The 21st Century Christian and Money

And we're back! Again sorry about the long hiatus in postings. But as I said in the previous post, I hope to get back to a more regular schedule of postings, starting this week.

For this post I want to open it up to any further discussion or thoughts on the topic of last Sunday's sermon. Last Sunday we began a series called "The 21st Century Christian: Living out the Gospel Story within Today's Culture." The basic gist of the series is to try and develop a gospel-centered biblical theology on a couple of different subjects. This past Sunday's subject was money (see http://www.rooseveltchurch.org/resources/sermon-archives/ for the audio). We looked over a whole bunch of passages and based on those passages I elaborated on the following 4 biblical truths and 3 biblical practices based on those truths.

4 biblical truths:

1. Money must not be your God

2. Having money is not necessarily evil

3. God is deeply concerned with how you get your money

(i.e. Do you work justly to gain money for what you need or are you working unjustly to gain money? Do you work hard or are you lazy and expect things to always be given to you?)

4. God is deeply concerned with how you use your money

(i.e. Are you generous or are you a hoarder?)

3 biblical practices:

1. Generously use money to do good, especially for the least in our world and especially for those within the church

2. Be content

3. Trust God

We also spent some time quoting a number of sad statistics (all from a recent book entitled "Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money") about how little American Christians actually give away of their money (basically 1-2% of their income). We then considered the astounding amount of ministry that could be accomplished if we became modestly generous with our money (giving a minimum of 10% of after tax income; the additional money that would generated would be $133.4 billion dollars).

So, what are your questions and thoughts on this subject? Here are a few questions to get things started (mostly provoked from Mike Bullmore's own application questions based on his sermon on this topic from 1 Corinthians 16):

1. How much should Christians be talking about the subject of money to one another? Should we be more open about how we spend our money and how much we give away to one another? Should this be part of being accountable to one another?

2. Is your giving a consistently planned priority? Why should it be important to have giving be a consistently planned priority?

3. How does the gospel release us and encourage us to be generous givers? How has the gospel done this in your life?

Brief Hiatus

As I'm sure the couple of you who follow this blog have noticed, things have been a bit quiet around here lately. I've been a bit busy the last month or so, mostly revolving around a recent move and the beginning of fostering a 7 year old boy and his 4 old year sister (Niko and Mya - see my wife's blog, exploringlove.blogspot.com, to learn more about this exciting development for us and to see our new kids in action!)

By the end of the month however things will settle down a bit and regular activity on this blog will resume. You might consider it a relaunching of this blog, and over time it will include:

1. Postings at least once a week, hopefully even twice a week.

2. Sermon recaps geared towards further discussion and interaction.

3. Spotlights on books I'm reading or have read.

4. Regular "big boy" theology postings - basically a post on something meaty that will hopefully help your faith get stronger and thicker and help you run the race harder and better.

If there are other things you'd like to see on this blog be sure to post below and let me know.

Thanks, see you soon!

"Paul's Final Shout Outs" Colossians 4:7-18

Paul closes this letter with some final greetings, or "shout-outs," from himself and some of his associates. In these shout-outs we see the close connection between ministry and community. Christian community operates in ways that help further and support true Christian ministry. Here are some of the lessons worth noting in this regard from this final part of Colossians.

1. In Christian community we commit to one another (Col 4:7-18)
Tychicus was a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. But he was absolutely committed to supporting Paul's ministry and thus indispensable to Paul's continued ministry. True commitment, to God and to others, involves seeing yourself primarily in relation to other people (i.e. I am primarily a brother of someone, a faithful minister to others, a fellow servant of others).

2. In Christian community we reconcile with one another (Col 4:9)
Onesimus, a runaway slave, was sent back to Colossae with Tychicus in order to reconcile with his master Philemon. Paul himself also practiced reconciliation as shown by his mention of John Mark in Colossians 4:10, a man whom he did not want to continue doing ministry with because of how Mark had left him during his first missionary trip. Yet at some point Paul was able to reconcile with Mark and now see him as a fellow worker.

True Christian community means always being always to take steps towards reconciliation, as much as we are able. Conflict will come within the church. But the church that is truly Christ's church is one where people are quick to identify conflict, deal with it head on, and encourage one another to take the necessary steps towards healing and unity, so that ministry can continue unhindered.

3. Christian community functions as an encouragement for each member (Col 4:10-11)
Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus called Justus seem to have been the only Jewish Christians working alongside Paul at this point. This had to have been a discouragement to Paul since he desperately yearned to see Jews come to faith in Christ. But having at least these Jewish guys with him was a means by which God encouraged Paul in his ministry. In fact, these verses suggest that Aristarchus willingly gave up his freedom so that he could more personally be with Paul and encourage him. Similarly, in v.8, Paul writes how he expects the arrival of Tychicus in Colossae will be an occassion to encourage the church. True Christian community should be a place where people are quick to encourage one another in our growth inChrist and our ministry on behalf of Christ.

4. In Christian community we pray hard for one another (Col 4:12-13)
Epaphras is noted for how hard he prays for the Colossian Christians. Prayer is hard work. So we must be committed to praying for one another - regularly and consistently.

5. In Christian community we sometimes let each other down (Col 4:14)
Demas is mentioned here, a man whom we later discover, from Paul's last letter, will abandon Paul. This is a reminder that people will disappoint us, let us down, and even desert us within the church. This means we must have a realistic and eternal perspective on Christian community. A realistic perspective means that we don't idealize the church to the point that we put it in the place of God. Christian community is not perfect. At the same time, an eternal perspective means that we live within community always aware of and thanking God for how he is steadily making his imperfect church into his pure and spotless bride. Thus, Christian ministry can still be accomplished even when Christian community falters, for our God's plans are bigger than all our failings and sins.

6. In Christian community we learn with one other (Col 4:15-16)
Paul's letter was to be publicly read among the churches. There was already the understanding that what Paul wrote had authority behind it and was applicable to several churches. Soon the Lord had his letter become part of the Scriptures where it could be read and learned from all the Christian communities to come, such as ours today. Always then, at the core of church community, must be the reading of God's word together in public and learning from what he tells us in this word together as a community. This is the essential foundation for any true ministry.

7. In Christian community we urge one another to do the Lord's work (Col 4:17)
True Christian community doesn't let people sit on their butts. Archippus had been given a commission to fulfill and Paul urges him to fulfill it. A church should be a community where we are diligent to stir one another up to love and good works (Heb 10:24-25).

Paul concludes the letter in Colossians 4:18 with a final request that the Colossian Christians remember where he's at (the implication being that they will regularly pray for him) and a final blessing of grace for them. This repeats how he began the letter in Colossians 1:2. And it's an appropriate bookend to this letter. Christian community needs the grace of God in order to exist and depends on the grace of God in order to be all the things we noted in this chapter, so that it can be an effective minister of the gospel of God's grace in Christ. For it was God's grace to us in Christ that led to us being rescued from the rule of sin and Satan and death and now brings us under the rule of Christ, where we experience life and redemption and have been empowered to represent him in our world.

How have you seen this chapter highlight the importance of community, as opposed to individualism? What "lessons" on community particularly stood out to you in this chapter? And what stood out to you the most in this entire letter? What did God impress upon your heart the most? How can you make the truths you learned part of the regular rhythm of your life?

"How to Have Right Relationships in Our Society" Colossians 3:22-4:1

All of us regularly participate in hierarchical relationships, that is to say, relationships that involve one person being above another person. The most obvious example of this is the work relationship of boss and employee. Other examples include the professor/student relationship or the coach/athlete relationship. These hierarchical relationships play a big role in how we are defined within our society. We almost always ask people what they do shortly after meeting them. We are constantly aware of where we fall on the social scale compared to those we interact with.

The ancient world was also governed by hierarchies, and certainly one of the most severe hierarchical relationships back then was the master/slave relationship. Slavery in the ancient world was a complicated situation. It was different for instance from the system of slavery practiced in America in that it was not tied to race or ethnicity. In addition, people did not always become slaves through being captured. Sometimes a person might voluntarily sell themselves into slavery in order to pay off debts. Some slaves also had the option to buy themselves out of the slavery. On the other hand, however, ancient slavery was fundamentally similar to American slavery in that at its heart it involved treating people as property.

Scripture does not come out in direct rejection of slavery (and I must personally admit, I've often wished it did). What we do get from Scripture, however, is immensely powerful, and it was powerful enough to lay the foundation for the eventual dismantling of the slavery system all around the world. For what happens in Scripture is that the gospel gets applied to this social system. For the truths of the gospel demand that we apply them to every social system we find ourselves and always be asking, "What does it mean to follow the Lord Jesus in this situation?" When Christians began to consistently do this with slavery, it became clear that such a system could not remain in place. And so, with Christians leading the way, slavery became eliminated as a mainstream social system.

This however is what eventually happened with slavery. Back when the letter to the Colossians was written, slavery was still very much a part of life and widely accepted. So then, how does a Christian rightly act within a hierarchical relationship, which back then for many in the church involved being in a literal master/slave relationship and today for many involves being in a more symbolic master/slave relationship in a workplace or a school setting? How do we handle it when we are not treated so well in the work we are doing or when we don't like the work that we might have to do? How do we handle it when we are in situations that become demeaning and dehumanizing? While today many of us may not be legally considered living tools like you would have been in the slavery system, for many people they might just as well be a tool based on how they're treated by the "master" that's over them.

Paul's counsel on this begins in Colossians 3:22 by telling us that slaves are to fully obey and sincerely obey their masters. They should not obey selfishly, only obeying in order to promote themselves. They should not obey in order to get attention, or obey superficially, doing just enough to get by. They should instead do their work with passion and full hearted dedication.

How can a slave do this? The key is to do all work "fearing the Lord."All work that we do should be done as an act of reverence and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ.

These concepts get explored some more in Colossians 3:23-24. Full and sincere obedience to masters can happen when you realize that everything you do in your work is for and to the Lord ultimately, and NOT to the ones for whom you directly work. It is Jesus that all Christian workers ultimately serve. You must think and work as if you were doing a job for Jesus himself.

This does at least three things for us. First, it serves as a warning to us, because it reminds us that ultimately we are responsible to God for how we work (Col 3:25). We are ultimately responsible to the Lord for what we do or don't do. Laziness, procrastination, poor sloppy work, fake sick days - all of these things may not be noticed by the master who's directly over you, but it is noticed by the Lord. It's the Lord that we are actually cheating and wronging when we work poorly. The warning here then is that the Lord will not show favoritism. He will not play favorities in how he rewards or punishes based on how we work.

But secondly, the command to serve the Lord Jesus is freeing to us, because it means that our motivation to work well is not tied to getting approval or an award or a paycheck. Our motivation comes from serving Jesus and knowing that when we serve Jesus well by working well, he will recognize it, even if it might not be recognized right now by other people. We can serve with freedom and confidence, knowing for sure that we will receive the eternal inheritance from the Lord as our reward for how we served.

This has within it a bit of a paradox. We may be in hierarchical relationships where we feel degraded, dehumanized, or humiliated. We may be in hierarchical relationships where we feel we are doing pointless and meaning tasks. But we need not be defined by those relationships! In Christ, we become new men and new women. We now have eternal value and do work with eternal value with the promise of an eternal reward (Col 3:24).

Thirdly, the command to serve the Lord Jesus is an equalizer for us. We can better appreciate this point in light of Colossians 4:1. Paul tells masters that they have duty to treat those under them with justice and fairness. Indeed, their primary identity is not in relation to their slaves but in relation to the Lord. Thus, they should take heed to how they treat their slaves, for they will answer to him for how they treat them.

All of us then, no matter where we are on the hierarchical social scale, are really at the same level. We all are responsible to the same Lord. In every relationship we are in, no matter the position, we must remember that there really is only one Lord and Master, and it's Jesus.

Work is not primarily about us. Work is about him. We serve the Lord! Our work then can never be mundane or ordinary. Our work, no matter what it is, no matter who it is for, has heavenly significance.

So then, it very much matters how we work! We should treat all our work as worship to the Lord. The Lord uses it as part of his work in building his kingdom in our world. So, will we work in such a way that builds a kingdom based on committment and integrity, or a kingdom based on laziness, complaining, and hypocrisy? Christians should be the best employees and the best bosses, the best students and the best professors, the best coaches and the best athletes.

Knowing that the Lord Jesus is over all that we do and that it's to the Lord Jesus that we direct all of our efforts in all our relationships is what will bring us the hope and confidence we need to live and work well in our society. For we have a Lord who will never shut down his offices, never declare bankruptcy, never oppress us, never betray us, never overlook us, never take advantage of us. Instead we have a Lord who will establish his kingdom of righteousness and justice and peace and who even now is using every of part of the lives of his peoples to help establish this kingdom. So let us serve the Lord - knowing that our labor will never be in vain.

Are you involved in any relationships that are comparable to the master/slave relationship? What are some things you think you should consider if you are in the slave part of the relationship? What are some things you think you should consider if you are in the master part of the relationship? How does the fact that we all ultimately have the same Lord and Master influence how you view yourself and the work you do?

"How to Have Right Relationships in Your Home - A Look at Family and Parenting" Colossians 3:20-21

There is a whole lot of confusion today about the parent-child relationship. In some families the child is basically a mini god who the whole family worships and adores. In other families the child is woefully neglected. He or she is mostly being parented by television, movies, and the internet. In even worse situations, the child is regularly abused.

In Colossians 3:20-21 however we see how we can have right parent-child relationships. This passage lays out what it looks like when the gospel gets applied to our families. We begin by noting first the children's responsibility in a Christian family. v.20 tells us that their responsibility is to obey their parents in everything. This obedience ties in directly to the Lord. As they obey their parents it "pleases the Lord."

The implication here then is that kids are not at the same level as their parents. Rather, parents rightfully have a commanding role in the lives of their kids. Kids should listen to the Lord and in accordance with this listen to their parents and do what they say. Parents should give clear and consistent expectations to their kids and lead them in all areas of their life.

We get more guidance on how parents might rightly do this in v.21, where we find the responsibility of parents, and in particular of fathers. Parents, but especially fathers, have great capacity to destroy their kids through their "provoking." Provoking happens when parents constantly criticize and belittle their kids. It happens when parents are consistently absent from their kids' lives. It happens through excessively harsh punishments. Such provoking produces discouraged kids. It kills their joy and their passion.

Instead the Christian dad sees it especially as his responsiblity to steer his kids in directions that will stir their passions, revive their hearts, and allow them to be all that they should be. This means bringing not so much yourself to your kids, but bringing Jesus to them (cf Eph 6:2). Fathers, and mothers, must be diligent to teach their kids what it means to love the Lord and they must demonstrate this love by loving them like Jesus as they parent them (cf Deut 6:4-9).

When we bring to a child what the Lord wants for them, we can know for sure that we are bringing them absolutely what's best for them. We are bringing to them what will give them life and joy and peace and hope and purpose. We are bringing God himself to them and allowing them to taste and see that the Lord is truly good.

Kids who are raised in this way grow up into teenagers and adults who will have healthy trusting relationships with their parents. They will know without a doubt that they have parents who will always guide them as best as they can to what's true and good. They will have seen Jesus in you, and by God's grace, placed their own faith in Jesus because of how they've seen Jesus in you. This is in fact the only way we can be the parents we need to be and for kids to be the kids they need to be. It will only happen if Jesus is in each of our lives.

What are some of your thoughts on this passage? What are some practical ways for parents, and in particular fathers, to encourage their kids instead of provoking them? What will it tangibly look like to raise children up "in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Eph 6:2)?

How to Have Right Relationships in Your Home - A Look at Marriage" Colossians 3:18-20

In order to understand what God intends marriage to be we must go back to Genesis 1:27. There we read about how man was created in the image of God. Out of all the creatures in the world only humans were allowed to bear God's image. We are able to reflect God and so know God in a deep intimate way. However this reflection of God happens in the context of relationship. As we see in v.27, mankind was deliberately created as male and female.

Marriage then, being the most intimate human relationship we can experience, serves as one of the most powerful ways for us to reflect God. That's because marriage is meant to exist in a state of oneness (Gen 2:24-25). Just as there is one God and yet at the same time three persons, similarly in marriage there is to be "one flesh" even while at the same time there are two persons of husband and wife.

Yet as unique and special as marriage is, it is only an arrow that points to the oneness between Christ and the church. Indeed, the relationship between Christ and the church is the most key marriage relationship in the universe. It is the one marriage that most reflects God and in which we most experience God. It is the one marriage that will last forever.

Our marriages today then are echoes of that spiritual union between Christ and the church. God brings a man and a woman together in marriage to echo this union and by doing so reflect himself (cf Matt 19: 6). Thus, the ongoing state of marriage must be oneness. When people see a truly godly marriage, they should not see two separate people primarily but a true union, a joining together, that points people to God. This means then that there can be no superior or inferior roles within marriage. There are no second class participants in a marriage. Rather, a marriage is made of two people who are together heirs of the grace of life (1 Peter 3:7). They both have full and equal access to all the richness and beauty and glory of eternal life with God. And when both people fulfill their God ordained roles within marriage, they form a union in which they uniquely glorify God.

There are however unfortunately many perverted versions of the marital roles within marriages today. There are errors of aggression, where the husband leans more towards being the dictator or bully and the wife is more of rebel or usurper. And there are errors of passivity, where the husband acts like a wimp and the wife is a doormat. These roles can be found in various combinations, some much more destructive and harmful than others (e.g. husband as dictator with wife as doormat). All of these perverted roles are functions of sin. When we rebelled against God, the perfect harmony in which God had designed the marriage relationship to function was destroyed. Our marriages became defined more by struggle than by union (cf Gen 3:16).

In Colossians 3:18-19, however, we find the essentials for marriage that lay the groundwork of undoing the pervesion of sin and restoring the creation ideal. In essence, the role of the husband and the wife in marriage is to be like Jesus to one another. The wife acts like Jesus towards her husband by her humble submission towards him, which mirrors Jesus' submission to the Father. The husband acts like Jesus towards his wife by his loving initiating sacrificial service towards his wife, which mirrors Jesus' loving service towards the church in his death on the cross.

More specifically for the wife in Christ to submit to her husband means that she willingly brings herself under the leadership and protection of her husband. She submits "as is fitting in the Lord" (Col 3:18). So how does "fitting" submission look like? It will involve the following things:

1. Submit actively
Biblical wifely submission means the wife is actively engaged in the marriage, helping her husband make their marriage a true union in Christ. This will mean giving support, encouragement, counsel, advice, and even correction at times. She should do all these things humbly and kindly, but also directly and truthfully. And any true Christian husband should gladly invite and welcome this from his wife.

2. Submit willingly
Submission can never be forced. It should not come out of the husband's manipulation or exploitation of his wife. It's worth noting, for instance, that the husband is never commanded in the Bible to make his wife submit to him.

Rather, true biblical submission is a voluntary intelligent conscious action on the part of the wife. This is what makes submission such a powerful act on the part of the wife. The wife is fully equal with her husband, and yet she willingly chooses to put her husband first. She willingly yields her will for the sake of being one with her husband.

3. Submit respectfully
The wife in Christ works to respect her husband and the role to which he's been called (Eph 5:33). She looks for the qualities of Jesus she sees in him and encourages him when she sees them. She does this privately and publically. She does this frequently. And she does this graciously. In other words, she seeks to respect her husband not based on certain conditions but as measure of unmerited and unconditional favor towards him.

4. Submit humbly
1 Peter 3:3 talks about how the wife's beauty should come out not so much from what she wears but from her "quiet spirit." The wife in Christ rightly submits to her husband when she is humble in all her interactions with him.

Now let's consider more specifically the husband in Christ. It's worth noting that in other similiar ancient household codes husbands are never told to love their wives. Instead they are encouraged to maintain good, proper, orderly homes. So there is a radically new and transformative ethic being promoted in Colossians 3:19. Husband have a God-given responsibility to love their wives. How should we describe this love? This love is to be like the love of Christ. This gets drawn out further for us in Ephesians 5:25-33, and what we see there is that the love of Christ was self-giving and self-denying. In the same way a husband ought to deny himself, to put aside his rights and preferences and instead take on the life of his wife, caring for her as if he were caring for his own body. The husband is to relate to his wife in this way instead of being harsh towards her. Indeed, there can be nothing worse to a wife's faith than a critical, judgmental, harsh husband. The guiding principle for a husband out to be to love his wife just like Jesus has loved him. As Matthew Henry writes, "Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him."

In a sense, the husband's role and the wife's role in the marriage are very similar. Basically, both are called to self-denial for the benefit of the other person. The main difference between the two is that the husband's love is to be an initiating love. The husband is called to lead the way, to "move out" (cf Gen 2: 24). The "Peter Pan" man never moves out, because he never wants to grow up. He avoids responsibility and treat his wife as she were an addendum to his life. The adult "Jack Bauer" man, on the other hand, accepts and embraces responsibility for his marriage. He takes the inititative to know what his wife needs and wants and then leads the way accordingly. He view his wife as his crown (Prov 12:4). It is the best thing about him. When people see his wife it's obvious that she is where he has put the prime portion of his time and energy.

When the man is rightly loving and leading his wife, he will in effect be like Jesus in her life. And when a guy is acting like Jesus towards his wife, what wife wouldn't want to respond? For there is nothing more fulfilling for the wife in Christ than to submit to a husband who's being like Jesus to her. She will respond to him with confidence, trust, and love.

To draw out the husband's role a bit further and more specifically, we list the following (see also the book, "Love that Lasts"):

1. Love graciously
The husband loves his wife not based on what she does or does not do. He loves her unconditionally - that's what makes it grace!

2. Love sacrficially
The most powerful example we have of this is Jesus. Our love must and should cost us something. The love of the husband in Christ then should be expressed by the husband willing to sacrifice his all for the sake of his wife and her eternal benefit in Christ.

3. Love attentively
The husband who is rightly in Christ pays close attention to his wife. His wife is always his main project. He always takes great pains to fully understand her (1 Peter 3:7). If his wife is not growing spiritually, he sees it as his responsibility. If she is feeling unloved or ignored, he makes it his main task to correct this. Thus, the husband is always taking the initiative to ask his wife what she needs in order to be nourished and cherished and then acts accordingly (Eph 5:29). At the very least, this will mean leading his wife in prayer and in the word (cf Eph 5:25,26; 1 Cor 7:5).

4. Love redemptively
Above all, the husband loves his wife in ways that help her identify and cast off her sin and be made more complete in Jesus. He seeks to love her so that she might be fully remade in the likeness of the Son and together with him have a marriage that is a shining reflection of God. He washes her regularly with the word. He prays with her and for her. He leads her in being involved in the church community. And he reminds her often of the gospel of Jesus and displays this gospel often to her in his own life.

In the end, the gospel is central if we are to have the kind of marriages we were meant to have. In the gospel we will be led regularly to forgive our spouse and repent from our sin, to depend ultimately not on our spouse or our marriage for our validation but on God, and to have a sure and confident hope that even the most difficult circumstances of our marriage God will work to our greatest good and for his maximum glory.

Reflect on what Genesis 2:24-25 tells us about marriage and what Colossians 3:18-19 tells us about roles in marriage. What does it mean and look like for the wife to submit to her husband so that there might be a God-glorifying marital oneness? What does it mean and look like for the husband to love his wife so that there might be God-glorifying marital oneness?

"A Jesus Saturated Community" Colossians 3:16-17

Everybody worships. If you've expressed thankfulness or joy or praise about something or someone, then you've engaged in worship. The sad reality of human life however is that much of the worship we engage in is ordinary and fleeting. What God brings to us, on the other hand, is a worship experience far greater, richer, and deeper than anything we could hope to find in our world. What God brings to us is himself. God and his glory is revealed to us when we believe in Jesus and he becomes king over our lives (cf Col 1:27). Since we were created to know God and worship him, it's no surprise then that when we experience God in Jesus we are instantly drawn towards grateful, joyful worship (cf 1 Peter 1:7-9; Jude 1:24-25).

If God's people, the church, are to worship in the fullest way, they must be a people who are full of Jesus. This means first of all that worship when the church gathers together must be Jesus- saturated. As Col 3:16 notes, this begins first with the word of Christ. The Bible, and in particular the main message of the Bible, namely what God has accomplished in and through Jesus, must be at the center of the church and especially at the center of our worship every time we meet. What we are talking about here is the gospel. Thus, this gospel of Jesus Christ must penetrate into every corner of the church community and into every part of its worship.

This saturation with the word of Christ should then affect the kind of teaching and admonishing that happens within the church. Every member has a responsibility to teach, challenge, and counsel other members. This should be done wisely, and wise teaching and admonishing can only happen if the first part of all this, namely having the word of Christ "dwelling richly" within the church, is happening.

Wise teaching and admonishing can occur in a lot of ways when the church gathers but the particular way that Paul promotes in Col 3:16 is through different types of music. The gospel of Jesus Christ frees God's people to sing every type of song possible that is able to wisely instruct and challenge. A truly Jesus-saturated community seeks to broaden, not lessen, the types of songs that are sung. Through such variety and diversity in our singing, God works to draw even more people into a deeper and more vibrant worship of himself.

Worship doesn't just happen however when the church is gathered together. In addition, worship happens when the church is "scattered." As much time as is spent in gathered meetings, much more time is spent with the church spread out all over in various neighborhoods and locations. Worship by the "scattered" church must also be Jesus saturated. As Col 3:17 emphasizes, everything we do - in speech or in action - is to be done in the name of Jesus, as a function of our grateful worship to God. Every part of our lives falls under his jurisdiction. We want his approval over all that we say and do. We submit to his influence over everything we say and do. We depend on his empowering Spirit for all that we say and do. Jesus is Lord over every situation and in every way, and because he is Lord, every part of life can and should be lived in grateful worship to God.

Reflect on the importance of having "the word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Col 3:16). Why is this so crucial to true Christian living and worship? Why do you think so often worship of God is seen or practiced in very narrow ways? How can we develop more of an ethos that sees and actively develops every part of life as worship of God through Jesus Christ?

"A High Definition Picture of God's Chosen People" Part II - Colossians 3:12-15

In Col 3:12-15 our picture of what the people of God should be like fills out some more. There are three main things to note. The first is in Col 3:12, where we note that the people of God are a people who have been specially chosen by God. In other words, there is no such thing as an "accidental" Christian. God specially choose every single believer for himself, to be set apart and loved by him (cf 1 Peter 2:9-10). It is also worth mentioning that the terms used in this verse - chosen, holy, beloved - were used to describe Israel. But now these terms are applied to the church. The church is the people of God.

Next, we note that God's people are specially "clothed." To belong to God means "putting on" certain virtues and practices, which are elaborated in Col 3:12-14. The virtues listed in v.12 are all used in the Bible to describe God and are perfectly displayed in Christ. Putting on these virtues means that we are relating to one another like God does, which is to say that we are acting towards each other like Jesus would. Indeed, Jesus is God's example to us on how to "wear" each of these virtues and he's also the means by which we "wear" each of these virtues.

One specific practice that should come out of "wearing" the virtues of v.12 is the practice of forgiveness (v.13). Forgiveness certainly ranks as one of the hardest things for us to do. It's important to note that forgiveness does not mean ignoring conflict. In order to forgive there much be a recognition that something has happened that has caused conflict and separation. Forgiveness does not negate the necessity for repentance on the part of the offender. The process of forgiveness is only fully realized when the offender repents from their sin against the offended party. Forgiveness does mean that there might not be consequences because of the committed offense. Sin does have costly and unavoidable effects at times (e.g. a formerly abusive father might have to serve time in jail and/or not be allowed any alone time ever again with his children).

Nevertheless, forgiveness does mean that we interact with one another with a continual spirit of openness and patience. We operate with a spirit that constantly looks to see things healed and to see reconciliation happen at whatever level is possible between people. In fact, the foundation upon which we forgive like this is found at the very heart of the ministry and message of Christ. The core truth of the gospel message is that God forgives us in Jesus Christ. And, as Pastor Mike Bullmore observes, gospel truth must directly lead to gospel conduct, or practice. In this case, the gospel truth is that you've been forgiven. The gospel practice then is that you forgive others.

Lastly we are told that "above all these put on love" (Col 3:14). Love is like the final fitted jacket that pulls the whole outfit together. It is the one virtue that unites and bonds us together as a people of God and will ultimately produce our perfection. Love should be the first impression people get from a believer and the lasting impression people get from a believer (cf John 13:34-35).

The final thing to note about God's people is that God's people are specially united (Col 3:15). There is to be a general spirit of harmony and wholeness among believers. The church should be ruled and guided by Christ's peace. This is ultimately Paul's concern - to see one church, united together around what's most important, which is Christ.

The picture of God's people in Col 3:12-15 should first of all make us greatly thankful to God. Secondly, it should make see the importance of being intentionally involved in a local church community. The local church is the local embodiment of God's people. It is the main context in which we can develop and display all the virtues and practices of Christ. This means then that the church is the main way people will see that Jesus is truly for real. The church is the high definition picture to our world of what it's like to be with God.

Look back over the different virtues and practices mentioned in this passage. Pick one or several and consider how they might be further encouraged and developed within your own life and within the life of our church community.

"A High Definition Picture of God's Chosen People" Part I - Colossians 3:8-11

Christianity is about the total and complete transformation of every part of your being. As Paul writes in Col 3:9-10, the old self is put off, just like you put off an old set of dirty filthy clothes, and the new self is put on. This new self is day by day being improved and upgraded until one day the believer will come to the full knowledge of God and fully reflect him, being made complete in Christ (Col 1:28; cf Eph 4:22-24, Rom 6:6, Gal 3:27).

Paul gives one list of practices associated with the old self that the believer can and should put off in Col 3:5, and a second list in Col 3:8-9. This second list largely deals with practices that relate to the kinds of attitudes and ultimately words that can do the most damage to relationships and community.

Words, of course, are immensely powerful. They can instantly change the dynamic of relationships. They can bring great good or lasting harm. For the person who's been raised with Christ, any type of attitudes and words that are abusive, resentful, or harshly critical belong to the old self that must be put away. They are in effect old clothes that should be gathered together and burned to ashes.

We must regularly and consistently affirm the depth of and the reality of God's transformation of the believer. Indeed, the transformation that God brings within each believer's life intrinsically means transformed relationships, which means a transformed community. This community is one defined by and united in Christ (Col 3:11).

We often don't appreciate just how racially and culturally and socially divided the ancient world was. Prejudice was the norm. There was a natural distrust of people who didn't speak like you did or live as you did. You only formed significant relationships with people who were in a similar racial, cultural and social class as you.

So, Col 3:11 represents a seismic shift in typical human relationships. The new self you gain in Christ is such a complete and thorough transformation, it wipes out all previous allegiances. Our primary identity is first and foremost in Christ. This is not to suggest that all cultural and ethnic categories disappear. It is to say however that Christ is the "main course," and everything else about us are simply side dishes and flavors that should further amplify Christ in us. "Christ is all" - he is all that matters, and Christ "is in all" - he is found within every believer, without distinction, within the Christian community.

Seeing ourselves in this way will of course affect how we relate to one another. Such things as anger, malice, slander, and lying can never exist in a community of people where "Christ is all and in all." Instead, people in a community like this wear a "new self" that is characterized by humility, self-denial, service, and unity. In putting on Christ, all "we" versus "them" type thinking is shattered. As the Christian rapper Flame puts it in his song, Racial Diversity, we can't call this "black church" or "white church" for in the Scriptures all there really is is just "Christ church."

What comes to mind as you reflect on that phrase "Christ is all, and in all"? What are the implications of this truth for our relationships and for our church community? How does the practice of putting off the old self and putting on the new self, described in Col 3:9-10, help produce what's described in Col 3:11?

"The Practical Significance of Christ's Death and Resurrection for Your Everyday Life" Colossians 3:1-7

As we come to chapter 3 Paul begins to show how the believer's union with Christ has direct and specific practical implications for daily life. More specifically, in the death of Christ our sinful lives are put to death. In the resurrection of Christ we gain new, heavenly lives (Col 3:3). These are lives that are now oriented in a brand new direction. Our entire outlook - our dreams, desires, ambitions, goals, and decisions - all zoom in on Christ and heaven and the heavenly life we now have with Christ in God.

Going in this new direction will require continuous and ongoing effort. We must "keep thinking" about things above as opposed to earthly things. You might say that before Christ the best we could do was compete to see who could sink the slowest in the ocean of a broken world enslaved to sin and Satan. But God sends us Christ, and in Christ we've gained the ability to swim! We can move towards the shores of heaven where God is. But we are still in the "water" of our world. And the current continues to fight against us, trying to drag us away back underneath the water.

So how do we swim, and keep swimming? It will involve casting off certain earthbound practices and instead putting on certain heaven-minded practices. Paul gives two lists of the kind of things that should be put off, the first of which is found in v.5. The main theme of this first list is sex. Sex of course is one of the most powerful ways we have of relating to one another. Sadly, sex in our day has become a commodity that we feel we should always have the best of and the most of in every possible way that we deem best. God however designed sex to be enjoyed in the context of a marriage relationship between a husband and wife. When we take sex out of this perfect context and make it not about about marital self-giving but about selfish taking, sex morphs into something very dangerous and destructive and dehumanizing. In fact, one of the most authentically human acts you can engage in is having sex with your spouse where you put their interests above your own. One of the most ugly and dehumanizing acts a human being can do is to engage in sexual activity with someone other than your spouse. The end of such ugliness in our world will be the judgment of God's wrath (Col 3:6).

The believer must thoroughly reject this approach to sex as belonging to a former way of life that is dead and needs to stay dead. They must actively "put to death" sins like sexual immorality and lust (Col 3:5). Such a strong phrase as "put to death" tells us about the approach we must take here - we must kill, obliterate, and destroy any such sin in our lives. We should be willing to take any measure possible to eliminate its influence over our lives, even if it's socially awkward or uncomfortable or inconvenient for us to do so. This can be hard task. In fact, it IS a hard task! But it is one that is fully possible because of the reality of v.1 - that the believer is one who has been "raised with Christ." This means that, depending fully on Christ and my union with him, I can shape and mold my life in a direction that will one day have me standing fully perfected in the presence of God, where I will be able to worship and enjoy him forever.

Meditate on the truths of Col 3:1 and 3, namely, that the Christian has been raised with Christ and that their life is now "hidden with Christ in God"? How do these truths help encourage us and empower us in the ongoing battle against sin?