Who We Are...Who We Are To Be

Colossians 3:15-1715Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.


I remember when I first started playing baseball with the Manitoba Provincial Baseball Team, one of the things I realized is that I represented our province (this was part of my identity as a baseball player) and as a representative, there was certain ways we were expected to conduct ourselves, for the sake of the province, the team, and for our own good. We would be defined as a team that hussled, that was respectful, that worked hard. We were individuals and we were not to be robots, but there was a code of conduct. It seems to me that this is sort of what Paul is speaking about here. In the beginning of Chapter 3, he speaks to us of who we are...people who are being renewed in knowledege in the image of our Creator. Than he drops the THEREFORE...in light of this reality, how should we act. It begins in verse 12 and carries on through 15-17, where we are today.


Observations
Paul gives 4 commands1. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...(seems to me he is talking about peace in relationships with others)2. Be thankful3. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly4. Do everything in the name of the Lord
I get the first two, live at peace with others comes out of verses 12-14. I get the second, although this is seriously hard at times. I want to camp on the last two quickly...
I don't think there are many things that define us more clearly than letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly and making sure that all we do is for Christ. Here are the questions...how do we let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly? My thoughts are first we need to be reading it...it wouldn't hurt to think on it some, and perhaps memorization would go a long way. I know, these "methods" seem outdated, and certainly there is more to it than this, but it is a start...at least for me. I need to pick it up. And by the way, doing everything in the name of the Lord, while impossible apart from God's grace, is the only way we can be faithful to the other commands, especially the ones that demand we treat others with respect. The only way I get my focus off myself, the only way I forgive, the only way I bear with people who seriously rub me the wrong way, is if I have a greater purpose, Christ. By the way, the best way to see Christ is His Word...funny how it goes hand in hand. This is who we are and who we are to be...

See Christ, Be Christ...Col 3:5-11

Colossians 3:5-115-8And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It's because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
9-11Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.


So did Paul take a look into the future and see the North American Culture of 2007...or is there nothing new under the sun? He absolutely defines us when He speaks of the things we need to ditch if we are going to live out the reality we have engaged in Jesus Christ. Is there anything that defines our culture more than sexual promiscuity?? I mean, check the news lines, check the stats. I know that teen pregnancies are down, but not oral sex. I know we have more sex education, and it seems like younger people engaging it all the time. It was an extreme case, but check the news about the grade 5 students who engaged in sexual activity in a Middle School Classroom in Louisianna in front of their classmates while the teachers were out of the room. This concerns me, because in a culture where students at younger and younger ages are being targeted sexually by the media, and parents seem to be more and more disengaged, this is the logical outcome. Put that together with a culture that screams we should do whatever feels good, and North America is a modern day Colosse. Paul is speaking to us...he is speaking to me. This is not small issues, this is eternally significant, while God is loving, He is also just and this ticks Him off...it should do the same to us, not in a "fundamentalist blow culture up sort of way", but rather in a loving engaging deeply concerned for all invovled sort of way. We need to take this seriously, for ourselves and others. The reality is this, we need to live like the people God has made us to be. If you are Christ follower, if I am a Christ follower, I need to start following Christ. By the way, I love how Paul ends this section...A Christ follower is defined by being a Christ follower, not by race, background, position, sex, it's about Christ man. This is not an upper middle class white north american male religion. This is about Jesus Christ...and by the way, he wasn't American. We need to get serious about getting to know Him...how good would that be.