Gone prayin'. Colossians 4.

Back to post later today. You're invited to add your own comment on Colossians 4.

(Heh. I forgot to put this up early this morning.)

And if only I'd written, "gone praying", my work for the day would have been done. So now it is.

Three lists for the day. Colossians 3.

If you'd prefer it to the 3 phrases below, make yourself 3 lists from chapter 3 and figure out why the items in each list are grouped together.

Three phrases for the day. Colossians 3.

Reading from the King James translation of Colossians, v.3:12, there is this phrase: "Put on... bowels of mercies..." In one of my other translations, I read, "wrap yourself in the guts of compassion, good will, humility..."

For us today, this is pretty colorful language. No wonder, the NIV translates this as simply, "clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility..." But I really like that phrase, "the guts of compassion, etc." More than liking it, it's a real call to living that isn't all that easy to answer. My father-in-law talks about getting old, he's now in his 80s, in these ways: "getting old isn't for cowards;" and "it takes guts to get old." In the same way, it takes guts to live a life of compassion, good will, humility, gentleness and patience, putting up with one another.

These qualities Paul is talking about might be seen as weak, or passive -- "let me be gentle in my dealing with you." But the phrasing he used indicates this isn't about passivity. No, it's the guts of compassion, the big, powerful emotions, the passion of compassion and humility and patience and gentleness. It's quite the opposite of what we tend to ascribe to these qualities. Paul would be pleased, I think, that these words grabbed me in the gut today.

And if the list of qualities we are to be clothed in wasn't big enough and challenging enough for us to live in, he then has us put over all these clothes, agape love, Christ-love, like Superman's cape, or the silk shawl that completes a formal gown. Love as the link to perfection, and previous similes aside, our essential garment.

A second phrase from KJV, v.3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...," is colorfully expressed in the Message: "Let the Word of Christ--the Message--have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God!"

Followed by this final phrase in verse 17, "Whatsoever ye do...". Whatsoever? That leaves, exactly, nothing. Again from the Message, "Let every detail in your lives--words, actions, whatever--be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way."

Those are my phrases for the day.

Clues. Colossians 2.

Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart are the authors of an excellent book on Bible study entitled, How to Read the Bible for all its Worth. In their introduction to understanding the epistles, that is, the letters, they say this, "... there is one thing that all of the Epistles have in common, and this is the crucial thing to note in reading and interpreting them: they are all what are technically called occasional documents (i.e., arising out of and intended for a specific occasion), and they are from the first century." They go on to say this about being occasional. "Usually the occasion was some kind of behavior that needed correcting, or a doctrinal error that needed setting right, or a misunderstanding that needed further light." And as they also point out, we often have the answers, but not the questions or problems that the answers were intended to address.

And so we have to look for clues. If we were doing a full study of this letter, the starting place for those clues might be to consult a reference such as a Bible dictionary to learn more about Colossae itself. The next step would be to read and reread the letter several times, each time in a single setting, and in the process develop a basic outline of the letter. As we develop the outline, we often see some of the underlying issues the letter addresses.

In a read through like we're doing, we don't have the luxury of time to accomplish all of this. (Unless you're doing the 60x5x5.) You do have an outline for each book, and can use that to understand the major divisions of thought within the letter. But your primary clues will come from the language of the letter, and some careful thinking as you read.

In verse 2:4 we read, "I say this so that no one will deceive you through arguments that sound reasonable." That sounds like a clue to me. And since Paul expresses himself by writing "I say this", we know to look in the text prior to verse 4, for what it was he said. Here it is: "My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:2-3 NET). In other words, what Paul said was that he wanted to encourage the readers and assure them that wisdom and knowledge are resident in Christ.

What I discover from this first clue is that there were those who were teaching some form of philosophy and wisdom that ran counter to an understanding of the sufficiency in a relationship with Christ (confirmed in verse 6). Paul's use of the words "mystery", "hidden", and "wisdom" may be further clues as to the nature of that teaching, and Paul is saying you have all that and more in your relationship with Jesus as Lord -- just continue to live your lives in him. Don't worry about any who might say that wisdom is secret, hidden, a mystery.

The next clue is found in verse 2:8, "Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ." In the text that follows, then, Paul is answering those who are teaching a human philosophy and human traditions, perhaps tied to spirit beings. (Further down in the chapter we see specific references to angel worship.)

Other clues in this chapter about the teachings they're hearing are the references to Jewish customs (food, drink, feasts, etc.), some form of asceticism ("false humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body"), and rules and regulations founded on human teachings (don't touch, don't taste, don't handle).

Once we see what Paul is arguing against, we better understand what he's arguing for. When we see a list like this (hook's paraphrase) --

• Don't get hung up on food regulations.
• Don't get hung up on special days.
• Don't get sidetracked by those who claim mystical experiences.
• Don't get sidetracked by the ascetics who think they can tame their sensual appetites with self-abuse.
• Don't trade your new life in Christ for human approaches to humble living and a worship filled life.

-- we now have some perspective to help us get to the meaning Paul intended, and the significance for us.

Today I may not have to worry about feast days, but why did Paul write about them? Well, first, because it was something the Colossians had to deal with. And second, this teaching came from a tradition that had relevance at some point, but was now a shadow of the truth in the light of Jesus' arrival, fully Deity in bodily form. So what do I (us) have to worry about that's like this? Perhaps it's the teaching of someone or some group that seems to be rooted in the Bible, but is a distortion of the full teaching of Scripture. I would put the misuse of the prayer of Jabez in that category. A careful reading of what Dr. Wilkinson said in his book was technically accurate, but was open to much abuse by those who misread, and then especially when retaught from the misreading.

Our culture is full of false teachings, some of them so subtle we may not be aware of them. Some of them are even fostered (often inadvertently) by the church. The most pervasive one I can think of is the idea that it's all about me. Rarely stated that way, this really is the original sin and it's always been present in our thinking. I went to Yahoo just now to look for evidence of this. First glance, I didn't see anything in particular beyond the fact that the most popular TV show is "So You Think You Can Dance". That's not much, and I thought it would be easy to confirm this point. Then I stared a little harder. The first two buttons at the top of the page: "My Yahoo" and "My Mail", are so pervasive I didn't even see them and the implications behind them. These titles on the buttons do serve a purpose, which is that they're easy to understand markers taking me to the place where I've customized what's shown on the page. The subtler message is -- it's really about me. In fact, it's so much about me that Yahoo wants me to be able to shape my own Yahoo. I then noticed the featured article on the page which is about the "most-hated internet words" -- according to a survey. Surveys are subtle ways of ascribing importance to our opinions.

Now each of these items serves a useful commercial purpose, but we're constantly inundated in the U.S. with the message -- it's all about me. Contrast this thought on the "Life" tab on Yahoo with Paul's.

• Yahoo -- How to have the body you want
• Paul -- I struggle, "so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects"

The lessons in the epistles are not always obvious, when rooted in the first century occasion of the writing of the letter. But God has given us these letters because of the lessons they contain, and their significance for our lives. So we watch for the clues to their meaning. We draw out that meaning. And then we may need to look for the clues in our lives and the world around us. Those clues point to the places where the significance of the lessons applies to us personally. And since this isn't all about us, we'd better start with an attitude that submits to God's purposes and seeks His help.

Ignoring the elephant in the room. Colossians 1.

Some days you must think that I'm ignoring the elephant in the room, when it comes to the daily posting on the blog. Certainly our guest writers in Romans took a different approach than I often do when they wrote their entries. (And we'll have more guest writers in the future.) Well, frankly, some days I am ignoring the elephant in the room, and on purpose. This is one of those days.

In Colossians 1, after Paul's preliminaries at the beginning of the letter he launches into what is the heart of this letter to the church in Colosse -- a laser focus on the person and work of Christ as a vaccination against the false beliefs surrounding the church, perhaps even in the church. In v.1:18, Paul says of Christ, "... so that he himself may become first in all things." In many Bibles, this section is often labeled with something referring to the supremacy of Christ. Fair enough. Paul lists attributes of Christ in showing His supremacy. Fair enough. Most sermons on the entire chapter will focus on those attributes. Fair enough.

There's no getting around it. Ignoring this heart of the chapter is like ignoring an elephant in the room. Difficult to do. But I'm going to do it. You can pull out Christ's attributes on your own. It would be wonderful if someone left a comment on the blog about that part of the chapter. I want to look at the beginning of the chapter, in the area of a letter we may dismiss as "introductory", skipping ahead to the meat of the letter. Here's why. I want to connect for you the endings of the last two letters of Paul's we've read -- Ephesians and Philippians -- with what he has written to the Colossians.

If you'll recall, at the end of Ephesians, Paul encouraged the church (all the saints) to pray for the rest of the church. "With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints. Pray for me also,..." (Ephesians 6:18,19a NET) As a part of the spiritual battle we are engaged in, we need to help each other out in the church -- in prayer by the power of the Spirit. At the end of the letter to the Philippians, Paul said that in following his advice for right living, and proper thinking, that they could learn from his example: "And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things." (Philippians 4:9)

Now connect the dots. Pray for our fellow saints, follow Paul's example. First part of Colossians -- Paul describes his prayers for his fellow saints in Colosse. While this certainly isn't the only place in Paul's letters where he tells of his prayers for the letter recipients, it's a really good place to draw from, especially as a way to honor and follow his advice in his last two letters.

Which leads us to this -- how do we pray for other Christians? Here's one way:

• Be thankful for their faith -- exhibited in change lives that manifest in ways such as love for all their fellow believers and a heaven-bound attitude.
• Ask God to help them know what He wants them to do.
• Ask God to give them spiritual wisdom.
• Ask God to help them live a life that honors and pleases Him.
  
• Ask God to help them grow in their knowledge of Him.
• Ask God to give them strength for endurance.
• Ask God to fill them with patience, joy, and thanksgiving.

Amen.

And don't you ignore the elephant in the room.