Imitating Christ's Humility
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Dig Deeper
When I was a young Christian I thought that everything would be perfect. I had become a member of the body of Christ comprised of what I thought were the kindest, most patient, most loving, and near-perfect people that I had ever met. It wasn’t that they had presented themselves to be such, in fact they kept telling me that they were sinners struggling to be like Jesus, but I had never, as an adult, seen any group of people really trying to live like that. It didn’t take long, however, to figure out that they were imperfect sinners. They were full of flaws and weaknesses, and could easily become downright annoying if I let it get to me. It was at those moments that I was most annoyed that I would read passages like this one and shake my head, thinking that either the first-century Christians were far more godly and spiritual than we were or Paul was calling people to a hopeless standard that even the first-century Christians couldn’t attain to. So, which is it? Are we all miserable excuses for Christians or is this an impossible standard? Or was I missing something altogether?
Paul is writing to his beloved family in Christ in Philippi and telling them what their life in Christ will look like. But how could this even be possible? What he is describing seems completely unattainable for any community of human beings. He calls them to be unified in the way they think and act. He calls for no selfishness of any kind as they humbly look at the person next to them and put their needs and opinions above their own. He can’t really expect people to live like that can he? The only answer can be to keep focused on something other than one another. When I was coaching basketball and we were aiming for a state championship, there were many long and difficult things that the players endured, including bearing with one another. The only way to truly stay in harmony and unity was to keep our eyes focused on the ultimate goal of the championship. In a much more profound way, this is what Paul is reminding the Philippians of. The only thing that can make this sort of community life even a remote possibility is to remain focused on Jesus Christ and our new life in Christ. Paul will describe the full glory of the life of Christ in the next passage, but first he will call them to the incredible unity that is demanded by the life in Christ.
Paul begins with the reason for this incredible level of unity to which he is calling them. Why should they or any Christians want to live a life that seems nearly impossible? For two reasons: The first is that we are in Christ and that is what it is like to be made in the image of Christ; the second flows from the first in that we have all of the necessary tools that we need in Christ to actually succeed as a Christian community in living this sort of life. Those who have been united with Christ in baptism by entering into his life (Rom. 6:3-4) have already experienced the love and loyalty that flows from Christ to the individual and vice-versa, so we can begin to share and experience that same love in the Christian community as a whole. We also have the Holy Spirit who actively maintains the common life of believers (2 Cor. 13:14). Actually, to deny that the Christian community can attain to the type of unity and fellowship that Paul describes in this passage is to deny the ability and power of the Spirit. Those who are united with Christ, have been comforted from his love, and built up by the fellowship of the Spirit will naturally have true tenderness and compassion develop for one another.
Further, Paul is not implying that this list is hypothetical or that he is not sure if any of these qualities are evident, he wants them to make his joy complete, not to start giving him reason for joy. The word "ei" that is translated "if" can also mean "since," which makes better sense of verse one. Paul is not questioning whether or not they have these things, they are in Christ and he has already seen and heard evidence that they have well begun living the life of Christ as a body, which has brought him great joy. Now, though, he wants them to enjoy these things in increasing measure which would, of course, bring him even more joy.
The way to deepen the life of Christ through the work of the Spirit is to be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. In other words, this unity will require that they bring their thinking, their love, their spirit and purpose in line with one another. Does this mean that unity alone will show them to be God’s people and make Paul’s joy complete? It will absolutely not. Unity alone cannot be the final aim. Gangs are often very united. The Nazis showed a great deal of unity. False religions have unity. Becoming one in mind doesn’t mean much if we are all unified in doing something that is out of line with the life of Christ. The love of Christ is the key. Imitating, experiencing, and being bound together in the love of Christ is the only thing that can accomplish the type of unity necessary to the Christian community.
This is another example in Paul’s writings that demonstrate that he is far more concerned with giving God’s people principles to live by rather than commands as though he were writing yet another rule book. The world is full of rule books telling people what they can and cannot do. The problem with rule books is that they create precisely the kind of people that God does not want. The Israelites fell into this trap as they followed God’s law and became more concerned with the law itself than with the God behind the law. Following rules does not instill anything other than a good sense of discipline in people. When people are given godly principles, it takes effort, unity, prayer, discernment, humility, love, and the Holy Spirit to live out those principles and transform them into the true body of Christ. Rules seem safer but they cannot produce the kind of people that God desires. Rules work for people who have hearts that are wicked and deceitful (Jer. 17:9), hearts that are made of stone (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26; Hos. 10:2), but they do not suffice for people that have had God’s own Spirit put in them to replace the heart of stone (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26). God’s people have the Spirit indwelling within us so that are hearts are deceitful if we walk according to the Spirit. This means that as we walk according to the Spirit and not the flesh, we are capable, because of the Spirit’s power, of wisely applying godly principles to difficult areas of life. Jesus put a great deal of trust in those who have the Spirit in them, that is why he said that they could now be considered friends rather than servants (John 15:15). Think of it like this: Children who are only told what to do never grow and develop their own ability to judge situations. Children who are trusted and given governing principles learn to be wise and discerning and far more trustworthy than the immature lot who can only follow rules. What is true of children in this case is true of the Christian life as well.
Does this mean that living by godly principles rather than reading the Bible like a rule book leaves Christians to live anyway they would like? Absolutely it does not. In fact the New Testament life of Christ that is lived by following the principles of the New Testament and the guidance of the Holy Spirit is far more demanding and difficult than following the Old Testament law (or following the New Testament as though it were a new law). It is far more demanding than those who would like to remove their own minds and much of the influence of the Holy Spirit and reduce themselves to rule-following robots. Rather than removing our minds, the true life of Christ calls us to transform our minds so that we live by the principles of Christ rather than the principles of the world.
This means that Paul doesn’t lay down a few rules of commands, saying something like "never disagree with one another, but when you do, take the issues to the elders to decide amongst you. And you should always give other people the best seat in the house to show that they are more important than you." No, Paul doesn’t limit the Spirit-led hearts of the saints to a few wooden rules. He gives them godly principles and trusts them and the Holy Spirit to learn to live according to these principles of the life of Christ. The thing that we must never forget is that those same principles apply to us and guide us today every bit as much as they did Paul’s original readers.
Devotional Thought
How well do Paul’s words in this section describe your church? How well do they describe you? By being united in Christ and having the power of the Spirit in our lives, we certainly have the ability to be transformed into this type of people. It’s simply a matter of allowing the Spirit to guides our lives according to God’s will rather than our own.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Philippians 1:27-30
27Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
Dig Deeper
As a young man, still in college, I coached a summer basketball team of high school boys that traveled around and competed in different summer tournaments. The team was fast, talented, and the average starter was 6’7". To add to that talent, speed, and height, we relied heavily on intimidation. Their uniforms were all black and we would pull out every possible trick to attempt to intimidate the other team before the game even started. The fact is, it was pretty obvious that some teams were so intimidated that they were beaten before we even had the opening tip. That’s the problem with intimidation is it keeps people from performing the way that they should due to fear. Interestingly, there was only one team that seemed to have no fear and not be intimidated at all. Before the game with that team, I knew we were in trouble. Their lack of intimidation was a clear sign to me that they were prepared to beat us, and in fact they were the only team to ever do so.
The Philippians were in a tough situation, living in a town of people that were extremely proud of their Roman culture and citizenship. Yet here they were preaching a gospel that didn’t sound very impressive at all from a human perspective. The powerful Caesar was not the true king of the world, according to this rag-tag group of Christians. No, they were claiming that a crucified Jew was the true king of the world. It would have been easy for them to feel intimidated when surrounded by a culture that mocked and scorned that sort of message. How ridiculous; what kind of nonsense message were they trying to push off on people anyway? Paul wants the Philippians to not give into the normal human emotion of being intimidated by the culture that was stacked against and becoming increasingly hostile. He wants them to know that living up to their life in Christ also means confidently and humbly living lives that are free from intimidation and fear.
Life for the early Christian community could be violently unpredictable. For them to start acting according to the emotional ups and downs of what each new day might bring would be unspeakably dangerous. Paul could not guarantee that he would live to see them again or even see the next day, although he was certainly hopeful. He could not guarantee that violent persecution wouldn’t break out the next day against the church in Philippi or one of the other fledgling Messiah communities. He certainly could not guarantee that they would not face the day-to-day sort of intimidation and persecution that would almost surely come their way. When the tough times came, and they would, they should not find themselves doing what the world does, which is to act according to their emotions and feelings. If they were to do that, they would be no different from the pagan world around them. Rather, they were to, despite whatever might happen, and conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
The standard for them, then, was no less than to live and face circumstances as Christ did. If Paul could come see them or only hear about what they were doing (he is still rather optimistic that he’ll be around for a little while longer rather than suffer immediate execution), he would know that they were standing firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel. In other words, they would be showing clear evidence of their unity of their life in Christ. They would be acting together as one, which is the whole point of the life of the body of Christ. Paul wants them to conduct themselves in a hostile Roman culture as fitting members of the body of Christ. The word that Paul uses for "conduct" meant literally, "live as citizens" and is related to 3:20, which reminds them that they are citizens of heaven, not Rome. Paul’s point then carries some political overtones to it as well. He is telling them that they need to live according to the life of Christ rather than society’s standards and requirements of being a good citizen.
Part of conducting themselves like true Messiah people meant not being frightened or intimidated by the culture around them. The word he used for "frightened’ was a specific word that applied to the actions of a scared horse. Just as the team that was not intimidated was a sign that they were capable of winning the game (although that’s not a perfect analogy because many teams that aren’t intimidated do lose), the very fact that they conducted themselves like Christ and without fear in the face of trials, persecution, and outright intimidation would serve as a powerful sign. It would, in fact, demonstrate two things. The first was that Paul believed that their unusual behavior would actually be a sign to the non-Christian persecutors that they will be destroyed. When someone is mistreating you and you respond with dignity, it heaps judgment and scorn on the head of the persecutor (cf. Prov. 25:21-22). The second is that it will serve as a clear sign that they will be saved because it is obvious evidence of their life in Christ and the fact that they are the people of God. Paul was a persecutor of the church himself and had seen the dignity and firmness in Christ of men like Stephen (Acts 7:54-8:1). It likely seemed like stupidity at the time, but now he recognized it as evidence of the power of the life of Christ and he wanted nothing less than that same power to take hold in the lives of the young Christians that he loved so deeply.
It would have been easy, and this is still true for us today, to think about all the great privileges and the upside of having believed in and entered into the life of Christ. It’s easy to celebrate the unity of the life of Christ and the belief that brings so much peace. Yet it rarely occurs to us to celebrate the suffering that we experience in Christ. Yet it is evidence that we are in Christ as surely as the more pleasant aspects of being in Christ. We revel in the fact that what is true of our king, is true of his people when it comes to things like resurrection, but we’re usually not so excited when it comes to suffering. Paul knew that part of the Christian life would involve suffering (Acts 9:16) and that the true Christian response to suffering was to rejoice (Acts 5:41). Christians don’t rejoice in suffering for Christ and his gospel because we enjoy it (An important distinction must be made here between suffering for the gospel and suffering because we have a painful disease or someone close to us has died, etc. Of course those must be meant with a Christian dignity and sense of peace, but this is not the type of suffering to which Paul is referring.), we rejoice because suffering is a sure sign that we are truly sharing in the life of Christ.
Paul’s encouragement to them to continue to rejoice and stand firm in the face of persecution holds more credibility than the average person. A few months ago I listened online to a young, hotshot minister preaching to a a group of parents, rebuking them for their failures in parenting and exhorting them to the things that they should be doing. The only problem was that he was single and had no children. It’s not that a non-parent couldn’t ever teach biblical principles of parenting, but this young man had no credibility on the topic and clearly didn’t know much of what he was talking about. This is not at all the case for the aging apostle. He knew suffering for the cause of Christ well. Paul had been beaten with rods at least three times in his life (2 Cor. 11:25) and one of those times was in Philippi (Acts 16:22-23). The Christians in Philippi would have well remembered that day that had no doubt been burned in their memories. That was at least a small part of the struggle that prompts Paul to say "the struggle you saw I had." Paul doesn’t specify what kind of persecution they were going through, he wouldn’t need to tell them as they would have known to what he was referring only too well. It is enough to know that it was the same kind of struggle that Paul had gone through, and was still going through. Paul clearly rejoiced in his suffering persecution because it was a sign to him that he was sharing in the life and ministry of the gospel. As one with a great deal of credibility on the topic, Paul can encourage them to hold the same view. Persecution wasn’t a reason to get scared and shy away from the gospel, it was a sign that they were sharing in it. What a wonderful truth for us to embrace.
Devotioinal Thought
We certainly don’t face the same type of persecution that Paul and the Philippians faced. Yet there are situations that can cause us to lose our nerve and shrink back. Which aspects of the Christian life intimidate you and challenge you to remain firm in your convictions and actions? How can you apply Paul’s words to our situations today?
Dig Deeper
As a young man, still in college, I coached a summer basketball team of high school boys that traveled around and competed in different summer tournaments. The team was fast, talented, and the average starter was 6’7". To add to that talent, speed, and height, we relied heavily on intimidation. Their uniforms were all black and we would pull out every possible trick to attempt to intimidate the other team before the game even started. The fact is, it was pretty obvious that some teams were so intimidated that they were beaten before we even had the opening tip. That’s the problem with intimidation is it keeps people from performing the way that they should due to fear. Interestingly, there was only one team that seemed to have no fear and not be intimidated at all. Before the game with that team, I knew we were in trouble. Their lack of intimidation was a clear sign to me that they were prepared to beat us, and in fact they were the only team to ever do so.
The Philippians were in a tough situation, living in a town of people that were extremely proud of their Roman culture and citizenship. Yet here they were preaching a gospel that didn’t sound very impressive at all from a human perspective. The powerful Caesar was not the true king of the world, according to this rag-tag group of Christians. No, they were claiming that a crucified Jew was the true king of the world. It would have been easy for them to feel intimidated when surrounded by a culture that mocked and scorned that sort of message. How ridiculous; what kind of nonsense message were they trying to push off on people anyway? Paul wants the Philippians to not give into the normal human emotion of being intimidated by the culture that was stacked against and becoming increasingly hostile. He wants them to know that living up to their life in Christ also means confidently and humbly living lives that are free from intimidation and fear.
Life for the early Christian community could be violently unpredictable. For them to start acting according to the emotional ups and downs of what each new day might bring would be unspeakably dangerous. Paul could not guarantee that he would live to see them again or even see the next day, although he was certainly hopeful. He could not guarantee that violent persecution wouldn’t break out the next day against the church in Philippi or one of the other fledgling Messiah communities. He certainly could not guarantee that they would not face the day-to-day sort of intimidation and persecution that would almost surely come their way. When the tough times came, and they would, they should not find themselves doing what the world does, which is to act according to their emotions and feelings. If they were to do that, they would be no different from the pagan world around them. Rather, they were to, despite whatever might happen, and conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
The standard for them, then, was no less than to live and face circumstances as Christ did. If Paul could come see them or only hear about what they were doing (he is still rather optimistic that he’ll be around for a little while longer rather than suffer immediate execution), he would know that they were standing firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel. In other words, they would be showing clear evidence of their unity of their life in Christ. They would be acting together as one, which is the whole point of the life of the body of Christ. Paul wants them to conduct themselves in a hostile Roman culture as fitting members of the body of Christ. The word that Paul uses for "conduct" meant literally, "live as citizens" and is related to 3:20, which reminds them that they are citizens of heaven, not Rome. Paul’s point then carries some political overtones to it as well. He is telling them that they need to live according to the life of Christ rather than society’s standards and requirements of being a good citizen.
Part of conducting themselves like true Messiah people meant not being frightened or intimidated by the culture around them. The word he used for "frightened’ was a specific word that applied to the actions of a scared horse. Just as the team that was not intimidated was a sign that they were capable of winning the game (although that’s not a perfect analogy because many teams that aren’t intimidated do lose), the very fact that they conducted themselves like Christ and without fear in the face of trials, persecution, and outright intimidation would serve as a powerful sign. It would, in fact, demonstrate two things. The first was that Paul believed that their unusual behavior would actually be a sign to the non-Christian persecutors that they will be destroyed. When someone is mistreating you and you respond with dignity, it heaps judgment and scorn on the head of the persecutor (cf. Prov. 25:21-22). The second is that it will serve as a clear sign that they will be saved because it is obvious evidence of their life in Christ and the fact that they are the people of God. Paul was a persecutor of the church himself and had seen the dignity and firmness in Christ of men like Stephen (Acts 7:54-8:1). It likely seemed like stupidity at the time, but now he recognized it as evidence of the power of the life of Christ and he wanted nothing less than that same power to take hold in the lives of the young Christians that he loved so deeply.
It would have been easy, and this is still true for us today, to think about all the great privileges and the upside of having believed in and entered into the life of Christ. It’s easy to celebrate the unity of the life of Christ and the belief that brings so much peace. Yet it rarely occurs to us to celebrate the suffering that we experience in Christ. Yet it is evidence that we are in Christ as surely as the more pleasant aspects of being in Christ. We revel in the fact that what is true of our king, is true of his people when it comes to things like resurrection, but we’re usually not so excited when it comes to suffering. Paul knew that part of the Christian life would involve suffering (Acts 9:16) and that the true Christian response to suffering was to rejoice (Acts 5:41). Christians don’t rejoice in suffering for Christ and his gospel because we enjoy it (An important distinction must be made here between suffering for the gospel and suffering because we have a painful disease or someone close to us has died, etc. Of course those must be meant with a Christian dignity and sense of peace, but this is not the type of suffering to which Paul is referring.), we rejoice because suffering is a sure sign that we are truly sharing in the life of Christ.
Paul’s encouragement to them to continue to rejoice and stand firm in the face of persecution holds more credibility than the average person. A few months ago I listened online to a young, hotshot minister preaching to a a group of parents, rebuking them for their failures in parenting and exhorting them to the things that they should be doing. The only problem was that he was single and had no children. It’s not that a non-parent couldn’t ever teach biblical principles of parenting, but this young man had no credibility on the topic and clearly didn’t know much of what he was talking about. This is not at all the case for the aging apostle. He knew suffering for the cause of Christ well. Paul had been beaten with rods at least three times in his life (2 Cor. 11:25) and one of those times was in Philippi (Acts 16:22-23). The Christians in Philippi would have well remembered that day that had no doubt been burned in their memories. That was at least a small part of the struggle that prompts Paul to say "the struggle you saw I had." Paul doesn’t specify what kind of persecution they were going through, he wouldn’t need to tell them as they would have known to what he was referring only too well. It is enough to know that it was the same kind of struggle that Paul had gone through, and was still going through. Paul clearly rejoiced in his suffering persecution because it was a sign to him that he was sharing in the life and ministry of the gospel. As one with a great deal of credibility on the topic, Paul can encourage them to hold the same view. Persecution wasn’t a reason to get scared and shy away from the gospel, it was a sign that they were sharing in it. What a wonderful truth for us to embrace.
Devotioinal Thought
We certainly don’t face the same type of persecution that Paul and the Philippians faced. Yet there are situations that can cause us to lose our nerve and shrink back. Which aspects of the Christian life intimidate you and challenge you to remain firm in your convictions and actions? How can you apply Paul’s words to our situations today?
Monday, April 28, 2008
Philippians 1:18-26
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
Dig Deeper
I was so frustrated one year with the high school basketball team of which I was the coach because they just could not seem to understand and execute the defense system that we wanted them to learn. It was a year in which we had no significant returning players, so nearly every person on the team was new. We went over it time and time and time again. I explained it, I drew it up, I described it, yet they just could not seem to grasp the level of physicality and the speed of movement that they needed in order to execute the particular style of defense for which our team was well known. Finally, it hit me what we had to do. I called several of my former players who had graduated and moved on but who were the best defensive players that had been our team over the years. They all gathered for one practice and did the drills with the current team, showing them how it actually looked when done correctly. They modeled all facets of the defense for these young men. I was amazed at how quickly they suddenly caught on once they had seen a model. They not only understood how to physically perform the defensive scheme, they finally seemed to grasp the philosophy behind it.
It seems that most humans learn things, especially difficult subjects, when we can see it modeled for us. Abstract subjects suddenly come to life and become three-dimensional. Paul was a master teacher and he knew this truth very well. He could, of course, have simply called the Philippians to the life of Christ and urged them to constantly put other’s interests ahead of their own. That only goes so far, though, especially when it is often so difficult to imagine what that looks like in the real world. It is so difficult to discern a healthy balance between putting other’s interests above our own, and becoming a doormat. So, at several points throughout this letter, Paul will model or point to models of this type of living. How does Paul model this truth in this section? Simply in that his own personal desire would be to be fully complete in his transformation into the image of God in Christ. He knows, however, that the only way to accomplish that is to die. His love and desire for Christ are so strong, though, that this is his personal preference. Yet, he knows that if this happens, it would not be the best thing at the moment for the young Christian community. So, if it is God’s will then he will continue in the body during the present age. Paul could just continue on without saying this to anyone, but instead he opts to tell them of his personal struggle and acceptance of doing what is better for them in opposition to his own personal will. In telling them of his struggle, Paul has modeled in living color what it means to put the concerns of others and the cause of Christ above his own personal desires.
Paul is confident that God’s plan will end in his deliverance, but the fact that he will continue to rejoice is not contingent upon whether or not he is released from prison. Paul, when he says that his present state will turn out for his deliverance, is quoting from Job 13:16. Paul’s point does not rest in his present state of affairs in prison, but like Job, he was concerned with the final court of arbitration, where God’s people will be vindicated. Thus, for Paul, what happened to him at the hands of the Romans was of little consequence, for he had bigger things in mind. He was, instead, expecting that he would not be ashamed, by which Paul can only mean the failure to be found in Christ. In Paul’s mind, no one who hopes in the Lord, will ever be put to shame (Ps. 25:3). So, until the time of final judgment, he will continue to exalt Christ and live the life of Christ regardless of what happens to him in the present age.
This is a stark reminder for those of us who are so eager to live for Christ when things are pleasant and going well, but as soon as tough times hit in our lives, our homes, our church, etc., we are quickly tempted to abandon the life of Christ and revert to the old way of doing things and our old lives. In verse 21, Paul clearly states in one sentence a summary of the Christian faith as succinctly as possible. Those who recognize that we cannot earn our way back to God or restore the image of God marred by sin, die to themselves and enter into the life of Christ (Romans 6:3-4). This is precisely the point where so many religious teachings of our day go wrong. They preach a self-help gospel that is aimed, in one form or another, at improving your life or helping you to find happiness, peace, prosperity, or whatever else they might be pushing that week. But that is not at all what Christianity is about. It’s not about fixing up your life, but about dying to self and entering into the only life (John 14:6) that is the image of God (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4) and will take part in the resurrection (John 11:25). For the Christian to live is Christ, because our life belongs to him. This means that one of the great tasks for the Christian is to constantly be on guard for areas in which we have tried to live out our desires rather than living the life of Christ, which is to do the will of God.
Because Paul knows that he is clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27) and hidden with Christ (Col. 3:3) so that when God looks at him, He sees Christ, he also knows that if he dies, it is gain, because he will be united with Christ whom he loves so dearly and await the time of the great resurrection. Here is another area where many Westernized Christians today are confused, believing that the great hope of the Christian faith is heaven. Yet, we don’t really find anyone in the New Testament talking about the hope of going to heaven when they die; for them heaven was the time (albeit preferable to the struggle of life in the present age) when souls that were separated temporarily from their bodies were kept in God’s presence until resurrection. This is Paul’s dilemma. He would, in many senses, rather go on to be with Christ, but he knows deep down that there is more work for him to do. So, his resolve is that he will gladly stay in the body during this present age because it will result in their progress and joy in the faith. He has, then, laid out his personal preference, but also demonstrated that he will put their interests ahead of his own. At the same time, Paul is not absolutely sure that God’s plan is for him to remain on earth at that time. Life in the Roman Empire was cheap and he could be executed at any time. If that were to happen, he wants them to know that if they suddenly received news of his death, there was no need to panic. God was in control and Paul would have been exactly where he wanted to be.
In 2 Corinthians 1:8-11, written presumably after this letter and his time in prison (if Paul wrote this letter while in Ephesus), Paul describes coming to a point where he despaired of his own life. Things looked so bleak that he began to believe that he would meet the death sentence, and he felt it in his heart, soul, and mind. This in incredibly instructive for us. In this passage, Paul seems upbeat and hopeful. Yet, he obviously didn’t always feel that positively. Yet, as we read on in 2 Corinthians, especially in passages like chapter 5, Paul never wavered in his belief in God and the resurrection for those in Christ. The huge lesson for us to take away from that is Paul learned to distinguish between his feelings and his belief, and demonstrated how to live out his belief when his feelings were telling him something very different. This is a Christian discipline that we must never tire in striving towards.
Devotional Thought
What is most challenging for you when it comes to truly putting the interests of others above your own? What are some practical ways that you can begin to embrace the life of Christ in this area?
Dig Deeper
I was so frustrated one year with the high school basketball team of which I was the coach because they just could not seem to understand and execute the defense system that we wanted them to learn. It was a year in which we had no significant returning players, so nearly every person on the team was new. We went over it time and time and time again. I explained it, I drew it up, I described it, yet they just could not seem to grasp the level of physicality and the speed of movement that they needed in order to execute the particular style of defense for which our team was well known. Finally, it hit me what we had to do. I called several of my former players who had graduated and moved on but who were the best defensive players that had been our team over the years. They all gathered for one practice and did the drills with the current team, showing them how it actually looked when done correctly. They modeled all facets of the defense for these young men. I was amazed at how quickly they suddenly caught on once they had seen a model. They not only understood how to physically perform the defensive scheme, they finally seemed to grasp the philosophy behind it.
It seems that most humans learn things, especially difficult subjects, when we can see it modeled for us. Abstract subjects suddenly come to life and become three-dimensional. Paul was a master teacher and he knew this truth very well. He could, of course, have simply called the Philippians to the life of Christ and urged them to constantly put other’s interests ahead of their own. That only goes so far, though, especially when it is often so difficult to imagine what that looks like in the real world. It is so difficult to discern a healthy balance between putting other’s interests above our own, and becoming a doormat. So, at several points throughout this letter, Paul will model or point to models of this type of living. How does Paul model this truth in this section? Simply in that his own personal desire would be to be fully complete in his transformation into the image of God in Christ. He knows, however, that the only way to accomplish that is to die. His love and desire for Christ are so strong, though, that this is his personal preference. Yet, he knows that if this happens, it would not be the best thing at the moment for the young Christian community. So, if it is God’s will then he will continue in the body during the present age. Paul could just continue on without saying this to anyone, but instead he opts to tell them of his personal struggle and acceptance of doing what is better for them in opposition to his own personal will. In telling them of his struggle, Paul has modeled in living color what it means to put the concerns of others and the cause of Christ above his own personal desires.
Paul is confident that God’s plan will end in his deliverance, but the fact that he will continue to rejoice is not contingent upon whether or not he is released from prison. Paul, when he says that his present state will turn out for his deliverance, is quoting from Job 13:16. Paul’s point does not rest in his present state of affairs in prison, but like Job, he was concerned with the final court of arbitration, where God’s people will be vindicated. Thus, for Paul, what happened to him at the hands of the Romans was of little consequence, for he had bigger things in mind. He was, instead, expecting that he would not be ashamed, by which Paul can only mean the failure to be found in Christ. In Paul’s mind, no one who hopes in the Lord, will ever be put to shame (Ps. 25:3). So, until the time of final judgment, he will continue to exalt Christ and live the life of Christ regardless of what happens to him in the present age.
This is a stark reminder for those of us who are so eager to live for Christ when things are pleasant and going well, but as soon as tough times hit in our lives, our homes, our church, etc., we are quickly tempted to abandon the life of Christ and revert to the old way of doing things and our old lives. In verse 21, Paul clearly states in one sentence a summary of the Christian faith as succinctly as possible. Those who recognize that we cannot earn our way back to God or restore the image of God marred by sin, die to themselves and enter into the life of Christ (Romans 6:3-4). This is precisely the point where so many religious teachings of our day go wrong. They preach a self-help gospel that is aimed, in one form or another, at improving your life or helping you to find happiness, peace, prosperity, or whatever else they might be pushing that week. But that is not at all what Christianity is about. It’s not about fixing up your life, but about dying to self and entering into the only life (John 14:6) that is the image of God (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4) and will take part in the resurrection (John 11:25). For the Christian to live is Christ, because our life belongs to him. This means that one of the great tasks for the Christian is to constantly be on guard for areas in which we have tried to live out our desires rather than living the life of Christ, which is to do the will of God.
Because Paul knows that he is clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27) and hidden with Christ (Col. 3:3) so that when God looks at him, He sees Christ, he also knows that if he dies, it is gain, because he will be united with Christ whom he loves so dearly and await the time of the great resurrection. Here is another area where many Westernized Christians today are confused, believing that the great hope of the Christian faith is heaven. Yet, we don’t really find anyone in the New Testament talking about the hope of going to heaven when they die; for them heaven was the time (albeit preferable to the struggle of life in the present age) when souls that were separated temporarily from their bodies were kept in God’s presence until resurrection. This is Paul’s dilemma. He would, in many senses, rather go on to be with Christ, but he knows deep down that there is more work for him to do. So, his resolve is that he will gladly stay in the body during this present age because it will result in their progress and joy in the faith. He has, then, laid out his personal preference, but also demonstrated that he will put their interests ahead of his own. At the same time, Paul is not absolutely sure that God’s plan is for him to remain on earth at that time. Life in the Roman Empire was cheap and he could be executed at any time. If that were to happen, he wants them to know that if they suddenly received news of his death, there was no need to panic. God was in control and Paul would have been exactly where he wanted to be.
In 2 Corinthians 1:8-11, written presumably after this letter and his time in prison (if Paul wrote this letter while in Ephesus), Paul describes coming to a point where he despaired of his own life. Things looked so bleak that he began to believe that he would meet the death sentence, and he felt it in his heart, soul, and mind. This in incredibly instructive for us. In this passage, Paul seems upbeat and hopeful. Yet, he obviously didn’t always feel that positively. Yet, as we read on in 2 Corinthians, especially in passages like chapter 5, Paul never wavered in his belief in God and the resurrection for those in Christ. The huge lesson for us to take away from that is Paul learned to distinguish between his feelings and his belief, and demonstrated how to live out his belief when his feelings were telling him something very different. This is a Christian discipline that we must never tire in striving towards.
Devotional Thought
What is most challenging for you when it comes to truly putting the interests of others above your own? What are some practical ways that you can begin to embrace the life of Christ in this area?
Friday, April 25, 2008
Philippians 1:12-18
Paul's Chains Advance the Gospel
12Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
15It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Dig Deeper
The young man was devastated when he was told by his boss that he would be losing his job at the end of the month. This would be a hard blow to take for a young Christian with a wife and two small children. How could he go and tell his wife that he would be without a job in just over a week? Then this questions began to swirl about in his head about why God had allowed this to happen and how this could possibly work out to God’s glory somehow. What seemed like a horrible situation got even worse when he realized that he would have to temporarily move his family back into his parents house. What he didn’t know, at the time, though was that God specializes in working through human weakness and tough situations. The young man took a less-paying job but within a couple of months, three people from his new job had become disciples of Christ due to his influence and sharing. On top of that, before he was able to move his family back into their own house, he was able to bring both of his parents into the life of Christ. God truly can work through seemingly, impossibly negative situations.
Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, had been thrown into prison for sharing the gospel and stirring up trouble. This could have been a deeply devastating blow to the young Christian communities around the Gentile world. What would they do now that their great champion of the gospel had been tossed into Roman detention? From any sort of human perspective, this was bad. A traveling apostle being locked in chains? How could that be good? As with so many other things, Paul wants his young brothers and sisters in the faith to view things from a Godly perspective. Rather than his chains limiting the gospel, God has used them to continue to advance the cause of Christ.
In the ancient world, the primary purpose of personal letters was to let people know how you were faring wherever you might have been. Without forms of instant communication like we have today, letters were extremely important in keeping the bonds of relationship and concern between parties separated by a vast distance. In truth, the very fact that Paul chose to write his letters in such an obvious personal letter format would have been a clear sign to the early Christians that what he was writing, although still God-inspired Scripture, was not a theological treatise or a doctrinal handbook. They were personal letters that were full of important principles for God’s people, but were not mini rule books.
As soon as Paul got the opening statements out of the way, his words, "Now I want you to know," would have fostered the expectation that he was now about to inform them of his personal welfare, something in which they were greatly interested. What should not be missed is that Paul tells very little about himself and his personal details and constantly takes the attention off of his own personal welfare, mentioning it only when it relates to the gospel. It is, in fact, the gospel and its continuing advancement that Paul wants to talk about. This is instructive for those of us who are tempted to separate our personal lives from our spiritual lives, or even the health of the ministry of which we are a part. I know a young man right now who has the same attitude that Paul had. When you ask him how he’s doing, he will immediately began to tell you about the exciting things that are happening in his local ministry. Paul understood that his life really did belong to Christ, so if you wanted to know how Paul was really doing, all you had to do was look at his ministry. He is clear that he does not think he is suffering because of Christ as though he were suffering for someone else. He was suffering because his life is Christ (Phil. 1:21). Paul was not concerned with his own personal status or identity at all in relation to his identity and status in Christ.
Paul wants them to remember that Christians should always see how God is using seemingly bad situations rather than simply seeing things from a defeated, human perspective. His imprisonment was being used powerfully by God, a fact that was so obvious to those in Paul’s vicinity that even the Roman soldiers from the praetorium that were guarding him could see it. Paul was in chains in Christ (which is what the the text literally says). In other words just as with his overall suffering, Paul was not saying that he was in prison because he served Christ, although that was certainly true. He was in prison because it was part of his life in Christ. As a result of his being in prison, the Romans had been, to some degree or another, impacted by the gospel, but just as important, many of the Christians had been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. As they should be able to see, they need not worry about Paul’s situation because it has proven to be a vehicle for his ministry of reconciliation, not a hindrance. It demonstrates a powerful truth: God doesn’t merely work despite the circumstances, he often works through negative circumstances. In fact, God doesn’t normally work through the channels of power and prestige that are so valued in the world today. Rather, he usually works through the weakness and suffering that world teaches us to avoid at all costs.
If imprisonment was one of those negative situations through which God would work, then those who were preaching Christ out of envy and rivalry was another situation that could seem like a problem from a worldly perspective. Paul carefully and eloquently describes the juxtaposition between those who preach Christ from good motives and those who do not. Those who preach Christ from a motivation of goodwill, did so in love, in truth, and in knowing that Paul was put in chains for the defense of the gospel. While those who preached him from a motivation of envy and rivalry, did so from selfish ambition and insincerity, false motives, and supposing (rather than knowing) that they can stir up trouble for Paul.
Paul is not clear here who these envious individuals are, but we can conclude that it was not the Judaizers that accosted the Galatians (Gal. 1:6-7), nor was it the false apostles that the Corinthians dealt with (2 Cor. 11:13-14), as they were accused of preaching a different gospel and a different Christ. This is not the case here. They seem to be those who spread the gospel but are personally opposed, for selfish reasons of envy, to Paul’s ministry. That still seems problematic if Paul is actually talking about other Christians. It is hard to envision a scenario in which Paul would not be concerned with Christian teachers teaching from such a perverted motivation. If that was the case, he would surely have had great concern about that attitude spreading into the church at Philippi, but he seems to have no such concern here.
Although we are left to speculate, it seems likely that Paul is actually referring to non-Christians where Paul was imprisoned. His imprisonment, no doubt, became the talk of the town, and those who were opposed to him were more than happy to spread the story of this Jew preaching some gospel about a crucified Messiah who had resurrected and began a new creation of sorts. Only they did so thinking that they were bringing derision on the message of Paul. They were probably even angry and envious that Paul was getting so much positive attention from some who were curious and impressed by his demeanor, and thought that they could do damage to his mission by putting him and his gospel down. Paul knows better than that. He sees it as another opportunity for the gospel of Christ to be preached, and on top of that, it was likely this increase in the discussion of Christ that contributed to the increased boldness of the disciples. Paul and his Christ had become the talk of the town, which opened the door for the gospel. That’s how it is for the Christian. When all the chips seem down, we can rest assured that that’s when God is at His very best.
Devotional Thought
When circumstances seem to go poorly, how often are you tempted to see them in a negative light and feel discouraged? Try to see things the way that Paul understood them. Try seeing God’s purposes working through the negative situations. Christ can be announced through our problems and that is worth celebrating.
12Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
15It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Dig Deeper
The young man was devastated when he was told by his boss that he would be losing his job at the end of the month. This would be a hard blow to take for a young Christian with a wife and two small children. How could he go and tell his wife that he would be without a job in just over a week? Then this questions began to swirl about in his head about why God had allowed this to happen and how this could possibly work out to God’s glory somehow. What seemed like a horrible situation got even worse when he realized that he would have to temporarily move his family back into his parents house. What he didn’t know, at the time, though was that God specializes in working through human weakness and tough situations. The young man took a less-paying job but within a couple of months, three people from his new job had become disciples of Christ due to his influence and sharing. On top of that, before he was able to move his family back into their own house, he was able to bring both of his parents into the life of Christ. God truly can work through seemingly, impossibly negative situations.
Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, had been thrown into prison for sharing the gospel and stirring up trouble. This could have been a deeply devastating blow to the young Christian communities around the Gentile world. What would they do now that their great champion of the gospel had been tossed into Roman detention? From any sort of human perspective, this was bad. A traveling apostle being locked in chains? How could that be good? As with so many other things, Paul wants his young brothers and sisters in the faith to view things from a Godly perspective. Rather than his chains limiting the gospel, God has used them to continue to advance the cause of Christ.
In the ancient world, the primary purpose of personal letters was to let people know how you were faring wherever you might have been. Without forms of instant communication like we have today, letters were extremely important in keeping the bonds of relationship and concern between parties separated by a vast distance. In truth, the very fact that Paul chose to write his letters in such an obvious personal letter format would have been a clear sign to the early Christians that what he was writing, although still God-inspired Scripture, was not a theological treatise or a doctrinal handbook. They were personal letters that were full of important principles for God’s people, but were not mini rule books.
As soon as Paul got the opening statements out of the way, his words, "Now I want you to know," would have fostered the expectation that he was now about to inform them of his personal welfare, something in which they were greatly interested. What should not be missed is that Paul tells very little about himself and his personal details and constantly takes the attention off of his own personal welfare, mentioning it only when it relates to the gospel. It is, in fact, the gospel and its continuing advancement that Paul wants to talk about. This is instructive for those of us who are tempted to separate our personal lives from our spiritual lives, or even the health of the ministry of which we are a part. I know a young man right now who has the same attitude that Paul had. When you ask him how he’s doing, he will immediately began to tell you about the exciting things that are happening in his local ministry. Paul understood that his life really did belong to Christ, so if you wanted to know how Paul was really doing, all you had to do was look at his ministry. He is clear that he does not think he is suffering because of Christ as though he were suffering for someone else. He was suffering because his life is Christ (Phil. 1:21). Paul was not concerned with his own personal status or identity at all in relation to his identity and status in Christ.
Paul wants them to remember that Christians should always see how God is using seemingly bad situations rather than simply seeing things from a defeated, human perspective. His imprisonment was being used powerfully by God, a fact that was so obvious to those in Paul’s vicinity that even the Roman soldiers from the praetorium that were guarding him could see it. Paul was in chains in Christ (which is what the the text literally says). In other words just as with his overall suffering, Paul was not saying that he was in prison because he served Christ, although that was certainly true. He was in prison because it was part of his life in Christ. As a result of his being in prison, the Romans had been, to some degree or another, impacted by the gospel, but just as important, many of the Christians had been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. As they should be able to see, they need not worry about Paul’s situation because it has proven to be a vehicle for his ministry of reconciliation, not a hindrance. It demonstrates a powerful truth: God doesn’t merely work despite the circumstances, he often works through negative circumstances. In fact, God doesn’t normally work through the channels of power and prestige that are so valued in the world today. Rather, he usually works through the weakness and suffering that world teaches us to avoid at all costs.
If imprisonment was one of those negative situations through which God would work, then those who were preaching Christ out of envy and rivalry was another situation that could seem like a problem from a worldly perspective. Paul carefully and eloquently describes the juxtaposition between those who preach Christ from good motives and those who do not. Those who preach Christ from a motivation of goodwill, did so in love, in truth, and in knowing that Paul was put in chains for the defense of the gospel. While those who preached him from a motivation of envy and rivalry, did so from selfish ambition and insincerity, false motives, and supposing (rather than knowing) that they can stir up trouble for Paul.
Paul is not clear here who these envious individuals are, but we can conclude that it was not the Judaizers that accosted the Galatians (Gal. 1:6-7), nor was it the false apostles that the Corinthians dealt with (2 Cor. 11:13-14), as they were accused of preaching a different gospel and a different Christ. This is not the case here. They seem to be those who spread the gospel but are personally opposed, for selfish reasons of envy, to Paul’s ministry. That still seems problematic if Paul is actually talking about other Christians. It is hard to envision a scenario in which Paul would not be concerned with Christian teachers teaching from such a perverted motivation. If that was the case, he would surely have had great concern about that attitude spreading into the church at Philippi, but he seems to have no such concern here.
Although we are left to speculate, it seems likely that Paul is actually referring to non-Christians where Paul was imprisoned. His imprisonment, no doubt, became the talk of the town, and those who were opposed to him were more than happy to spread the story of this Jew preaching some gospel about a crucified Messiah who had resurrected and began a new creation of sorts. Only they did so thinking that they were bringing derision on the message of Paul. They were probably even angry and envious that Paul was getting so much positive attention from some who were curious and impressed by his demeanor, and thought that they could do damage to his mission by putting him and his gospel down. Paul knows better than that. He sees it as another opportunity for the gospel of Christ to be preached, and on top of that, it was likely this increase in the discussion of Christ that contributed to the increased boldness of the disciples. Paul and his Christ had become the talk of the town, which opened the door for the gospel. That’s how it is for the Christian. When all the chips seem down, we can rest assured that that’s when God is at His very best.
Devotional Thought
When circumstances seem to go poorly, how often are you tempted to see them in a negative light and feel discouraged? Try to see things the way that Paul understood them. Try seeing God’s purposes working through the negative situations. Christ can be announced through our problems and that is worth celebrating.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Philippians 1:1-11
Philippians 1
1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Dig Deeper
I enjoyed the nearly decade that I spent teaching high school and I loved all of my students, but I'm about to admit something that few teachers ever admit. Over the years, I had one particular group of students, who were all friends and most of whom happened to play basketball, that I had a special fondness for, not at the expense of the way I felt about or treated the other students, but over and above that. Because of my particular bond to them, though, I rode them harder than most other students. Watching them do well and succeed gave me a great deal of joy, but I also had a great interest in ensuring, to the best of my ability, that they did not fall into the traps and mistakes of so many of the other students. I was constantly warning them about the mistakes that so many before them had made and tried to help them fix small problems before they became big ones.
Paul had a great deal of love for all of the congregations of those who had entered into the life of Christ. Yet, he seems to have had a special place in his heart for the Philippians. The community in Philippi was the first place in Europe that had the gospel of Jesus Christ preached to them (see Acts 16), and they seemed to be the ones who brought the most joy. Paul seems to have a confidence in the Christians in Philippi that he doesn't demonstrate with the other churches that he loved so well. There didn't seem to be any of the major problems in Philippi that some of the other churches were going through, another fact that caused Paul much joy, but Paul does care for them so much that he simply does not want them to have to go through some of the mistakes that the other communities have. Throughout this letter, he will celebrate the joy that they have brought him, warn them of potential pitfalls, and demonstrate for them the aspects of the life of Christ in which they have yet to fully realize.
Paul begins his letter, as he usually does, in the standard form of a personal letter of his day, with a few significant changes. Two of the unusual changes that Paul makes are to include a descriptive phrase concerning himself and Timothy rather than just their names, and to mention the overseers and deacons specifically, something he only does in this letter. The question is, why does he make these two specific changes. In chapter 2, Paul will urge upon his spiritual children the need for humility and having concern for the interests of others. Before he calls them to that, however, he will model it for them in a small way. Paul was an apostle of God, set apart and called for that specific purpose (Rom. 1:2; Gal. 1:1, 15) and Timothy was an important co-worker (Phil. 2:22), but Paul does not list those lofty qualifications. Rather, he mentions only that they are slaves (rendered servant in the NIV, but Paul uses a word that clearly meant slave in Paul's day) of Jesus Christ (Paul is not attempting to either demean or glorify slaves and slavery but uses the slave as the metaphor which most clearly depicted the total claim of the life of Christ on a believer. The master's goals and mission, were the slaves goals and mission, and it was the responsibility of the slave to fulfill the call of the master). While Paul is diminishing his own role and title, he is careful to bestow upon the Philippian leaders titles that they quite possibly had given themselves within their congregation. (It is not clear that there was ever one official hierarchy or grouping of titles used in the Pauline churches, so it is quite possible that Paul just continued to use titles which each church was using. Whatever the case, it appears that the leadership structure in the first century was not nearly as uniform as we would like it to be. Thus, Paul has modeled showing concern and honor to others rather than himself. Something he would much rather have them be concerned with than with exalting themselves with titles (this is not to argue that leadership roles and titles are not important and do not serve an important function in the life of the church).
The fact is the Philippians do bring Paul a great deal of joy, a theme that will pop up throughout the letter (1:18; 22; 2:2, 17-18, 28-29; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10). We get the sense that whenever Paul thought of the Philippians, he prayed for them. He was full of joy because of their partnership in the gospel, from the very first day that they had heard it. The word that Paul uses for partnership could also be translated fellowship, but in English, fellowship loses much of the meaning. Many have looked at Paul calling the Philippians partners in the gospel and concluded that he considered them as such because of the fact that they prayed for him often (1:19); they continued contact and fellowship with him through messengers (2:25-30); and they sent him gifts of support whenever they could (4:10-20), which thanking them for that was one of the reasons for writing this letter. To suppose that this is why Paul has called them partners, though would be to miss the point. The moment they responded to the gospel and had entered into the life of Christ, they became Paul's partners in the faith, his co-workers in spreading the life of the age to come. That they had demonstrated that partnership through their acts of service to Paul without interruption from the first day, is what brought Paul joy. In other words, he does not consider them partners because of what they did, what they did was the evidence that they had been partners all along.
Paul is confident that these acts that demonstrated their partnership in the life of Christ would continue on, without interruption until the day of Christ Jesus. Although Paul loves and favors them, and is sure that it is right for him to feel this way about them, his confidence does not stem from anything special about those in Philippi. His confidence flows from the fact that Christ is the one that has set about transforming them into the image of God (Col. 3:10). The day of Christ to which he refers, was the day when Christ would return and bring the great hope stored in heaven (Col. 1:5; 1 Pet. 1:4), the hope of resurrection and the age to come. That was the day when God would vindicate His people, completing the work of transformation, and put and end to all evil and injustice in God's world, restoring it to its original yet glorified state (Rev. 21). This is the day when the work of the body of Christ will be assessed and shown for what it is (1 Cor. 3:13). This is the day when all of God's people will realize that their labor in Christ has not been in vain (1 Cor. 15:58), as somehow God will weave each action done according to His will, into the age to come.
Because of his great affection for them (although Paul prayed for the same thing for all believers in Christ), Paul prays that their love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. Paul recognizes that any people in Christ need to continue to grow and abound in the love of Christ, but he also knows that the path to this true love and loyalty is through knowledge and discernment. It is true that knowledge without love puffs one up (1 Cor. 8:1), but love without knowledge is equally dangerous (Rom. 10:2), and can spiral into emotionalism. This is the danger of being drawn to and even motivated by constant emotionalism without understanding, as Paul has, that true Christian love comes from knowledge and the ability to discern (things which come from years of hard work, study, much prayer, and experience). It is not uncommon to find Christians who can only be moved by a sermon that appeals to them with a great deal of emotionalism, and although that is fine on occasion, if that is the only thing that moves one to action or conviction, it reveals a dangerous spiritual immaturity.
Those who have not put in the work to increase in their knowledge of love and the life of Christ, will not be able to truly grasp the difference between what is pure and blameless and what is not. In other words, they will not have the skills necessary to be able to tell the difference between the genuine life of Christ based on true love and loyalty and counterfeit versions based on other things. Those who are able to discern and remain in Christ (John 15:4-7) will be hidden in Christ (Col. 3:3), and so will be found to have the fruit of the righteousness (Paul calls it the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5), something that only comes through the life of Jesus Christ.
Devotional Thought
Paul mentions that he prayed regularly for the Philippians and will discuss later that they also pray for him on a regular basis. With whom have you partnered in Christ to pray for and with on a regular basis? What are the advantages of consistently praying for a group of Christians the way that Paul did?
1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Dig Deeper
I enjoyed the nearly decade that I spent teaching high school and I loved all of my students, but I'm about to admit something that few teachers ever admit. Over the years, I had one particular group of students, who were all friends and most of whom happened to play basketball, that I had a special fondness for, not at the expense of the way I felt about or treated the other students, but over and above that. Because of my particular bond to them, though, I rode them harder than most other students. Watching them do well and succeed gave me a great deal of joy, but I also had a great interest in ensuring, to the best of my ability, that they did not fall into the traps and mistakes of so many of the other students. I was constantly warning them about the mistakes that so many before them had made and tried to help them fix small problems before they became big ones.
Paul had a great deal of love for all of the congregations of those who had entered into the life of Christ. Yet, he seems to have had a special place in his heart for the Philippians. The community in Philippi was the first place in Europe that had the gospel of Jesus Christ preached to them (see Acts 16), and they seemed to be the ones who brought the most joy. Paul seems to have a confidence in the Christians in Philippi that he doesn't demonstrate with the other churches that he loved so well. There didn't seem to be any of the major problems in Philippi that some of the other churches were going through, another fact that caused Paul much joy, but Paul does care for them so much that he simply does not want them to have to go through some of the mistakes that the other communities have. Throughout this letter, he will celebrate the joy that they have brought him, warn them of potential pitfalls, and demonstrate for them the aspects of the life of Christ in which they have yet to fully realize.
Paul begins his letter, as he usually does, in the standard form of a personal letter of his day, with a few significant changes. Two of the unusual changes that Paul makes are to include a descriptive phrase concerning himself and Timothy rather than just their names, and to mention the overseers and deacons specifically, something he only does in this letter. The question is, why does he make these two specific changes. In chapter 2, Paul will urge upon his spiritual children the need for humility and having concern for the interests of others. Before he calls them to that, however, he will model it for them in a small way. Paul was an apostle of God, set apart and called for that specific purpose (Rom. 1:2; Gal. 1:1, 15) and Timothy was an important co-worker (Phil. 2:22), but Paul does not list those lofty qualifications. Rather, he mentions only that they are slaves (rendered servant in the NIV, but Paul uses a word that clearly meant slave in Paul's day) of Jesus Christ (Paul is not attempting to either demean or glorify slaves and slavery but uses the slave as the metaphor which most clearly depicted the total claim of the life of Christ on a believer. The master's goals and mission, were the slaves goals and mission, and it was the responsibility of the slave to fulfill the call of the master). While Paul is diminishing his own role and title, he is careful to bestow upon the Philippian leaders titles that they quite possibly had given themselves within their congregation. (It is not clear that there was ever one official hierarchy or grouping of titles used in the Pauline churches, so it is quite possible that Paul just continued to use titles which each church was using. Whatever the case, it appears that the leadership structure in the first century was not nearly as uniform as we would like it to be. Thus, Paul has modeled showing concern and honor to others rather than himself. Something he would much rather have them be concerned with than with exalting themselves with titles (this is not to argue that leadership roles and titles are not important and do not serve an important function in the life of the church).
The fact is the Philippians do bring Paul a great deal of joy, a theme that will pop up throughout the letter (1:18; 22; 2:2, 17-18, 28-29; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10). We get the sense that whenever Paul thought of the Philippians, he prayed for them. He was full of joy because of their partnership in the gospel, from the very first day that they had heard it. The word that Paul uses for partnership could also be translated fellowship, but in English, fellowship loses much of the meaning. Many have looked at Paul calling the Philippians partners in the gospel and concluded that he considered them as such because of the fact that they prayed for him often (1:19); they continued contact and fellowship with him through messengers (2:25-30); and they sent him gifts of support whenever they could (4:10-20), which thanking them for that was one of the reasons for writing this letter. To suppose that this is why Paul has called them partners, though would be to miss the point. The moment they responded to the gospel and had entered into the life of Christ, they became Paul's partners in the faith, his co-workers in spreading the life of the age to come. That they had demonstrated that partnership through their acts of service to Paul without interruption from the first day, is what brought Paul joy. In other words, he does not consider them partners because of what they did, what they did was the evidence that they had been partners all along.
Paul is confident that these acts that demonstrated their partnership in the life of Christ would continue on, without interruption until the day of Christ Jesus. Although Paul loves and favors them, and is sure that it is right for him to feel this way about them, his confidence does not stem from anything special about those in Philippi. His confidence flows from the fact that Christ is the one that has set about transforming them into the image of God (Col. 3:10). The day of Christ to which he refers, was the day when Christ would return and bring the great hope stored in heaven (Col. 1:5; 1 Pet. 1:4), the hope of resurrection and the age to come. That was the day when God would vindicate His people, completing the work of transformation, and put and end to all evil and injustice in God's world, restoring it to its original yet glorified state (Rev. 21). This is the day when the work of the body of Christ will be assessed and shown for what it is (1 Cor. 3:13). This is the day when all of God's people will realize that their labor in Christ has not been in vain (1 Cor. 15:58), as somehow God will weave each action done according to His will, into the age to come.
Because of his great affection for them (although Paul prayed for the same thing for all believers in Christ), Paul prays that their love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. Paul recognizes that any people in Christ need to continue to grow and abound in the love of Christ, but he also knows that the path to this true love and loyalty is through knowledge and discernment. It is true that knowledge without love puffs one up (1 Cor. 8:1), but love without knowledge is equally dangerous (Rom. 10:2), and can spiral into emotionalism. This is the danger of being drawn to and even motivated by constant emotionalism without understanding, as Paul has, that true Christian love comes from knowledge and the ability to discern (things which come from years of hard work, study, much prayer, and experience). It is not uncommon to find Christians who can only be moved by a sermon that appeals to them with a great deal of emotionalism, and although that is fine on occasion, if that is the only thing that moves one to action or conviction, it reveals a dangerous spiritual immaturity.
Those who have not put in the work to increase in their knowledge of love and the life of Christ, will not be able to truly grasp the difference between what is pure and blameless and what is not. In other words, they will not have the skills necessary to be able to tell the difference between the genuine life of Christ based on true love and loyalty and counterfeit versions based on other things. Those who are able to discern and remain in Christ (John 15:4-7) will be hidden in Christ (Col. 3:3), and so will be found to have the fruit of the righteousness (Paul calls it the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5), something that only comes through the life of Jesus Christ.
Devotional Thought
Paul mentions that he prayed regularly for the Philippians and will discuss later that they also pray for him on a regular basis. With whom have you partnered in Christ to pray for and with on a regular basis? What are the advantages of consistently praying for a group of Christians the way that Paul did?
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Philemon 1:15-25
15Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good— 16no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.
17So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
22And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.
23Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. 24And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.
25The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Dig Deeper
Before becoming a Christian, I began studying the Bible with some men who were gracious enough to share the gospel of Jesus and the grace of God with me. It took me a while to fully grasp what they were showing me, but I was stunned when I eventually realized what God had done. He had made available to me, and anyone else who was willing, the gift of the life of Christ. He had, in essence, rewarded me for doing nothing except being a sinner. There was nothing I could do to deserve the treatment that He was giving me, all because of my association with Jesus. This is such a monumental gift that it is difficult to grasp, even after years of being a Christian. Just recently, a dear Christian friend of mine, who entered into the life of Christ many years ago, mentioned that they still felt like it was too good to be true. In a sense, it is too good, but of course, that doesn’t mean it’s not true.
All that Onesimus had done for Philemon is to run away and quite likely steal a few things on the way out. Now Paul is asking Philemon to do something that is almost beyond human comprehension, something that, at least from Onesimus’ point of view, was too good to be true. Paul wanted him to complete forgive and reconcile with Onesimus, despite the fact that he deserved severe punishment, if not death. What if word of this got around? Was Paul actually asking Philemon to reward Onesimus for running away and being dishonest? That’s certainly what it would have looked like to the world at large. To some it would have even made Philemon look foolish. That’s the way it is, though, with the way of the cross; it seems foolish to the world. What Philemon would actually have been doing is acting out on a small scale what God, through Jesus, has done for each one of us. Paul was asking him to treat Onesimus with an incredible act of love and grace based solely on his relationship to Paul and ultimately Christ. Rather than being an act of foolishness, it was an act that both signified that Philemon understood what God had done for him, and spoke to the world around them, in a very tangible way, the life of reconciliation that was available to those who would have faith in the life of Christ.
There was potential for Philemon to see nothing good about this situation, but that would be to miss the point altogether. Perhaps (Paul won’t be so bold as to intimate that he absolutely knows the mind of God, so he leaves this as a possibility, but obviously he personally felt this was likely the case) the cause of this was God himself. Paul wants Philemon to look at this, not from a worldly point of view, but from a godly perspective. Onesimus acted in sinful ways but that didn’t take him out from under God’s sovereignty; the God who is more than capable of using negative situations to reveal His glory. Our failures are often the very points of God’s biggest victories. In that scenario, Paul says, God has reversed everything. He left useless, but has returned extremely useful. He left for a little while, but now has come back for good. He left a slave but has returned as a man and as a brother. All of this, of course, has happened in Christ. Onesimus was a slave, but now as a Christian, he is not a slave, regardless of the position he is in during this present age because he is free in Christ.
The point of verse 17 is that Paul considers Onesimus a useful brother in Christ, his partner in the faith. If Paul is partners with Onesimus, and Paul is partners with Philemon, then Paul’s point becomes clear. Onesimus and Philemon are partners as surely as Paul and Philemon are. And now is the time to finally come out with the request that has been lingering in the background throughout the letter. Paul wants Philemon to welcome Onesimus in the same way that he would welcome him. The point behind that request is a major point of understanding in the life of Christ and should not be missed. If we treated people based on what they deserved, we would be just like the world around us. If we treat every single Christian the way we would our dearest friend or Christ himself, then we are finally starting to understand. In Christ, everyone is the same, and the way we treat every single Christian should not be contingent on their actions or worth but solely on their status in Christ. How we treat other Christians, after all, is a clear demonstration of how we feel about God (Matt. 25:34-45; John 13:34-35; John 21:15-17; 1 John 4:20).
Paul doesn’t just call Philemon to actions consistent with the life of Christ, but sets the same standard for himself. If Philemon thinks that there are any just reparations that should be made to him before he can truly do what Paul has asked, then he should charge Onesimus’ debt directly to Paul. Of course, Paul does remind him tactfully that Philemon owes Paul a great debt, because Paul is the one who shared the gospel with Philemon. Paul is not just, as it might at first glance appear, trying to get out of picking up Onesimus’ debt. Rather, he is, once again, calling Philemon to the standard of the life of Christ. In one of his parables, Jesus criticized a man who would not forgive a small debt even though he had been forgiven a huge debt (Matt. 18:21-35). In the same vein, Paul has asked Philemon to do no less. The forgiveness of Christ that was brought to him through Paul’s ministry should now be passed on to Onesimus. It is seeing his fellow brothers truly living out the life of Christ in a manner such as this that would truly refresh Paul’s heart.
Paul knows the kind of man that Philemon is, though (vv. 4-7), and is confident that he will obey, not Paul because no command has been given, but that he will obey the life of Christ that is at work in him. Paul, in fact, is so convinced of the type of transformed Christian that Philemon is that he is sure that he will do even more than he asks. Paul can only be referring to giving Onesimus his freedom. He has not specifically asked for that but he doesn’t have to. If Philemon truly does what Paul has called him to which includes welcoming Onesimus as a brother, loving him as he would Paul, and treating him the way Christ treated Philemon, then no request for freedom needs to be overtly made; there would be no other possible conclusion. That’s what the life of Christ is like. It gives undeserved freedom. This principle goes far beyond slavery, though, and extends to those who have mistreated us in a number of ways and need the freeing grace of being truly forgiven.
As the letter comes to a close, Paul continues his hopeful attitude. He has seen God work providentially in the lives of Philemon and his brother in Christ, Onesimus, now he hopes that God will work in his own life and allow him to be released from prison so that he can come to Colosse and enjoy some time in Philemon’s guest room.
Paul’s final greetings from verses 23-24 are virtually the same list as from Colossians, which makes sense since they were written at the same time. Paul wishes that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with their spirit. The word "your" in verse 25 is plural, indicating that Paul intended this letter specifically for Philemon, but also intended for it to be read, understood, embraced, and its principles lived by the entire congregation. Surely the principles of this short and often overlooked letter are so profound and so powerful in their potential to redefine relationships and transform societies that it is worth going back and reading a few more times.
Devotional Thought
Is there anyone in your life that needs to feel the undeserved grace, kindness, love, and forgiveness which Paul asked Philemon to show Onesimus? What would it take for you to do that? Perhaps it would help to follow Paul’s prompting and spend some time thinking about the grace that God has lavished on you when you deserved it least.
17So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
22And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.
23Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. 24And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.
25The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Dig Deeper
Before becoming a Christian, I began studying the Bible with some men who were gracious enough to share the gospel of Jesus and the grace of God with me. It took me a while to fully grasp what they were showing me, but I was stunned when I eventually realized what God had done. He had made available to me, and anyone else who was willing, the gift of the life of Christ. He had, in essence, rewarded me for doing nothing except being a sinner. There was nothing I could do to deserve the treatment that He was giving me, all because of my association with Jesus. This is such a monumental gift that it is difficult to grasp, even after years of being a Christian. Just recently, a dear Christian friend of mine, who entered into the life of Christ many years ago, mentioned that they still felt like it was too good to be true. In a sense, it is too good, but of course, that doesn’t mean it’s not true.
All that Onesimus had done for Philemon is to run away and quite likely steal a few things on the way out. Now Paul is asking Philemon to do something that is almost beyond human comprehension, something that, at least from Onesimus’ point of view, was too good to be true. Paul wanted him to complete forgive and reconcile with Onesimus, despite the fact that he deserved severe punishment, if not death. What if word of this got around? Was Paul actually asking Philemon to reward Onesimus for running away and being dishonest? That’s certainly what it would have looked like to the world at large. To some it would have even made Philemon look foolish. That’s the way it is, though, with the way of the cross; it seems foolish to the world. What Philemon would actually have been doing is acting out on a small scale what God, through Jesus, has done for each one of us. Paul was asking him to treat Onesimus with an incredible act of love and grace based solely on his relationship to Paul and ultimately Christ. Rather than being an act of foolishness, it was an act that both signified that Philemon understood what God had done for him, and spoke to the world around them, in a very tangible way, the life of reconciliation that was available to those who would have faith in the life of Christ.
There was potential for Philemon to see nothing good about this situation, but that would be to miss the point altogether. Perhaps (Paul won’t be so bold as to intimate that he absolutely knows the mind of God, so he leaves this as a possibility, but obviously he personally felt this was likely the case) the cause of this was God himself. Paul wants Philemon to look at this, not from a worldly point of view, but from a godly perspective. Onesimus acted in sinful ways but that didn’t take him out from under God’s sovereignty; the God who is more than capable of using negative situations to reveal His glory. Our failures are often the very points of God’s biggest victories. In that scenario, Paul says, God has reversed everything. He left useless, but has returned extremely useful. He left for a little while, but now has come back for good. He left a slave but has returned as a man and as a brother. All of this, of course, has happened in Christ. Onesimus was a slave, but now as a Christian, he is not a slave, regardless of the position he is in during this present age because he is free in Christ.
The point of verse 17 is that Paul considers Onesimus a useful brother in Christ, his partner in the faith. If Paul is partners with Onesimus, and Paul is partners with Philemon, then Paul’s point becomes clear. Onesimus and Philemon are partners as surely as Paul and Philemon are. And now is the time to finally come out with the request that has been lingering in the background throughout the letter. Paul wants Philemon to welcome Onesimus in the same way that he would welcome him. The point behind that request is a major point of understanding in the life of Christ and should not be missed. If we treated people based on what they deserved, we would be just like the world around us. If we treat every single Christian the way we would our dearest friend or Christ himself, then we are finally starting to understand. In Christ, everyone is the same, and the way we treat every single Christian should not be contingent on their actions or worth but solely on their status in Christ. How we treat other Christians, after all, is a clear demonstration of how we feel about God (Matt. 25:34-45; John 13:34-35; John 21:15-17; 1 John 4:20).
Paul doesn’t just call Philemon to actions consistent with the life of Christ, but sets the same standard for himself. If Philemon thinks that there are any just reparations that should be made to him before he can truly do what Paul has asked, then he should charge Onesimus’ debt directly to Paul. Of course, Paul does remind him tactfully that Philemon owes Paul a great debt, because Paul is the one who shared the gospel with Philemon. Paul is not just, as it might at first glance appear, trying to get out of picking up Onesimus’ debt. Rather, he is, once again, calling Philemon to the standard of the life of Christ. In one of his parables, Jesus criticized a man who would not forgive a small debt even though he had been forgiven a huge debt (Matt. 18:21-35). In the same vein, Paul has asked Philemon to do no less. The forgiveness of Christ that was brought to him through Paul’s ministry should now be passed on to Onesimus. It is seeing his fellow brothers truly living out the life of Christ in a manner such as this that would truly refresh Paul’s heart.
Paul knows the kind of man that Philemon is, though (vv. 4-7), and is confident that he will obey, not Paul because no command has been given, but that he will obey the life of Christ that is at work in him. Paul, in fact, is so convinced of the type of transformed Christian that Philemon is that he is sure that he will do even more than he asks. Paul can only be referring to giving Onesimus his freedom. He has not specifically asked for that but he doesn’t have to. If Philemon truly does what Paul has called him to which includes welcoming Onesimus as a brother, loving him as he would Paul, and treating him the way Christ treated Philemon, then no request for freedom needs to be overtly made; there would be no other possible conclusion. That’s what the life of Christ is like. It gives undeserved freedom. This principle goes far beyond slavery, though, and extends to those who have mistreated us in a number of ways and need the freeing grace of being truly forgiven.
As the letter comes to a close, Paul continues his hopeful attitude. He has seen God work providentially in the lives of Philemon and his brother in Christ, Onesimus, now he hopes that God will work in his own life and allow him to be released from prison so that he can come to Colosse and enjoy some time in Philemon’s guest room.
Paul’s final greetings from verses 23-24 are virtually the same list as from Colossians, which makes sense since they were written at the same time. Paul wishes that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with their spirit. The word "your" in verse 25 is plural, indicating that Paul intended this letter specifically for Philemon, but also intended for it to be read, understood, embraced, and its principles lived by the entire congregation. Surely the principles of this short and often overlooked letter are so profound and so powerful in their potential to redefine relationships and transform societies that it is worth going back and reading a few more times.
Devotional Thought
Is there anyone in your life that needs to feel the undeserved grace, kindness, love, and forgiveness which Paul asked Philemon to show Onesimus? What would it take for you to do that? Perhaps it would help to follow Paul’s prompting and spend some time thinking about the grace that God has lavished on you when you deserved it least.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Philemon 1:8-14
Paul's Plea for Onesimus
8Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— 10I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
12I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. 13I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced.
Dig Deeper
At the end of the basketball season, we had to remove one of the players from the team for violating team rules. Sometimes the players got to vote on what to do with another player who had broken team rules, but there were certain violations, like this one, that meant automatic dismissal with no vote. During the remainder of that school year, the summer, and the beginning of the next year, the young man who had been dismissed, worked hard on his character and other areas of his life to get himself together. When the new season began, he wanted to rejoin the team, but this time he would have to go up before his teammates for a vote. I could have, of course, just put him back on the team, but that wouldn't have done anything to help the other players work through some hard feelings they still had and wouldn't teach them to think through situations. I let the young man go before the team, apologize, and tell them why he wanted to be back on. The other team members, listened and asked a few questions. Then I went and spoke on his behalf and appealed to the guys to trust me that he had changed, if they didn't trust him. After much talk, they finally voted him back on. The key to the whole situation was that I gave them the opportunity to think and work through the situation on their own and truly welcome him back onto the team.
This is very much like what is going on with Paul and Philemon. Onesimus, had run away, and quite probably helped himself to some money on the way out. He had gone to Ephesus (presumably, although some scholars believe Paul was in Rome at the time he wrote this) and become a Christian and a very valuable disciple in Paul's ministry. Now, Paul knew that he had to send Onesimus back to Philemon so that they could work things out. Paul could have just ordered that Onesimus be accepted, but that wouldn't have really brought a resolution to the situation and would likely have caused continuing hard feelings. Nor would they have been able to exercise the true hallmark of the Christian life, which is being able to think through difficult situations and apply biblical principles. To help the situation along a bit, Paul will appeal to Philemon, not so much on the merits of Onesimus, but more on the relationship that Philemon has with Paul and his status in Christ.
Paul begins verse 8 with the word "therefore," indicating that what he is about to say is anchored and connected to Philemon's character that he described in verses 4-7. Because of Philemon's character and commitment to his status in Christ, Paul could order him to do what he ought to do. Paul has done several things in this short sentence that should not be missed. First, he has established the fact that he believes his position of leadership as an apostle does provide him with a certain amount of authority to make important decisions (cf. 1 Cor. 5:3; 7:6; 9:1; 2 Cor. 12:12). Second, he makes it clear that he could appeal to that authority, but he won't because he respects and loves Philemon as well. He is more interested in Philemon developing genuine Christian character than he is in ordering him to submit to what Paul wants. Paul also makes it clear in not appealing to his authority to force Philemon into action, that everyone is equal in Christ. He did not think that Onesimus had more rights than Philemon did. Third, he mentions that he could order Philemon to do what he ought to do. Paul, won't order Philemon, but he has made it quite clear that what he is going to ask him (he won't actually get to that until verse 17 as he tactfully and carefully lays out his case for Philemon) is the right thing to do.
Paul could appeal to Philemon based on his authority but he would rather appeal to the central characteristic of the Christian community: love. The love that they have in Christ for one another. Some have claimed that Paul is manipulating Philemon by appealing to love and was still not really allowing him to make a decision based on free will. This, I believe though, is wrong-headed thinking. Certainly there is a danger of manipulating and using people, but when two people have truly established an authentic relationship built on love, then appealing to that relationship is completely appropriate. A truly loving relationship is built on putting the needs of the other person above your own, but that can't happen if people aren't equally committed to making their genuine needs known. A true relationship built on love must involve serving the other person, but also allowing yourself to be served, which means your own needs must be made known. If we could all meet all of our own needs, then there would be little reason for relationships with others. Paul would rather appeal to the love they have for one another and have Philemon make the right decision on his own based on the right reasons. Truly, any decision made in the Christian community based on genuine love is the right decision.
Paul adds a bit more of an appeal to the affection that Philemon obviously feels for him, as he reminds him that he is an old man who is currently a prisoner for the cause of Christ Jesus. This is has an emotional appeal to it and is connected directly to the loving relationship that Philemon and Paul have for one another.
Having firmly established the relationship that exists between them, Paul now turns to the topic of Onesimus himself. Paul creates an amusing play on words based on the fact that Onesimus means "useful," a common slave name at the time. Onesimus may have been quite the opposite of useful as a slave, and even more so when he ran away, but now, in Christ, he is useful to both Paul and Philemon. Onesimus is such a changed man that Paul calls him his son in the faith and declares that sending him back to Philemon (Paul would rather keep Onesimus with him because he is so useful but knows that the right thing to do is to send him back to Philemon so that they can be resolve their situation), is like ripping his own heart out of his chest and shipping it to Colosse. This is an incredible example of the true community of Christ in which social distinctions become meaningless. Paul, the esteemed apostle to the Gentiles, is calling a run-away slave his brother. That is the brotherhood that is truly created in Christ.
If Paul was only thinking of himself, he would have kept Onesimus with him, but he will only agree to that if Philemon consents and sends him back. Again in verse 14, Paul mentions that he could force him based on his authority in Christ, but Paul knows that this sort of authority should be used sparingly and only in extreme situations. To constantly expect Christians to obey their leaders solely on their position of authority, not only demonstrates poor leadership, but it also limits those being ordered from developing the instinct to truly give and love out of their own voluntary love for the body of Christ. People will never learn to truly realize the life of Christ if they are constantly motivated by compulsion, coercion, and constraint. The love that must develop in the body of Christ simply cannot flourish and grow under those conditions.
Through Christ, God is redeeming the entire creation, that is currently in rebellion, back to himself, and he has called his people to take part in that ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-20). Here in this situation, we see a living, breathing example of that reconciliation in action. After all, if God's people can't engage in true forgiveness and reconciliation amongst themselves, then how can we ever be expected to demonstrate to the world what God's ministry of reconciliation looks like and call them to it in turn?
Devotional Thought
Is there anyone in your life that you need to forgive? Are there are situations in your life that need to be reconciled? What would it take for you to apply God's forgiveness and ministry of reconciliation to the very real situations in your own life?
8Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— 10I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
12I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. 13I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced.
Dig Deeper
At the end of the basketball season, we had to remove one of the players from the team for violating team rules. Sometimes the players got to vote on what to do with another player who had broken team rules, but there were certain violations, like this one, that meant automatic dismissal with no vote. During the remainder of that school year, the summer, and the beginning of the next year, the young man who had been dismissed, worked hard on his character and other areas of his life to get himself together. When the new season began, he wanted to rejoin the team, but this time he would have to go up before his teammates for a vote. I could have, of course, just put him back on the team, but that wouldn't have done anything to help the other players work through some hard feelings they still had and wouldn't teach them to think through situations. I let the young man go before the team, apologize, and tell them why he wanted to be back on. The other team members, listened and asked a few questions. Then I went and spoke on his behalf and appealed to the guys to trust me that he had changed, if they didn't trust him. After much talk, they finally voted him back on. The key to the whole situation was that I gave them the opportunity to think and work through the situation on their own and truly welcome him back onto the team.
This is very much like what is going on with Paul and Philemon. Onesimus, had run away, and quite probably helped himself to some money on the way out. He had gone to Ephesus (presumably, although some scholars believe Paul was in Rome at the time he wrote this) and become a Christian and a very valuable disciple in Paul's ministry. Now, Paul knew that he had to send Onesimus back to Philemon so that they could work things out. Paul could have just ordered that Onesimus be accepted, but that wouldn't have really brought a resolution to the situation and would likely have caused continuing hard feelings. Nor would they have been able to exercise the true hallmark of the Christian life, which is being able to think through difficult situations and apply biblical principles. To help the situation along a bit, Paul will appeal to Philemon, not so much on the merits of Onesimus, but more on the relationship that Philemon has with Paul and his status in Christ.
Paul begins verse 8 with the word "therefore," indicating that what he is about to say is anchored and connected to Philemon's character that he described in verses 4-7. Because of Philemon's character and commitment to his status in Christ, Paul could order him to do what he ought to do. Paul has done several things in this short sentence that should not be missed. First, he has established the fact that he believes his position of leadership as an apostle does provide him with a certain amount of authority to make important decisions (cf. 1 Cor. 5:3; 7:6; 9:1; 2 Cor. 12:12). Second, he makes it clear that he could appeal to that authority, but he won't because he respects and loves Philemon as well. He is more interested in Philemon developing genuine Christian character than he is in ordering him to submit to what Paul wants. Paul also makes it clear in not appealing to his authority to force Philemon into action, that everyone is equal in Christ. He did not think that Onesimus had more rights than Philemon did. Third, he mentions that he could order Philemon to do what he ought to do. Paul, won't order Philemon, but he has made it quite clear that what he is going to ask him (he won't actually get to that until verse 17 as he tactfully and carefully lays out his case for Philemon) is the right thing to do.
Paul could appeal to Philemon based on his authority but he would rather appeal to the central characteristic of the Christian community: love. The love that they have in Christ for one another. Some have claimed that Paul is manipulating Philemon by appealing to love and was still not really allowing him to make a decision based on free will. This, I believe though, is wrong-headed thinking. Certainly there is a danger of manipulating and using people, but when two people have truly established an authentic relationship built on love, then appealing to that relationship is completely appropriate. A truly loving relationship is built on putting the needs of the other person above your own, but that can't happen if people aren't equally committed to making their genuine needs known. A true relationship built on love must involve serving the other person, but also allowing yourself to be served, which means your own needs must be made known. If we could all meet all of our own needs, then there would be little reason for relationships with others. Paul would rather appeal to the love they have for one another and have Philemon make the right decision on his own based on the right reasons. Truly, any decision made in the Christian community based on genuine love is the right decision.
Paul adds a bit more of an appeal to the affection that Philemon obviously feels for him, as he reminds him that he is an old man who is currently a prisoner for the cause of Christ Jesus. This is has an emotional appeal to it and is connected directly to the loving relationship that Philemon and Paul have for one another.
Having firmly established the relationship that exists between them, Paul now turns to the topic of Onesimus himself. Paul creates an amusing play on words based on the fact that Onesimus means "useful," a common slave name at the time. Onesimus may have been quite the opposite of useful as a slave, and even more so when he ran away, but now, in Christ, he is useful to both Paul and Philemon. Onesimus is such a changed man that Paul calls him his son in the faith and declares that sending him back to Philemon (Paul would rather keep Onesimus with him because he is so useful but knows that the right thing to do is to send him back to Philemon so that they can be resolve their situation), is like ripping his own heart out of his chest and shipping it to Colosse. This is an incredible example of the true community of Christ in which social distinctions become meaningless. Paul, the esteemed apostle to the Gentiles, is calling a run-away slave his brother. That is the brotherhood that is truly created in Christ.
If Paul was only thinking of himself, he would have kept Onesimus with him, but he will only agree to that if Philemon consents and sends him back. Again in verse 14, Paul mentions that he could force him based on his authority in Christ, but Paul knows that this sort of authority should be used sparingly and only in extreme situations. To constantly expect Christians to obey their leaders solely on their position of authority, not only demonstrates poor leadership, but it also limits those being ordered from developing the instinct to truly give and love out of their own voluntary love for the body of Christ. People will never learn to truly realize the life of Christ if they are constantly motivated by compulsion, coercion, and constraint. The love that must develop in the body of Christ simply cannot flourish and grow under those conditions.
Through Christ, God is redeeming the entire creation, that is currently in rebellion, back to himself, and he has called his people to take part in that ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-20). Here in this situation, we see a living, breathing example of that reconciliation in action. After all, if God's people can't engage in true forgiveness and reconciliation amongst themselves, then how can we ever be expected to demonstrate to the world what God's ministry of reconciliation looks like and call them to it in turn?
Devotional Thought
Is there anyone in your life that you need to forgive? Are there are situations in your life that need to be reconciled? What would it take for you to apply God's forgiveness and ministry of reconciliation to the very real situations in your own life?
Friday, April 18, 2008
Philemon 1:1-7
Philemon 1
1Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, 2to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home:
3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
4I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. 6I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. 7Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
Dig Deeper
One year, while coaching high school basketball, I had a student who had transferred in to our school to be our point guard. He was a very talented point guard who had some difficulty in getting along with students and teachers in his previous school. In particular, he had really caused some problems with the basketball coach at the previous school. He had transferred in to play basketball at our school and I had spent a lot of time early in the year, mentoring him and helping to learn how to deal with disagreements and get along with people. Here’s where it gets interesting. I had also brought in a new assistant coach that the players had not yet met. You guessed it, it was the same guy who had been his head coach the previous year. This coach really liked what we were doing at our school and wanted to be a part of it. He had bought into our system and ideology and would now partner with us in implementing it. What would come next, though, had to happen; it wasn’t something that I could protect or shield either person from. The two had to reconcile. The player needed to demonstrate that he was really learning how to behave in a different way, and the coach needed to show that he really was a partner in what we were doing by putting in the past the old problems and truly forgiving this young man. Only if that happened, would both guys show that they grasped the unity and family environment we were trying to create on this team.
Onesimus (pronounced Owneesimus) had been a slave in Colosse, owned by Philemon. This was such a common part of Roman society that no one even stopped to consider that there might be something morally wrong with it. It was just part of the culture. Because it was so vital to the economy and way of life, it was a capital offense for a slave to run away. Onesimus, whose name interestingly meant "useful," had become anything but useful to Philemon. He had run away to Ephesus (it is speculation that he ran to Ephesus and some experts believe differently, but it is most likely that this is where Paul was when he wrote Colossians, and Philemon, and thus, the city to which Onesimus ran). Evidently, while he was in Ephesus, Onesimus had met Paul. It is possible that he had heard such positive things about Paul from Philemon and his family, that he actually sought Paul out. However it happened, it is clear that Onesimus had become a Christian. He heard the gospel and was deeply effected by it, to the point that he laid down his own life and entered into the Messiah’s. Not only had he learned about being a Christian from Paul, he had acted upon his Christianity, becoming a great source of comfort and joy to Paul. Now, though, Paul is writing this letter because it is time for reconciliation. If God’s people are going to be engaged in the ministry of reconciliation for the whole world (2 Cor. 5:17-19), they certainly must demonstrate how to be reconciled to one another. Paul cannot protect or shield them from what must come next. Onesimus must go back to Colosse and demonstrate that his new-found faith is genuine, while Philemon must demonstrate that he really was Paul’s partner in the gospel and had taken this way of life seriously.
Paul knows that what he is going to write Philemon about is going to be extremely challenging in its counter-cultural nature. He knows, as he will state explicitly in verse 8, that he could simply order Philemon to treat his run-away slave, Onesimus, as a brother in Christ, but that would run counter to the very sort of thing that Paul has been trying to teach the young Christians in Colosse and elsewhere. Paul doesn’t want them to view Christianity as a bunch of spiritual rules that must be followed without any real thinking or discernment on their part. So, although, he could, as an apostle and leader in Christ’s church, order Philemon into action, he will not. Rather, he appeals to him as a dear friend and fellow worker, a term which literally meant "partner" or even "business partner." This view of Philemon is, in a very real sense, the key to this entire brief letter. In Paul’s eyes, Philemon was a partner in the work of the gospel, not some subordinate. As partners, they share the common bond of the life of Christ and the responsibility to call one another to live it out, even under the most difficult of circumstances.
Although this is usually seen as a personal letter, and it no doubt was in a sense, Paul, along with the witness of Timothy, addresses the church that met in the home of Philemon, indicating that this may have been a matter of interest for the entire group and not just Philemon. Thus, although this was a personal letter, Paul may have intended for the fact that it would be read publicly as well. He certainly sends personal greetings to Apphia, who very likely was Philemon’s wife, and Archippus, who some scholars think may have been Philemon’s son, although that is speculative and cannot be proven absolutely, but it is likely that he was part of Philemon’s household in some form. Whatever, the case, Paul wishes the two great gifts of the Christian life, grace and peace.
To further strengthen the already strong bonds between Paul and Philemon, he reassures Philemon of the deep feelings he has about the partnership in the gospel that they share. Paul prays consistently for Philemon and the other believers in Colosse, a sure sign of their partnership. Paul doesn’t just pray, though, he actively seeks to get word of how things in Colosse are going, and everything he has heard has been encouraging. He knows that Philemon has been a faithful partner and leader by displaying his faith in the Lord Jesus and his love for all the saints. In fact, Philemon’s work has brought Paul great joy and encouragement. Paul doesn’t specifically state what actions Philemon has taken as he refreshed the hearts of the saints. He seems, instead, much more concerned with the heart behind Philemon’s actions than the actions themselves.
Paul singles out one thing in particular that he prays for when it comes to Philemon and the others. The NIV’s, "that you may be active in sharing your faith," is somewhat misleading. Paul is not talking specifically about evangelism here. The TNIV (the newer version of the NIV) has fixed this misleading rendering: "I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. " With this better translation we see that Paul is referring to the corporate life of Christ to which all Christians share. His prayer is that Philemon and the other Christians don’t take the community of the life of Christ for granted, but that they would take hold of it. He doesn’t want them to miss out on anything, but wants them to to live out the life of Christ, sharing it with all those around them and coming to a full understanding of every good thing we share. Certainly, this act of living out the life of Christ amongst others will have the effect of proclaiming the gospel to non-believers but Paul is not calling them to an afternoon of inviting people to church; he wants them to live lives that are characterized by doing God’s will at every turn.
Devotional Thought
In the face of a tricky situation that could turn quite difficult quickly, Paul was able to appeal to their partnership in living the life of Christ? To what do you appeal when you face tricky situations with other believers? Do you share your lives of faith with one another to the point that you could appeal to one another as fellow partners in the faith and gospel?
1Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, 2to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home:
3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
4I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. 6I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. 7Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
Dig Deeper
One year, while coaching high school basketball, I had a student who had transferred in to our school to be our point guard. He was a very talented point guard who had some difficulty in getting along with students and teachers in his previous school. In particular, he had really caused some problems with the basketball coach at the previous school. He had transferred in to play basketball at our school and I had spent a lot of time early in the year, mentoring him and helping to learn how to deal with disagreements and get along with people. Here’s where it gets interesting. I had also brought in a new assistant coach that the players had not yet met. You guessed it, it was the same guy who had been his head coach the previous year. This coach really liked what we were doing at our school and wanted to be a part of it. He had bought into our system and ideology and would now partner with us in implementing it. What would come next, though, had to happen; it wasn’t something that I could protect or shield either person from. The two had to reconcile. The player needed to demonstrate that he was really learning how to behave in a different way, and the coach needed to show that he really was a partner in what we were doing by putting in the past the old problems and truly forgiving this young man. Only if that happened, would both guys show that they grasped the unity and family environment we were trying to create on this team.
Onesimus (pronounced Owneesimus) had been a slave in Colosse, owned by Philemon. This was such a common part of Roman society that no one even stopped to consider that there might be something morally wrong with it. It was just part of the culture. Because it was so vital to the economy and way of life, it was a capital offense for a slave to run away. Onesimus, whose name interestingly meant "useful," had become anything but useful to Philemon. He had run away to Ephesus (it is speculation that he ran to Ephesus and some experts believe differently, but it is most likely that this is where Paul was when he wrote Colossians, and Philemon, and thus, the city to which Onesimus ran). Evidently, while he was in Ephesus, Onesimus had met Paul. It is possible that he had heard such positive things about Paul from Philemon and his family, that he actually sought Paul out. However it happened, it is clear that Onesimus had become a Christian. He heard the gospel and was deeply effected by it, to the point that he laid down his own life and entered into the Messiah’s. Not only had he learned about being a Christian from Paul, he had acted upon his Christianity, becoming a great source of comfort and joy to Paul. Now, though, Paul is writing this letter because it is time for reconciliation. If God’s people are going to be engaged in the ministry of reconciliation for the whole world (2 Cor. 5:17-19), they certainly must demonstrate how to be reconciled to one another. Paul cannot protect or shield them from what must come next. Onesimus must go back to Colosse and demonstrate that his new-found faith is genuine, while Philemon must demonstrate that he really was Paul’s partner in the gospel and had taken this way of life seriously.
Paul knows that what he is going to write Philemon about is going to be extremely challenging in its counter-cultural nature. He knows, as he will state explicitly in verse 8, that he could simply order Philemon to treat his run-away slave, Onesimus, as a brother in Christ, but that would run counter to the very sort of thing that Paul has been trying to teach the young Christians in Colosse and elsewhere. Paul doesn’t want them to view Christianity as a bunch of spiritual rules that must be followed without any real thinking or discernment on their part. So, although, he could, as an apostle and leader in Christ’s church, order Philemon into action, he will not. Rather, he appeals to him as a dear friend and fellow worker, a term which literally meant "partner" or even "business partner." This view of Philemon is, in a very real sense, the key to this entire brief letter. In Paul’s eyes, Philemon was a partner in the work of the gospel, not some subordinate. As partners, they share the common bond of the life of Christ and the responsibility to call one another to live it out, even under the most difficult of circumstances.
Although this is usually seen as a personal letter, and it no doubt was in a sense, Paul, along with the witness of Timothy, addresses the church that met in the home of Philemon, indicating that this may have been a matter of interest for the entire group and not just Philemon. Thus, although this was a personal letter, Paul may have intended for the fact that it would be read publicly as well. He certainly sends personal greetings to Apphia, who very likely was Philemon’s wife, and Archippus, who some scholars think may have been Philemon’s son, although that is speculative and cannot be proven absolutely, but it is likely that he was part of Philemon’s household in some form. Whatever, the case, Paul wishes the two great gifts of the Christian life, grace and peace.
To further strengthen the already strong bonds between Paul and Philemon, he reassures Philemon of the deep feelings he has about the partnership in the gospel that they share. Paul prays consistently for Philemon and the other believers in Colosse, a sure sign of their partnership. Paul doesn’t just pray, though, he actively seeks to get word of how things in Colosse are going, and everything he has heard has been encouraging. He knows that Philemon has been a faithful partner and leader by displaying his faith in the Lord Jesus and his love for all the saints. In fact, Philemon’s work has brought Paul great joy and encouragement. Paul doesn’t specifically state what actions Philemon has taken as he refreshed the hearts of the saints. He seems, instead, much more concerned with the heart behind Philemon’s actions than the actions themselves.
Paul singles out one thing in particular that he prays for when it comes to Philemon and the others. The NIV’s, "that you may be active in sharing your faith," is somewhat misleading. Paul is not talking specifically about evangelism here. The TNIV (the newer version of the NIV) has fixed this misleading rendering: "I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. " With this better translation we see that Paul is referring to the corporate life of Christ to which all Christians share. His prayer is that Philemon and the other Christians don’t take the community of the life of Christ for granted, but that they would take hold of it. He doesn’t want them to miss out on anything, but wants them to to live out the life of Christ, sharing it with all those around them and coming to a full understanding of every good thing we share. Certainly, this act of living out the life of Christ amongst others will have the effect of proclaiming the gospel to non-believers but Paul is not calling them to an afternoon of inviting people to church; he wants them to live lives that are characterized by doing God’s will at every turn.
Devotional Thought
In the face of a tricky situation that could turn quite difficult quickly, Paul was able to appeal to their partnership in living the life of Christ? To what do you appeal when you face tricky situations with other believers? Do you share your lives of faith with one another to the point that you could appeal to one another as fellow partners in the faith and gospel?
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Colossians 4:7-18
Final Greetings
7Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. 8I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. 9He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.
10My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) 11Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. 12Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. 13I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. 15Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.
16After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
17Tell Archippus: "See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord."
18I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
Dig Deeper
Recently I talked to a good friend of mine who is a disciple in a different city. It was great hear from him and catch up on how things are going in the town in which he lives. I happen to know quite a few people from his church as I have traveled there quite a few times and there have been a few times when Christians from his community have visited the communities of which I have been apart. As we caught up, he sent greetings from the people I knew and we talked for a few moments about some Christians that we both knew that one or another of us had talked to recently. What may have seemed like idle conversation to an outside observer actually performed the important function of both showing the care and concern that flows from one Christian family to another as well as strengthening the bonds of brotherhood that are so vital amongst God’s people.
As Paul brings this letter to the Colossians to a close, he does no less. He will mention several people that the Colossians know, some of whom were apparently from Colosse. As he strengthens the bonds of brotherhood and ties between various church families, Paul also includes information that lets us know a little bit more about his situation, the situation in Colosse, and his own personal feelings.
Paul sent Tychicus to Colosse as a personal friend and messenger who would also probably bring this letter. Tychicus would, no doubt, encourage them as his visit would serve a first-hand account of how Paul was doing and share the love and ministry of Paul directly. Paul’s relationship with Tychicus went back to Ephesus (Acts 20:4), where he may have spent some time as a church leader (Eph. 6:1; 2 Tim. 4:12; Titus 3:12).
Paul is not just introducing Tychicus and sending the Colossians a link between them and his own ministry, he is sending Onesimus, one of their very own. Onesimus had also become quite important in Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, and would have been able to share some of that good news, but his homecoming would likely have been accompanied by some strong mixed emotions. He was a slave to Philemon who had run away and was now returning as Paul’s messenger, but also with a letter to Philemon and his house church that would attempt to resolve the situation according to the love and peace of Christ that should characterize those in the body of Christ.
Paul is not only sending messengers to strengthen the bonds between him and the Colossians, he also wishes to send greetings from those who are important in Paul’s ministry. He sends his greetings from John Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (Mark 14:51; Acts 12:12, 25; 13:13; 15:37, 39; 2 Tim. 4:11; Philem. 24), Jesus, who is called Justus, and Aristarchus (Acts 19:29; 20:4; 27:2). It is not clear whether Paul’s mention of Aristarchus as his fellow prisoner, is metaphorical or literal, but he likely literally means that Aristarchus is physically in jail with him. This is where Paul’s vulnerability and personal feelings really show through. Paul had been violently opposed by his fellow Jews wherever he went, which must have been particularly difficult. Surely he expected opposition and persecution, but he also expected a good number of Jewish Christians to become his co-workers. That these three are the only Jews among his fellow workers for the kingdom of God, had proved a comfort to him, but also reminds us how difficult life really was for Paul. Sometimes we can look at Paul as though all of the things he went through on behalf of the kingdom of God was somehow easy for him. Passages like this, though, remind us that he was deeply human, complete with all of the mixed emotions and loneliness that he had to learn to deal with on a daily basis. Life wasn’t easy, but Paul trusted God, and that was enough comfort for him.
In creating ties and bonds between those in Colosse and Paul’s ministry, it is of little surprise that Paul mentions Epaphras, the one who began the church in Colosse through his own missionary efforts. It appears that Epaphras had come to Ephesus during Paul’s three-year stay there (Acts 20:31), and had been converted, perhaps as a result of his constant teaching at the lecture hall in Tyrannus (Acts 19:9-10). Evidently, Epaphras had become well-schooled in Paul’s teaching and way of life, and was prepared to become a missionary on his own. He had then brought the message of the gospel back to his home town and given birth to the believers in Colosse, a group that may have numbered no more than perhaps two dozen people when Paul wrote this letter. We also discover, through Paul’s words here, that Epaphras didn’t just come home, plant a church and then move on, abandoning the young community that he had planted. He was constantly wrestling in prayer for them, specifically that they would stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. Doing God’s will is where mankind failed in the Garden of Eden, and it is the very hallmark of God’s people who do God’s will on earth as it is done in heaven (Luke 11:1-4). Paul assures them that Epaphras is doing God’s will, working hard, not only for them, but for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. This is a good reminder for us, that work done in expanding God’s kingdom, wherever it may be done, is work for the body of Christ, and thus, is work done on our behalf. So, even if Epaphras was off working in Laodicea, his work was still ultimately for the benefit of those in Colosse.
Paul also sends greetings from Luke, the beloved doctor, and Demas. Luke, of course, was the author of both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, and his relationship with Paul would remain close and strong (2 Tim. 4:11). Demas, however, would sadly take another course later in life as we are told that "Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me" (2 Tim. 4:10).
As Paul brings the letter to a close, we can learn some interesting aspects about life in the first-century church. First, we see that the primary place of meeting for Christians was in homes. It wasn’t until the late 2nd or even early 3rd century that Christians began to meet in buildings set aside solely for worship. Second, we see that it was apparently a normal occurrence to have fellowship between Christian communities in different towns. Paul’s encouragement to share letters with the church in Laodicea (a letter that may well have been what we now call "Ephesians") doesn’t appear to be something unusual or unique, so it was probably normal for them to have contact with the churches around them.
Paul ends the letter with a specific exhortation to Archippus to complete his work that he received in the Lord, although we will likely never know exactly to what Paul is referring here. The final point of connection and bonding that Paul creates is to write the final few words in his own hand rather than having a scribe write it. This would have given the letter a sense of bonding and intimacy. As they read his closing remarks in his own words, he pleads with them to remember his chains, which likely means that he is appealing to them to respect his ministry and what he has gone through for the sake of the gospel. This closing passage reminds us that the gospel is many things, but ultimately, it is about people and relationships, a lesson that we would do well to remember in our world today.
Devotional Thought
The connections in the body of Christ that come as a result of the gospel are, in the end, ultimately about relationships, both creating and strengthening them. How much time and effort do you put in to creating and strengthening relationships in the body of Christ?
7Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. 8I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. 9He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.
10My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) 11Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. 12Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. 13I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. 15Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.
16After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
17Tell Archippus: "See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord."
18I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
Dig Deeper
Recently I talked to a good friend of mine who is a disciple in a different city. It was great hear from him and catch up on how things are going in the town in which he lives. I happen to know quite a few people from his church as I have traveled there quite a few times and there have been a few times when Christians from his community have visited the communities of which I have been apart. As we caught up, he sent greetings from the people I knew and we talked for a few moments about some Christians that we both knew that one or another of us had talked to recently. What may have seemed like idle conversation to an outside observer actually performed the important function of both showing the care and concern that flows from one Christian family to another as well as strengthening the bonds of brotherhood that are so vital amongst God’s people.
As Paul brings this letter to the Colossians to a close, he does no less. He will mention several people that the Colossians know, some of whom were apparently from Colosse. As he strengthens the bonds of brotherhood and ties between various church families, Paul also includes information that lets us know a little bit more about his situation, the situation in Colosse, and his own personal feelings.
Paul sent Tychicus to Colosse as a personal friend and messenger who would also probably bring this letter. Tychicus would, no doubt, encourage them as his visit would serve a first-hand account of how Paul was doing and share the love and ministry of Paul directly. Paul’s relationship with Tychicus went back to Ephesus (Acts 20:4), where he may have spent some time as a church leader (Eph. 6:1; 2 Tim. 4:12; Titus 3:12).
Paul is not just introducing Tychicus and sending the Colossians a link between them and his own ministry, he is sending Onesimus, one of their very own. Onesimus had also become quite important in Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, and would have been able to share some of that good news, but his homecoming would likely have been accompanied by some strong mixed emotions. He was a slave to Philemon who had run away and was now returning as Paul’s messenger, but also with a letter to Philemon and his house church that would attempt to resolve the situation according to the love and peace of Christ that should characterize those in the body of Christ.
Paul is not only sending messengers to strengthen the bonds between him and the Colossians, he also wishes to send greetings from those who are important in Paul’s ministry. He sends his greetings from John Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (Mark 14:51; Acts 12:12, 25; 13:13; 15:37, 39; 2 Tim. 4:11; Philem. 24), Jesus, who is called Justus, and Aristarchus (Acts 19:29; 20:4; 27:2). It is not clear whether Paul’s mention of Aristarchus as his fellow prisoner, is metaphorical or literal, but he likely literally means that Aristarchus is physically in jail with him. This is where Paul’s vulnerability and personal feelings really show through. Paul had been violently opposed by his fellow Jews wherever he went, which must have been particularly difficult. Surely he expected opposition and persecution, but he also expected a good number of Jewish Christians to become his co-workers. That these three are the only Jews among his fellow workers for the kingdom of God, had proved a comfort to him, but also reminds us how difficult life really was for Paul. Sometimes we can look at Paul as though all of the things he went through on behalf of the kingdom of God was somehow easy for him. Passages like this, though, remind us that he was deeply human, complete with all of the mixed emotions and loneliness that he had to learn to deal with on a daily basis. Life wasn’t easy, but Paul trusted God, and that was enough comfort for him.
In creating ties and bonds between those in Colosse and Paul’s ministry, it is of little surprise that Paul mentions Epaphras, the one who began the church in Colosse through his own missionary efforts. It appears that Epaphras had come to Ephesus during Paul’s three-year stay there (Acts 20:31), and had been converted, perhaps as a result of his constant teaching at the lecture hall in Tyrannus (Acts 19:9-10). Evidently, Epaphras had become well-schooled in Paul’s teaching and way of life, and was prepared to become a missionary on his own. He had then brought the message of the gospel back to his home town and given birth to the believers in Colosse, a group that may have numbered no more than perhaps two dozen people when Paul wrote this letter. We also discover, through Paul’s words here, that Epaphras didn’t just come home, plant a church and then move on, abandoning the young community that he had planted. He was constantly wrestling in prayer for them, specifically that they would stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. Doing God’s will is where mankind failed in the Garden of Eden, and it is the very hallmark of God’s people who do God’s will on earth as it is done in heaven (Luke 11:1-4). Paul assures them that Epaphras is doing God’s will, working hard, not only for them, but for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. This is a good reminder for us, that work done in expanding God’s kingdom, wherever it may be done, is work for the body of Christ, and thus, is work done on our behalf. So, even if Epaphras was off working in Laodicea, his work was still ultimately for the benefit of those in Colosse.
Paul also sends greetings from Luke, the beloved doctor, and Demas. Luke, of course, was the author of both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, and his relationship with Paul would remain close and strong (2 Tim. 4:11). Demas, however, would sadly take another course later in life as we are told that "Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me" (2 Tim. 4:10).
As Paul brings the letter to a close, we can learn some interesting aspects about life in the first-century church. First, we see that the primary place of meeting for Christians was in homes. It wasn’t until the late 2nd or even early 3rd century that Christians began to meet in buildings set aside solely for worship. Second, we see that it was apparently a normal occurrence to have fellowship between Christian communities in different towns. Paul’s encouragement to share letters with the church in Laodicea (a letter that may well have been what we now call "Ephesians") doesn’t appear to be something unusual or unique, so it was probably normal for them to have contact with the churches around them.
Paul ends the letter with a specific exhortation to Archippus to complete his work that he received in the Lord, although we will likely never know exactly to what Paul is referring here. The final point of connection and bonding that Paul creates is to write the final few words in his own hand rather than having a scribe write it. This would have given the letter a sense of bonding and intimacy. As they read his closing remarks in his own words, he pleads with them to remember his chains, which likely means that he is appealing to them to respect his ministry and what he has gone through for the sake of the gospel. This closing passage reminds us that the gospel is many things, but ultimately, it is about people and relationships, a lesson that we would do well to remember in our world today.
Devotional Thought
The connections in the body of Christ that come as a result of the gospel are, in the end, ultimately about relationships, both creating and strengthening them. How much time and effort do you put in to creating and strengthening relationships in the body of Christ?
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Colossians 4:2-6
Further Instructions
2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Dig Deeper
As a young disciple there was one older Christian who spent a great deal of time mentoring me, giving me advice, and teaching me how to live the life of Christ in a manner worthy of my calling (although there were certainly many others who helped me in those areas). I relied a great deal on the wisdom of this man and looked up to him as an example of a man who lived an exemplary Christian life. One day, though, he did something that shocked me a great deal. He called me and asked me for some advice. I had relied on him and looked up to him and suddenly he was talking to me as though I was a partner and a valued member of the Christian family. He was calling on me to do what he had done and showed me how to do. It probably seemed insignificant to him at the time, but for me it was one of the most memorable moments in my Christian life. He had not only shown a great deal of faith in me, but he had demonstrated one more Christian truth to me. No Christian is ever above being humble and no Christian is ever so advanced in their faith that they don’t need the support, input, and effort of other Christians, no matter how young and inexperienced in the faith they may be.
Paul was a highly respected apostle and father in the faith. His accomplishments in Christ, by the time he wrote this letter, were already well known and even great Christian leaders like Peter knew that he was writing Scripture (2 Peter 3:16). In the beginning of this letter Paul told the Colossians that he was praying for them (1:3) and about how the gospel, in part due to his great efforts, was spreading quickly (1:6). In this passage Paul continues to offer some guiding principles for the Christian community, particularly in the area of spreading the gospel. In doing so, and this might be easy for us to miss, he asks them to partner with them and do what he has been doing. He lets them know that he relies on them as much as they rely on him and that they have an important role to play in spreading the gospel, just as he does. Paul demonstrates the same truth to the Colossians that I once learned; there is no Christian who is so advanced that they don’t need the prayer and support of other Christians, regardless of how young in the faith they be.
It is a great thing to feel that you are being entrusted with responsibility. As Paul wrote this letter, likely from a prison in Ephesus, he told the Colossians that he was constantly praying for them, because he knew they needed it. No doubt, they would have agreed. Paul calls them to devote themselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Again, nothing unusual here, the New Testament writers often called Christians to pray often and to be alert and watchful in that prayer (Eph. 6:18-20; 1 Pet. 4:7; 5:8). What may have been quite empowering, though, for the young Christians in Colosse was Paul’s request that they pray for him and the others in Ephesus, that God may open a door for their message. "Door" was a familiar scriptural expression used for opportunities to share the gospel and witness (1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Cor. 2:12). The message, of course, was the revealing of the life of Christ available to all who would die to themselves and have faith in his life. This was the great ministry to which Paul had been called and now he was employing these junior partners in the faith to the responsibility of praying for him and helping to move God to open doors. They were important; they were needed. Paul shows that he was not only an effective evangelist and church builder but also a wise and encouraging minister that understood that people need responsibility and to feel that they have an important role in the life of the church.
In verses 5 and 6, though, he goes beyond even just asking them to partner with him in prayer so that he may continue to share the gospel around the world. He calls them to the same work of sharing the gospel in their own community and lives. In doing so, he offers some valuable guidelines for their relationships with unbelievers. This is instructive because many Christians today wonder and engage in a great deal of dialogue over how often we should evangelize the lost. Paul would probably be confused by that question as it really misses the point. This is, I believe what he wants the Colossians to understand clearly. Whenever Christians interact with non-Christians they should be sharing their faith. Faith, you remember, is believing in and entering into the life of Jesus Christ as we die to self and subsequently live the life of Christ. Faith then is a life, not a belief system. As Christians, we are called to live the life of the age to come in the present age and in the sight of the world around us. Therefore, every thing we do, whether we are speaking or not, should be an act of sharing that life, our faith, to the world around us. The life of the age to come is the life of heaven, so we have the call to share the life of heaven to those around us, showing them what God’s reality is like.
As they went about living that life, Paul wants them to make the most of every opportunity and to be wise in the way that they acted toward outsiders. The word used for "opportunity" (exagorazo) came from the marketplace and meant "to buy up." Paul, in a sense, is saying "buy up every moment" as an opportunity to demonstrate the life of Christ. This, of course, must be done with wisdom. Our enthusiasm and zeal must be balanced by common sense and tact. Wisdom and grace must color everything we do, but as we live sincere and sober lives of faith, it will speak volumes to those around us.
Lest we are tempted to run with verse 5 and say that our style of evangelism is "life evangelism." Some people have clung to the this idea of life evangelism as the means to sharing their faith that they no longer engage in actually speaking to anyone about the reconciliation available between man and God in the life of Christ. If that is your thought, you should first examine your own heart and see if that is more about comfort than it is about actually being an effective witness. Paul believed that living your faith was important, but will leave no room for thinking that this is all there is to it.
Paul calls the believers to engage in conversation with non-Christians and highlights two aspects of that speech. First, he says it should be full of grace. Thus, the Christian should, in their speech, demonstrate the loving, patient, and righteous nature of God Himself. Second, it should be seasoned with salt. This suggests being able to engage non-believers in a manner that is useful, tasteful, and adds to the conversation. To do be able to do this takes work and preparation. Far too many Christians are content with getting just enough Bible knowledge to stir their own heart or help them in their daily walk with God without considering how self-focused and selfish that is. True, some of us don’t enjoy reading, preparing, studying, and then engaging in conversations with non-believers concerning honest questions about the faith that we live. For some of us, this may be part of the dying to self that is part and parcel of the Christian life. Whether it comes easy or is difficult and takes sacrifice, every Christian is called to move beyond their natural ability and to prepare themselves so that they may answer everyone.
Devotional Thought
Paul says that our lives should be characterized by both living our faith and being able to speak about it. What are your strengths when it comes to these two areas? What are your weaknesses? What do you need to do to improve upon your areas of weakness?
2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Dig Deeper
As a young disciple there was one older Christian who spent a great deal of time mentoring me, giving me advice, and teaching me how to live the life of Christ in a manner worthy of my calling (although there were certainly many others who helped me in those areas). I relied a great deal on the wisdom of this man and looked up to him as an example of a man who lived an exemplary Christian life. One day, though, he did something that shocked me a great deal. He called me and asked me for some advice. I had relied on him and looked up to him and suddenly he was talking to me as though I was a partner and a valued member of the Christian family. He was calling on me to do what he had done and showed me how to do. It probably seemed insignificant to him at the time, but for me it was one of the most memorable moments in my Christian life. He had not only shown a great deal of faith in me, but he had demonstrated one more Christian truth to me. No Christian is ever above being humble and no Christian is ever so advanced in their faith that they don’t need the support, input, and effort of other Christians, no matter how young and inexperienced in the faith they may be.
Paul was a highly respected apostle and father in the faith. His accomplishments in Christ, by the time he wrote this letter, were already well known and even great Christian leaders like Peter knew that he was writing Scripture (2 Peter 3:16). In the beginning of this letter Paul told the Colossians that he was praying for them (1:3) and about how the gospel, in part due to his great efforts, was spreading quickly (1:6). In this passage Paul continues to offer some guiding principles for the Christian community, particularly in the area of spreading the gospel. In doing so, and this might be easy for us to miss, he asks them to partner with them and do what he has been doing. He lets them know that he relies on them as much as they rely on him and that they have an important role to play in spreading the gospel, just as he does. Paul demonstrates the same truth to the Colossians that I once learned; there is no Christian who is so advanced that they don’t need the prayer and support of other Christians, regardless of how young in the faith they be.
It is a great thing to feel that you are being entrusted with responsibility. As Paul wrote this letter, likely from a prison in Ephesus, he told the Colossians that he was constantly praying for them, because he knew they needed it. No doubt, they would have agreed. Paul calls them to devote themselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Again, nothing unusual here, the New Testament writers often called Christians to pray often and to be alert and watchful in that prayer (Eph. 6:18-20; 1 Pet. 4:7; 5:8). What may have been quite empowering, though, for the young Christians in Colosse was Paul’s request that they pray for him and the others in Ephesus, that God may open a door for their message. "Door" was a familiar scriptural expression used for opportunities to share the gospel and witness (1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Cor. 2:12). The message, of course, was the revealing of the life of Christ available to all who would die to themselves and have faith in his life. This was the great ministry to which Paul had been called and now he was employing these junior partners in the faith to the responsibility of praying for him and helping to move God to open doors. They were important; they were needed. Paul shows that he was not only an effective evangelist and church builder but also a wise and encouraging minister that understood that people need responsibility and to feel that they have an important role in the life of the church.
In verses 5 and 6, though, he goes beyond even just asking them to partner with him in prayer so that he may continue to share the gospel around the world. He calls them to the same work of sharing the gospel in their own community and lives. In doing so, he offers some valuable guidelines for their relationships with unbelievers. This is instructive because many Christians today wonder and engage in a great deal of dialogue over how often we should evangelize the lost. Paul would probably be confused by that question as it really misses the point. This is, I believe what he wants the Colossians to understand clearly. Whenever Christians interact with non-Christians they should be sharing their faith. Faith, you remember, is believing in and entering into the life of Jesus Christ as we die to self and subsequently live the life of Christ. Faith then is a life, not a belief system. As Christians, we are called to live the life of the age to come in the present age and in the sight of the world around us. Therefore, every thing we do, whether we are speaking or not, should be an act of sharing that life, our faith, to the world around us. The life of the age to come is the life of heaven, so we have the call to share the life of heaven to those around us, showing them what God’s reality is like.
As they went about living that life, Paul wants them to make the most of every opportunity and to be wise in the way that they acted toward outsiders. The word used for "opportunity" (exagorazo) came from the marketplace and meant "to buy up." Paul, in a sense, is saying "buy up every moment" as an opportunity to demonstrate the life of Christ. This, of course, must be done with wisdom. Our enthusiasm and zeal must be balanced by common sense and tact. Wisdom and grace must color everything we do, but as we live sincere and sober lives of faith, it will speak volumes to those around us.
Lest we are tempted to run with verse 5 and say that our style of evangelism is "life evangelism." Some people have clung to the this idea of life evangelism as the means to sharing their faith that they no longer engage in actually speaking to anyone about the reconciliation available between man and God in the life of Christ. If that is your thought, you should first examine your own heart and see if that is more about comfort than it is about actually being an effective witness. Paul believed that living your faith was important, but will leave no room for thinking that this is all there is to it.
Paul calls the believers to engage in conversation with non-Christians and highlights two aspects of that speech. First, he says it should be full of grace. Thus, the Christian should, in their speech, demonstrate the loving, patient, and righteous nature of God Himself. Second, it should be seasoned with salt. This suggests being able to engage non-believers in a manner that is useful, tasteful, and adds to the conversation. To do be able to do this takes work and preparation. Far too many Christians are content with getting just enough Bible knowledge to stir their own heart or help them in their daily walk with God without considering how self-focused and selfish that is. True, some of us don’t enjoy reading, preparing, studying, and then engaging in conversations with non-believers concerning honest questions about the faith that we live. For some of us, this may be part of the dying to self that is part and parcel of the Christian life. Whether it comes easy or is difficult and takes sacrifice, every Christian is called to move beyond their natural ability and to prepare themselves so that they may answer everyone.
Devotional Thought
Paul says that our lives should be characterized by both living our faith and being able to speak about it. What are your strengths when it comes to these two areas? What are your weaknesses? What do you need to do to improve upon your areas of weakness?
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Colossians 3:18-4:1
Rules for Christian Households
18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
Colossians 4
1Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
Dig Deeper
During my time in college when I was playing basketball, our workout regimens were strictly dictated to us. We were told when to work out, how much to do, and we were even given fairly strict guidelines on what we should eat. Under this type of system, we were all in pretty good shape, but it felt very oppressive at times. We had very little freedom at all. Then suddenly I wasn't on the team anymore and I was out of college. I found myself in a whole new world of freedom. I wasn't restricted or governed by the rules and regulations that I had in college. Suddenly, although I had great freedom, I found that I quickly got badly out of shape. It didn't take me long to put on twenty pounds and lose most of the conditioning that I had worked for in college. Clearly, something had to be done. I didn't want to return to the old rules, nor was that even possible, but complete freedom quickly had enslaved me to inactivity and deterioration. What I needed were some guiding principles from which I could operate and exercise discernment. This way I could still have freedom as I lived by those principles but I was not under the old oppressive system either.
We can see this same principle in our own society as a whole. Now days our culture is all about doing what you like. We trumpet complete freedom as though freedom itself is a virtue rather than a privilege. Of course, it is our own brand of freedom. Many things, as result of this freedom, have changed pretty radically in our society in a short time. People have claimed freedom in ways that nobody would have imagined a generation ago. If anyone steps up to question this freedom, they are quickly shot down with the claim that they are trying to drag everyone back into the "stone ages." The one thing that has become obvious, though, is that the more people claim this sort of freedom that doesn't have any sort of guiding principles or responsibility, the more out-of-control and destructive the society seems to become. These short-run freedoms lead to long term enslavement, especially in the realm of relationships, where we tend to be defined by the people in whom we enter with into relationships. The freedom to do absolutely whatever we feel like has become one of the primary idols of our society.
Paul has made it clear to the developing Christian communities in Colosse and other places that they have a freedom in Christ. They were no longer bound by the condemnation and rules of any of the old ways of living. Yet, he knows very well the human inclination to dissolve into chaos, especially if there is not something to control their behavior. Christians are free from the need to be dictated to by harsh rules and regulations that require no thinking or actual transformation of character on one hand, but are also free from the enslavement of the illusion of human-style freedom. Instead, throughout his writings, Paul offers guiding principles to help shape and mold those in Christ into the thinking, discerning, love-motivated life of Christ for which we have entered and are destined.
Addressing the three traditional relationships in the ancient world, marriage, parenting, and slave and master, would not have been that unique. What Paul does, however, that was extremely unique was to not just address wives, children, and slaves, telling them to obey and be subordinate to the ruling party in the relationship. They certainly have responsibilities in the relationship, but so do their corresponding partners, duties that go beyond just being the boss. In essence, Paul is offering up a quick series of guiding principles that will bring order, while still providing freedom, to the primary relationships in the Christian community.
Wives are called to submit to their husbands, a term that has almost become a dirty word in our culture. Submission does carry the meaning of obeying and respecting one in the position of authority, but it does not carry the idea of demeaning oneself and doing whatever someone orders, regardless of how heinous it might be (although this is often what has become the meaning of the word in our world). Husbands, though, are called to love their wives and to not be harsh with them. The obvious question is why the difference? Why are husbands called to love while wives are called to submit or respect? Although the full answer would take more space than is available here, the short answer is that it appears that respect and submission are given to the leading party in a relationship rather than questioning them or working against them. On the other hand, love and concern was the call for those in the position of leadership. The normal expectation in the ancient world for the husband would have been to be the ruler, period. Paul, instead, calls for roles that are not identical but equal to one another in responsibility. The overall aim for both parties was the well-being of the other person. This was true not only in the husband-wife relationship, but also when it came to parents and children, and slaves and masters.
Children are called to show respect and obey their parents in everything, although Paul does not fully discuss here what the limits to that would have been. The assumption is that he is referring to obeying them only in so much as what they are saying pleases the Lord. This obedience is not a one-way street, though. Parents are called to not do anything that would embitter or discourage their children. Children have duties in their relationship but so do the parents. Paul singles out fathers, as they were the ones primarily responsible for overseeing the education and training of their children, but it is implied that Paul is also applying his words to mothers. In Paul's vision of balancing freedom and responsibility, parents restrain their authority by deserving obedience rather than merely demanding it. As children grow older there will be a necessary reduction in the pure authority of the parent, but because they have raised their children in a loving and godly manner, their influence will continue to grow.
As Paul turns to address masters and slaves, many have criticized him for not calling for an abolition of slavery. Two things must be pointed out here. The first is that slavery in the ancient world was not like slavery in American history, with slaves in the ancient world having the opportunity to marry members of the owning family and to purchase their own freedom (although conditions could be harsh for some slaves). The second is that slavery was such an integral part of the economy of the ancient world that to call for it's immediate end would have caused irreparable chaos and would have brought unparalleled persecution on the church for teaching such an idea. The early church did not call for revolutionary power, it sought the transforming power of the gospel. They preached a new life in Christ not a new social order. Paul did, however, set in motion, through the gospel, a process of thinking that, if followed, would eventually bring about the end of slavery in a way that would bring the desired transformation of individuals without ripping society apart.
Paul does offer several significant changes in the status of the slave. They were to serve Christ rather than man; they were to be motivated by their desire to be like Christ rather than gaining the approval of man; and their new reward was the inheritance of being part of the people of God, rather than earthly motivations. Anyone, slave or master alike will be judged for failing to live the life of Christ in regard to their relationships with one another. Just as in marriage, Paul goes beyond just calling slaves to obey, he also gives the masters guiding principles in their relationship. They are, Paul implies, to treat their slaves in the same manner that their Master in heaven has treated them. This is a standard that, when realized, would so radically change the view and practice of slavery that it would bring about its eventual downfall.
At first glance, this section almost seems to be out of place with the rest of the letter, but when we understand it in context of the society in which it was written, we realize how it fits. It not only serves as guidelines for Christian people to set about ordering every aspect of their life in accordance with their life in Christ but when such relationships exist between husband and wife, parent and child, and master and slave, there will be much less problem with disorder and discontinuity in the community life of the body of Christ.
Devotional Thought
Paul's challenge to masters would have brought about such a transformation to slavery that it would have brought it to an effective end. What are some of the injustices in our society or even where you work that you can call for the same sort of transformation through the principles of the life of Christ?
18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
Colossians 4
1Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
Dig Deeper
During my time in college when I was playing basketball, our workout regimens were strictly dictated to us. We were told when to work out, how much to do, and we were even given fairly strict guidelines on what we should eat. Under this type of system, we were all in pretty good shape, but it felt very oppressive at times. We had very little freedom at all. Then suddenly I wasn't on the team anymore and I was out of college. I found myself in a whole new world of freedom. I wasn't restricted or governed by the rules and regulations that I had in college. Suddenly, although I had great freedom, I found that I quickly got badly out of shape. It didn't take me long to put on twenty pounds and lose most of the conditioning that I had worked for in college. Clearly, something had to be done. I didn't want to return to the old rules, nor was that even possible, but complete freedom quickly had enslaved me to inactivity and deterioration. What I needed were some guiding principles from which I could operate and exercise discernment. This way I could still have freedom as I lived by those principles but I was not under the old oppressive system either.
We can see this same principle in our own society as a whole. Now days our culture is all about doing what you like. We trumpet complete freedom as though freedom itself is a virtue rather than a privilege. Of course, it is our own brand of freedom. Many things, as result of this freedom, have changed pretty radically in our society in a short time. People have claimed freedom in ways that nobody would have imagined a generation ago. If anyone steps up to question this freedom, they are quickly shot down with the claim that they are trying to drag everyone back into the "stone ages." The one thing that has become obvious, though, is that the more people claim this sort of freedom that doesn't have any sort of guiding principles or responsibility, the more out-of-control and destructive the society seems to become. These short-run freedoms lead to long term enslavement, especially in the realm of relationships, where we tend to be defined by the people in whom we enter with into relationships. The freedom to do absolutely whatever we feel like has become one of the primary idols of our society.
Paul has made it clear to the developing Christian communities in Colosse and other places that they have a freedom in Christ. They were no longer bound by the condemnation and rules of any of the old ways of living. Yet, he knows very well the human inclination to dissolve into chaos, especially if there is not something to control their behavior. Christians are free from the need to be dictated to by harsh rules and regulations that require no thinking or actual transformation of character on one hand, but are also free from the enslavement of the illusion of human-style freedom. Instead, throughout his writings, Paul offers guiding principles to help shape and mold those in Christ into the thinking, discerning, love-motivated life of Christ for which we have entered and are destined.
Addressing the three traditional relationships in the ancient world, marriage, parenting, and slave and master, would not have been that unique. What Paul does, however, that was extremely unique was to not just address wives, children, and slaves, telling them to obey and be subordinate to the ruling party in the relationship. They certainly have responsibilities in the relationship, but so do their corresponding partners, duties that go beyond just being the boss. In essence, Paul is offering up a quick series of guiding principles that will bring order, while still providing freedom, to the primary relationships in the Christian community.
Wives are called to submit to their husbands, a term that has almost become a dirty word in our culture. Submission does carry the meaning of obeying and respecting one in the position of authority, but it does not carry the idea of demeaning oneself and doing whatever someone orders, regardless of how heinous it might be (although this is often what has become the meaning of the word in our world). Husbands, though, are called to love their wives and to not be harsh with them. The obvious question is why the difference? Why are husbands called to love while wives are called to submit or respect? Although the full answer would take more space than is available here, the short answer is that it appears that respect and submission are given to the leading party in a relationship rather than questioning them or working against them. On the other hand, love and concern was the call for those in the position of leadership. The normal expectation in the ancient world for the husband would have been to be the ruler, period. Paul, instead, calls for roles that are not identical but equal to one another in responsibility. The overall aim for both parties was the well-being of the other person. This was true not only in the husband-wife relationship, but also when it came to parents and children, and slaves and masters.
Children are called to show respect and obey their parents in everything, although Paul does not fully discuss here what the limits to that would have been. The assumption is that he is referring to obeying them only in so much as what they are saying pleases the Lord. This obedience is not a one-way street, though. Parents are called to not do anything that would embitter or discourage their children. Children have duties in their relationship but so do the parents. Paul singles out fathers, as they were the ones primarily responsible for overseeing the education and training of their children, but it is implied that Paul is also applying his words to mothers. In Paul's vision of balancing freedom and responsibility, parents restrain their authority by deserving obedience rather than merely demanding it. As children grow older there will be a necessary reduction in the pure authority of the parent, but because they have raised their children in a loving and godly manner, their influence will continue to grow.
As Paul turns to address masters and slaves, many have criticized him for not calling for an abolition of slavery. Two things must be pointed out here. The first is that slavery in the ancient world was not like slavery in American history, with slaves in the ancient world having the opportunity to marry members of the owning family and to purchase their own freedom (although conditions could be harsh for some slaves). The second is that slavery was such an integral part of the economy of the ancient world that to call for it's immediate end would have caused irreparable chaos and would have brought unparalleled persecution on the church for teaching such an idea. The early church did not call for revolutionary power, it sought the transforming power of the gospel. They preached a new life in Christ not a new social order. Paul did, however, set in motion, through the gospel, a process of thinking that, if followed, would eventually bring about the end of slavery in a way that would bring the desired transformation of individuals without ripping society apart.
Paul does offer several significant changes in the status of the slave. They were to serve Christ rather than man; they were to be motivated by their desire to be like Christ rather than gaining the approval of man; and their new reward was the inheritance of being part of the people of God, rather than earthly motivations. Anyone, slave or master alike will be judged for failing to live the life of Christ in regard to their relationships with one another. Just as in marriage, Paul goes beyond just calling slaves to obey, he also gives the masters guiding principles in their relationship. They are, Paul implies, to treat their slaves in the same manner that their Master in heaven has treated them. This is a standard that, when realized, would so radically change the view and practice of slavery that it would bring about its eventual downfall.
At first glance, this section almost seems to be out of place with the rest of the letter, but when we understand it in context of the society in which it was written, we realize how it fits. It not only serves as guidelines for Christian people to set about ordering every aspect of their life in accordance with their life in Christ but when such relationships exist between husband and wife, parent and child, and master and slave, there will be much less problem with disorder and discontinuity in the community life of the body of Christ.
Devotional Thought
Paul's challenge to masters would have brought about such a transformation to slavery that it would have brought it to an effective end. What are some of the injustices in our society or even where you work that you can call for the same sort of transformation through the principles of the life of Christ?
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