranging from crop planting to child-rearing, ancient Romans were always tempted to look back into their traditions for answers. Philosophies abounded on the street in the multi-cultural polytheism of the Roman city. The temptation to hear of “something new” and “something more” abounded everywhere.

The sad part is that two thousand years later, many a believer has fallen prey to the same type of speculation. Instead of carefully studying God’s infallible Word on the issues of life after death, they scoop up the books on the market shelf about people’s speculative ventures into Heaven from an operating table, and think they can now prove the truth from some “slice of life” biography. Woefully ignorant of the context of many passages of Scripture, they swallow false prophetic visions and gleefully claim promises God never gave them – when the promises God HAS made for them are marvelous and rich. Still other believers are drawn into some arduous religious practice as a replacement for real prayer – a quiet, reflective time alone with Christ as the day dawns. Throngs seek ever more emotional worship settings to pour out in music with hands reaching aloft, but can barely spend moments in conversation with the Lord they are so desperate to sing to. Sunday troops will come prepared to work for Jesus, but find little time to talk WITH JESUS. We must never forget that religion is a cold imitation of a real and vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. It is not WORK FOR HIM that we desperately need – it is Christ Himself, gently invited into our heart to share the pains, ponderings and plans of our life. Paul reminded them of all that Jesus truly is in the verses that followed (look at these words cut from the total paragraph):

• 9 Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
• 10 In Christ you have been brought to fullness.
• 11 In him the flesh was put off
• 12 having been buried with him in baptism,
• 13 God made you alive with Christ.
• 14 [God] canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
• 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

When you read the words, the point is clear – Jesus paid your debt, and you account is clear. STOP living as though your need to impress people with your body is important – that is short lived nonsense. Stop living for the next party – that won’t satisfy. Stop moving from one hunger to purchase something to another – your addiction only satisfies the people making the JUNK you are buying. Stuff is just stuff. Fortune, fame, power and pleasure in this life pale in comparison to following the call of God with your whole heart. WHAT a Christ you serve. Fully God! Fully Giving! Fully Satisfying – if we stop running around looking for another way to be made complete. Find your fullness in Him or be distracted into believing there is something more… but that is a desception.

Enticement Two: The Defrauding of False Judgment (2:16-23)

Colossians 2 continues with another enticement to feel right with God and accepted by others – the deception of living under the false judgment of controlling religionists. Don’t be distracted by those who are impressing rules on you that cannot be clearly and carefully shown from the Word of God itself:

Colossians 2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. 20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Look at how quickly a walk with Jesus is torqued by some to become an issue of CONTROL. They want to tell you what to EAT, what to DRINK, when to CELEBRATE, how ANGELIC WORSHIP will bring you “good luck” or how some vision they have seen should change how YOU live! Keep reading, and it will come down to RULES: Don’t touch this! Don’t taste that! Paul said: “They look and sound wise!” but they will all be like a balloon suddenly popped.

Don’t misunderstand me. There are rules to relationships, even those with the Lord Jesus. He didn’t save you to empower your sinful rebellion. The problem is that too many people want you to live by THEIR RULES, and not by the Spirit-affirmed, Scripturally-mandated truths of life. Don’t ever believe me if you cannot see it in the text of Scripture. Don’t take it from the book by the latest author or the lyric of your favorite singer. Get into the Word and check EVERYTHING by that – or keep walking on. No one can disqualify you from the race but the Creator of it – and He sees everything you do. Please Him. Please Him. Please Him…. Not yourself… nor please those you wish to impress on this earth. Please Him!

Enticement Three: The Distraction of Temporary Values (3:1-4)

Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Some are content with Jesus, and can discern the Scripture in a way that they are not led into the controlling hands of the legalist… but they are still distracted. The siren that captured their heart is the focus on the PHYSICAL WORLD. For some it comes in the form of LUST. They gaze far too deeply and far too often at physical beauty devoid of reality and relationship. They crave constant good feeling. For others is it GREED. They want the next shiny toy. They dream of owning it, and can only feel complete when it is fully in their possession. The list of sin symptoms is long, but the disease is ONE – believers can be distracted to LIVE THE WRONG LIFE. They love the wrong things, because they crave the temporal over the things above.

• If I love Heaven more than earth – my life will be intentionally lived to please Christ.
• If I love Heaven more than earth – my possession will be less important than storing up treasure above.
• If I love Heaven more than earth – my lost neighbors will be more painful to contemplate than the new healthcare plan or government regulation.

What will it take for us to really understand that we are called to focus on things above and let that focus determine the priorities of the things below? We need a view of Heaven that helps us gain stability in the tossing about by the earth’s short term issues.

Enticement Four: The Dirtying of Mud Pulls (3:5-11)

Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Paul offered word of yet one more distraction… the hunger to satiate the flesh. In a way, it is a more exaggerated form of the distraction of temporary values we just talked about. In another way, a very personal way, it is the deep and driving appetite for many an addiction. As a Pastor and Bible teacher, I am not unaware that some who are encountering this lesson have as recently as the last twenty-four hours found themselves hiding from others and indulging in pornography. Perhaps you listen to this lesson as some strange form of Bible penance. Here is the truth: Your desires CAN be put away. You may need to confess to those who are a part of your daily life that you need their assistance – and that is terribly painful. At the heart of the problem is a single lie. You may be listening to the voice of the deceiver, who wants you to be these words: “YOU NEED THIS. YOU CANNOT STOP. YOU MUST HAVE THIS TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE DAY.” He is lying, and deep inside you know he is. If you were stuck on a desert island, you wouldn’t die from a lack of porn. The practices of the life lived for self-pleasures that bring enormous guilt must be put to death in Christ.

He applies that same word to bad mouthing, angry outbursts, filthy speech. Stop saying that Jesus has the power to take away your sin, but hasn’t the power to help you stand against the lie that you need dirt to fulfill your life. You don’t. There is a way of escape. He provides it.

Paul’s simple message was this: “When you are on the right path, avoid every temptation to turn aside to another direction – it won’t get you where you need to go!”

In the legend of the sirens, there were those who navigated successfully around their coasts. The Argonauts passed by unharmed with the help of Orpheus, the poet who was drowning out the Siren’s song with music of his own. Odysseus made it by bound tightly to the mast with his men blocking their ears with bee’s wax. The Sirens, according to the myth, were so distressed to see men hear their song and yet pass by, they threw themselves into the sea and drowned. That is just a myth. What isn’t is that when the Devil cannot draw you in – he will simply flee. Resist him, and he will walk away.

The only way to accomplish God’s call is to recognize and avoid the distracting beckoning of the sirens, and build defenses to keep focused on the mission ahead.