Readings for today: Philemon 1, Colossians 1-4
What makes a relationship Christian? What is God’s design for relationships within His family? How are we as brothers and sisters in Christ to act towards one another? I think about these things a lot. Mainly because I am a pastor and I have a responsibility to help the people I serve grow in their relationships with Christ and with each other. I have often sat down with couples in marriage counseling to talk about the difference between a “Christian marriage” and two Christians getting married. I have often sat down with friends who are struggling to help them see the difference between a “Christian friendship” and two Christians who happen to be friends. I have spent a great deal of time with churches helping them navigate conflict and division and almost inevitably one of the key questions comes down to do they want to be a “Christian church” or just a bunch of Christians gathering together for worship, mission, fellowship, etc.
You might be asking yourself what’s the big deal. It may feel like I’m making mountains out of molehills or playing with semantics. But listen to Paul’s words to his Colossians friends and ask yourself if these same qualities mark your relationships.
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” (Colossians 1:9-12) What do you pray for when you pray for your spouse, children, extended family, friends, or your church family? Do you pray like Paul prays? Do you pray for them to be filled with God’s wisdom and understanding? Do you pray for them to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord? Do you pray for them to bear godly fruit in their lives? Do you pray for them to be strengthened and filled with joy? One could easily spend a lifetime simply praying this one prayer from the Bible for those they know and I believe God would honor it in an amazing way.
“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:1-3) Do you struggle and wrestle over those you love? The choices they make? The decisions they face? The consequences they have to deal with? Do you long for their hearts to be encouraged? For them to be knit together with you in love? For everyone to reach the full assurance of understanding and knowledge of the mystery of God which is Christ Jesus revealed in human flesh? Do you find yourself weeping over the lost? Crying out to God on behalf of those who are suffering? Doing all you can to come alongside those who are hurting? We live in a world that encourages you to “cancel” those with whom you disagree. Dismiss those who think or act differently than you. Separate from those who have hurt you. Jesus calls us to a different way. He calls us to abide even as He abides. He calls us to remain faithful even as He is faithful. He calls us to forgive and reconcile even with those we once named enemies.
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:2-3) It is so easy to let our minds be shaped by the things of this world. Politics. Economics. Prevailing cultural norms. Different philosophies. Jesus calls us to set our minds on heavenly things. Heavenly realities. Heavenly truth. He calls us to transcend. To rise above the futile ways of this world. We have died with Christ. Our lives are hid with Christ. Our eternities secure in Christ. So we cannot submit again to the world’s yoke of slavery.
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:12-17) In the final analysis, living a Christian life is not what your against but what you are for. It’s not just about giving up but putting on. It’s not just about relinquishing and letting go of sin as much as it is about taking up and clinging to Christ. Christian relationships require intentionality. They require a pro-active approach to one another. If we are to live in authentic Christian fellowship, we must take on attitudes like compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. We must bear with one another because none of us is in the exact same place in life. We must practice forgiveness and extend grace. We must be people of peace refusing to engage in the perpetual outrage cycle that consumes so much of our time these days. Above all, we must put on the love of Christ.
Friends, this world will do all it can to pull us apart. It exerts a powerful centrifugal force through the political and cultural wars of our time. The enemy loves nothing more than to sow seeds of division, disunity, and separation in the family of God. Don’t give Him a foothold! The love of Christ is strong enough to hold us together! If He truly is at the center of your life and the center of your relationships and the center of your church, you will find Him exerting a centripetal force that will keep you together.
Readings for tomorrow: Ephesians 1-4