“…God may open a door for (the word)…”

“…God may open a door for (the word)…”

July 28, 2010, 2:09 pm
Filed under: N Letter to the Colossians

I come to the conclusion of Colossians and have been thinking about this whole section. This section pretty much sums up the reason for church living by Christ’s life. To manifest Jesus Christ not just to one another, but to all creation!

As we live by Jesus life in face to face community with other brothers and sisters in Christ in our households and as we meet each other during the day, He changes us! We are “being built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” As we “live a life worthy of the Lord” pleasing “him in every way” we will bear “fruit in every good work,” we will grow “in the knowledge of God” because of having “been strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that we may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father.” This is the result of living by the life of Christ in community in an organic way! Our households will manifest Christ as we gather together from house to house living by the Spirit. Our places of work will manifest Christ as we live by His life. In 1st Century Colosse, if not all cities in that day and age, many worked as part of households, so those in Christ in a household manifested Christ to other neighboring households during the day! In today’s day and age, especially in those of technologically advanced cultures where work is miles away from the household, how important it is to find other brothers and sisters in Christ who work in the same working environment to enable the life of Christ to manifest Himself through their working relationships.

Christ’s life is manifested towards the world when we are “wise in the way you act toward outsiders,” making “the most of every opportunity” and letting “your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Remember living by Christ’s life looks like this: “Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” This is not preaching, this is not evangelizing, this is not handing out tracks, this is about living by the Holy Spirit. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Let us have that perspective!

I am so thankful that in my own conversations at the place I work at I have found other teachers as well as students who either know Christ or are on that journey to knowing Christ so that we can share Christ together as we go about the work that we do, encouraging each other and praying for one another. It brings a new perspective, a sense of accountability to some degree, that some of the persons I am working with or some of those whom I teach know Christ and are looking for Christ in me. My senses become more tuned to listening to what Christ is saying in the midst and to follow His directions in my working environment. Living by Christ’s life in this way sometimes seems that we live a life in continuous prayer.

Jesus Christ is looking for a home in every neighborhood, every working place, in every city, in every country. To NOT live by Jesus’ life and to manifest that life of love to others is a denial of God’s grace and truth that has been given to you and I. Only when we fail to keep Jesus Christ as head of His church in our gatherings usurping His life then the entire body of Christ will always be struggling to understand Christ in them, they will look like the world they will live by the flesh. They will unknowingly live in denial. Denial that we “died with Christ to the basic principles of this world” and denial that He is our life. No wonder Paul had to give a warning to the Corinthian church: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus in is you – unless of course, you fail the test?” How important is prayer for one another! “We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Let us pray that for each other!

The rest of this concluding section of Paul’s letter to the church in Colosse describes the importance of church planters in the life of the church. I do not mean what we have now in the modern church where self titled “apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers” have replaced function with position and missionaries are underlings to these positioned people in institutional churches. Church planters, servants of Christ and His body, who have lived in organic church life, from how I read the Scripture are the only ones called out to proclaim Christ in the forming of communities of believers, helping build a foundation of Christ with the church, leaving them and from time to time returning to encourage the brothers and sisters to move forward in the Lord. They did not stay, get hired by the church, and set up a weekly “preaching service” or “healing service” or “prophetic service” or “singing service” which replaced the daily meeting together with Christ as head, we have replaced Christ with a thing. But sadly that is what happened in church history. “Finding Organic Church” by Frank Viola provides an excellent resource to better understanding this more authentic biblical way of planting churches.

As we truly live by Christ’s life in an organic way together with other brothers and sisters in Christ, perhaps God may be calling you to either be a “Priscilla and Aquila” to help prepare the way for a church in your home for a church planter or to go out with other brothers and sisters and plant churches that live by Christ’s life in an organic way. Prayer is important. Even Paul asked the church in Colosse to pray for him. “Praying together also concerning us in order that God may open to us a door of the word (logos), to speak the mystery of Christ.” We should pray for each other that Christ would manifest His life through us by speaking His words of grace and truth, clearly and without confusion. Together we should pray for others who like Paul, church planters of organic churches, that they to should manifest Christ’s life so that others may hear the good news and understand “God’s grace in all its truth” receiving Christ Jesus as Lord so that He might root Himself in another group of followers, His body, so that more may see “the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

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