We have been slowly working our way through the book of Colossians at my church. We have spent two weeks discussing Paul’s intro to his letter to the church in Colossae. This may seem a little strange to you, maybe you tend to kind of glaze over these introduction parts that Paul always starts his letters with. They all kind of sound the same and it can feel like he’s writing specifically to a group of people that doesn’t include us. I mean, they are filled with places and names that we don’t know, so it can be tempting to skip over those parts and get to the meat of the letter.
But there is quite a richness to this particular greeting in the book of Colossians. We can see from Paul’s greeting that the people of Colossae have heard the gospel, accepted it and it is bearing fruit in their lives. Paul goes on to explain what he prays for this body of believers. In verse 9 of chapter one and following, he prays that they will be filled “with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” He encourages them and reminds them of the power of the gospel and the newness and power to live in the Spirit that is now theirs.
There is one little phrase almost hidden in there and because we don’t know Epaphras personally, we might not catch it. Paul simply says, “you learned it from Epaphras” meaning they heard the gospel from Epaphras, not from him. This wasn’t a church that Paul traveled to and then is writing a letter to them later on in his ministry. He didn’t start this church, Epaphras did. This is remarkable to me, because as a general rule of thumb, Paul would visit a town, start a church, leave to visit a different town and then write a letter back to a community of believers he knew. What was it about Epaphras that caused this kind of transformation in the people of Colossae?
Epaphras has been on my mind this week after our pastor spent time talking about him this past Sunday. I was reading in Mark this morning and chapter 9 brought him to my mind again. The end of chapter 9, verse 43 through 47 says, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.”
Honestly, my first thought was, “wait, how can you enter the kingdom of God with only one hand, etc. if we will be healed and made perfect, with no more tears or pain?” But if you pay close attention, Jesus didn’t say you will enter heaven that way, he just said it would be better to be in heaven permanently disabled for all eternity than to go to hell. It should wake us up to the seriousness of our sin and unfathomable pain and sadness of hell.
Epaphras got it. He had let the truth of the gospel deeply penetrate his heart and completely change him, to the point where other people’s lives were changed. They could see there was something different about him. People’s lives aren’t changed by someone who is faking it. The gospel doesn’t produce fruit where the Spirit of the Lord isn’t free to work and move.
Will we get it?
Remember the verses about the path to heaven being narrow and few find it? Remember Jesus saying that the world has hated Him and if we follow Him, the world will hate us too? Remember Him talking about being light in darkness and salt to those around us? Light and Salt change things, they are different from their surroundings. There is a quote by John Piper that comes to mind. Now I don’t necessarily agree with 100% of everything John Piper says, but this is something to think about. He said, “The world does not need cool Christians who are culturally saturated. It needs exiles with the scent of heaven and the aroma of Christ.”
We have got to start thinking about what our lifestyle looks like and what it communicates to those around us! Are we completely sold out to Jesus in every way? Does Jesus mean much to us? What do we live like we believe He actually did for us? What do we owe Him? What are we willing to sacrifice? Are we willing to lose a hand in order to rid ourselves of something that is hurting our relationship with Him? Are we willing to stop listening to a certain artist? Are we willing to stop watching a questionable TV show? Are we willing to sacrifice and give away more of what we own, what we spend, what we do? Do we go into every situation wanting to spread the “salt of Jesus” on everyone we come in contact with? Do we make sacrifices in order to put ourselves into situations where people are hurting? Does love and kindness and humble service ooze from our face and mouth and hands?
If we speak the way the culture around us speaks, are we being light? If we laugh at the things the people around us laugh at, are we being salt? We need to be recognizable as Christians. Maybe the world shouldn’t think we are cool? I would hope they would find us loving and warm and kind, but maybe think we can be kinda dorky sometimes or at least, weird because of how much we love Jesus. Like, I want someone to think, that girl or that family is kinda weird how much their love of Jesus affects everything they do. They don’t really fit in here.
This is the difference between world changing Christianity and nominal Christianity. Nominal Christianity is a faith that doesn’t experience God, ever. It complains often, even at church. (There’s a difference between complaining and expressing concerns but I’ll leave that for another day.) It lives a life of compromise to fit in or not be hated or even just to be more comfortable. It takes for granted what Jesus did on the cross. It thinks going to church and reading your bible and even tithing is enough to support the claim that “I love Jesus, I always have and I always will.” It lives in someone who has never been wrecked over their sin.
The truth is that the salvation that was bought for me absolutely demands my everything.
Have you heard the song When I Survey The Wondrous Cross? These are the lyrics to verse 1 and 4: When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a offering far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
Take some time to let these words sink into you. Maybe pull up the song somewhere and let it sing over you. We all have places and things that need to be cut off to follow Jesus more deeply. It’s called sanctification. Salvation happens instantly and your soul is forever sealed for heaven, but sanctification is a process that takes time. Listen to the Holy Spirit as He brings things into the light that need to be cut out of your life. We are all in a different place on the journey, so you worry about you. The main thing is, to be on the journey. If you are on the journey, others will see fruit in your life. If you are choosing to ignore the Holy Spirit, that will be obvious also. Find people in your life that love you and are willing to challenge you to keep moving forward on this journey of sanctification. Don’t live your life just trying to be more comfortable and coast along. We are in a fight for the souls of the people around us, jump in! Give it your all! Sacrifice, love passionately and be extremely generous!
I pray that as you take a step down the path, that you would taste and see that the Lord is good! And that as we all walk together, no one having figured it all out or immune to stumbling, we would encourage each other along the way!
Your Fellow Traveler
lacey
Find True Joy 