Paul’s letter to the Colossians is believed by most scholars to have been written about A.D. 61 to address a developing problem in the church. Paul neither founded nor visited the Colossian church but was extremely interested in its growth. It is widely accepted that Epaphras a native of Colosse, had heard Paul preaching in Ephesus which was nearly 100 miles to the west of Colosse and had been converted to the ‘Way’ and had returned to Colosse and in turn converted many new believers by his preaching the gospel. Epaphras would later become a dear fellow worker with Paul. At the time of writing this letter Paul was imprisoned in Rome but he still expressed his hope to visit the Colossians at some time in the future. He never did. It must be noted too, that by the time Paul wrote this letter, Colosse, which was once a vibrant city, was in decline both in importance and numbers as the neighbouring towns of Laodicea and Hierapolis were ascending in importance and vibrancy.
Having said all that, the real question for us to consider is simply this. Why did Paul write this letter? Paul wrote to the Colossians because he was both encouraged by their growth, but concerned at a growing trend that was threatening their christian growth.
Apparently, the Colossians, like other churches founded in Asia Minor, were developing the tendency to adopt and syncretise other religious beliefs and practices with their new found faith in Christ. They were made to believe that merging some of their old beliefs into their faith and practice would make them even better Christians when in fact it was actually undermining the power of the gospel in their lives. It was this threat, along with the tendency to revert to some of the old practices of the Judaic law, which was of great concern to Paul. It is evident that the Colossian believers were a mix of gentiles, proselytes and Jewish converts to the ‘New Way’. It must be remembered that when we speak of the ‘Way’ or the ‘New Way’ we are referring to the earliest terms for what we now call Christianity.
Paul’s response to this problem in his letter to the Colossians was to remind them or rather to emphasise to the Colossians the primacy of Jesus Christ above all other religious ideas or philosophies and to remind them that how they lived should reflect that belief in Jesus as the one and only Saviour and Son of God. Paul then goes on to address some practical things that the Colossians should be doing to demonstrate that indeed a transformation has taken place in them and the old ways of thinking and acting have been replaced by a new commitment to Christ and the message of the gospel. This is what I call a new attitude. It must begin with a new mindset which is revealed in their new outlook on life and the new priorities that must be seen in their daily living. In the 1980s, about late 1984 to be exact, a well-known Black-American singer named Pattie LaBelle had a hit song entitled “New Attitude” which was written for the motion picture Beverly Hills Cop featuring the well-known actor Eddie Murphy. In the song, the artiste tells of her transformation starting with her own point of view through to the way she dresses and looks at life as a whole. This seems to mirror what Paul told the Romans when he said, “Do not be transformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (See Romans 12:2 NIV) Like the woman in the song, it was important to see that transformation from the old to the new begins with a change of mind, thus enabling one to acquire a new attitude to life as a whole.
For Paul, a regression into the old ways of thinking and acting was idolatry simply because Jesus was no longer the priority. Any time faith in Jesus was being replaced by human philosophies and ideas and practices no matter how attractive they may seem to be, it was to be seen as a reverting to idolatrous behavior. This was essentially the charge against the Colossian believers who had at first shown such promise. There are obviously important things for us to learn from the experience of the Colossians.
First of all it is easier than you may think to fall back into the old ways after you have been converted to a new life in Christ. This is primarily because as we go through life as Christians the constant challenge we face is working out what our faith should look like on a daily basis when we are constantly faced with all kinds of experiences and situations that demand of us to demonstrate who we really are or who we are serving. We are constantly buffeted by new ideas and practices which on the outset may not seem harmful but on closer view may really be a threat to one’s faith in Christ. This is probably why Paul told the Phillipians, “…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling”. (See Philippians 2:12 NIV) We live in a time when a lot of things have been normalised or seen as ‘no big thing’. Some are clearly contrary to what Jesus taught and demanded and much of the new thinking and practices are human-made even when they may seem to be bible-based or presumably scriptural. We all would like to think that what is from the Scriptures is at all times black and white with no confusion or nuances. It would certainly make living out our faith so much easier wouldn’t it? Instead, you do find that in living out one’s faith you can easily prioritise the human thoughts and actions over what God really demands of us. Think of the ways now in which we have all prioritised some seemingly harmless every day activity over things that are Godly. It may be a community event or a sporting activity or going on vacation or some family related activity. None of these by themselves are harmful. In fact, they are very much necessary and are an important part of our social lives. But think how often you have declined a church related activity, prayer meeting, attending or being involved in an evangelistic program or anything else that is church-related because you chose to do the worldly activity instead. How often have you been choosing worldly activities instead of serving Christ? Is a pattern developing that is leading you away from salvation instead of towards it. Sometimes this can happen without you even realizing it. How often do we pray or have our own private devotions, not to mention family devotions? Do you notice these things becoming less frequent because you are getting busier and busier with everyday activities and responsibilities? We all must examine our decisions, our choices and our actions day by day to see whether we are conforming to the way of the world or we are truly conforming to God’s way.
Secondly, Jesus must be front and centre of our every thought and action because true christian faith recognises his authority above all else. In other words, every thought and every action must originate from a mindset of wanting to show that Jesus is the authority in our lives. He alone has pre-eminence in all that we are and all that we do in this world. This may seem like a no-brainer but the main problem Paul saw in the actions of the Colossians is that by syncretising or merging other beliefs with their faith in Jesus, they were actually minimising the supremacy of Jesus in their lives. He was becoming one among other beliefs, not the one and only that he should always be. It is said that actions speak louder than words, and I am certain that no one here would say, Jesus is not the most important person in your life but the real issue is to what extent have you shown to the world that following Jesus is central to who you are as a Christian. There is a song I learned in Jamaica that has the words, “Everybody ought to know, who Jesus is.” How can everybody know Jesus if they don’t see him as the foundation of our lives? Everything about us must be centred on Jesus our Savior and Lord for our own hope in eternal life but also for others to be able to know him as well. I am glad that as a congregation our motto is ‘To know Christ and to make him known’. We will often find that this is easier said than done. This is partly because we are living in a time when so much of the world is resistant to the Christian faith, partly of course because we Christians have not been practicing it very well. But also because there are so many new and modern ways of thinking and acting that make Christianity and a belief in God seem old fashioned and out of place to many people in our world. A big part of this is that Christianity does not seem to address the human situation as it should and so people get very disillusioned with it. A good example is the situation unfolding in Gaza at the present time. Many Christians here in North America are indifferent to it because it doesn’t affect them directly. It is far removed from them geographically. Yet true Christians should see it as vitally important to lobby without ceasing for all wars to end and for all human beings to be seen as equally important to God. When humans irrespective of what they believe or where they are from are not treated with dignity and respect, there can be no lasting peace. Wars happen because too many people are consumed by selfish motives and not by the desire to live in respect and love for each other as God’s creation irrespective of our backgrounds and circumstances. Many people cannot see Christ or acknowledge him as Lord of all creation because we do not reflect Him as Lord of our lives as we should when we say to others that we are Christians.
Thirdly, faith in Jesus can only be seen in practice. This point really comes out of my previous point. In the text as is customary in Paul’s letters, he tells the Colossians that there are things that must be put to death in their lives that only reflect their earthly nature and not their spiritual selves. These things can be placed in two broad categories which are personal sins and social sins. The personal sins are those that are embedded in your thoughts and actions whether to others or within yourself. Social sins mainly deal with your relationship to others. Whatever they may be, any sin according to Paul is a clear demonstration that Christ is not above all things in your life. The text begins with Paul telling the believers, “set your hearts on things above”, which is a way of saying that Christ must be the sole authority or have the pre-eminence in one’s very being. He tells them afterwards to, “set your mind on things above.” This meant that their earthly actions should now reflect the transformation in their lives gained through their salvation. Like the woman in the song I mentioned earlier, one’s new attitude must be seen in action, in practice. People must see you and know that you are a new person, indeed a new creation born of the Holy Spirit. Paul likens this to taking off old clothes and putting on new ones when he said, “…you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on a new one which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (See Colossians 3:9 NIV)
Our everyday lives must truly reflect the new attitude of people who are born again if the supremacy of Jesus is to be seen in our lives.
Fourthly, there are consequences for how we live our lives in this world. Paul tells the Colossians that the wrath of God is coming for those who continue to live in the old self or the old life. In essence, once sinful behavior and not Christ-like behaviour dominates your life then there will be a consequence for that. The clear implication here is that we will all have to give account to God for how we have lived this life, whether we have lived it in true faith and obedience to His way or we have lived it according to the ways of this world. Christians must always bear this important fact in mind. We cannot escape God’s judgement or being made accountable to God for our actions in this life.
I urge us all today to seriously reflect on our own lives, and contemplate to what extent we have claimed to be Christians yet we have retained much of the old attitudes and practices of our old lives. Let us also consider the extent to which our faith has been compromised or is being compromised because of our shifting of priorities to make Jesus second best in our lives most of the times or we have allowed our faith to become watered down by new beliefs and ideas about the bible and about Jesus. Remember that all of us more than ever before have to work out our faith knowing that not everything we may think is okay and harmless is really harmless and okay as far as our faith in God is concerned.
May God continue to teach us and guide us from His word as we seek to live as people who have been truly “transformed by the renewing of our minds” and have indeed a new attitude towards God and are living this out every day. Amen.