Colossians 3:12-17
We have been talking since Easter about what it means to be in Christ. Those advantages include being a child of God with the promise of His inheritance, being a new creation and no longer trapped by the constraints of sin, the promise that you are never alone, the freedom to choose, the reality of you being a masterpiece of God and the deep truth that you are deeply and fully loved by God. That’s a lot! And there is a lot more we haven’t covered, but as we head toward completion of this series, we can begin to see this come together; why He has blessed us so richly in Christ; because He wants others to see you.
That’s often the part we like to skip over—that people are going to be looking to us to make decisions about God. It’d be much easier to witness if the quality of our lives don’t matter, but they do! We have been chosen to be Jesus’ representatives on earth and that means visibly stepping out on the front lines. This leaves us with an important choice to make.
Chosen People Have a Decision to Make
My senior year of high school, I was an early adopter and (I think) particularly good swing dancer – it did incredible things for my life and it built in me a willingness to step out and be different, which God has used in my calling a lot. But as I was headed to college, for me to continue in my call and go to Bible college, I had to be willing to give up swing dancing; something that had become of major importance in my life. As silly as it may seem, I was stuck between two difficult but amazing choices. One the one hand, I had my calling into ministry and the opportunity at Crown to help bring that to fruition, but on the other I had a community that loved me and an activity that I was really good at. For me to follow my call meant giving up something that was very important. Swing dancing may not seem like that big of a deal, but for me it was that question exactly: was I more focused on the world’s values or on Christ? Jesus wants people to see compassion, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love in you.
Specifics may look different for you, but the challenge is the same. Will you put on Christ and take off the old self? If you’re going to follow Christ, your adventure will include being a representative of Him on earth. People will look at you to see Him. You can’t do that if you’re still holding onto the world’s values. Israel couldn’t represent God because the Israelites looked too much like the world. If I had followed swing, I would have looked like arrogance, selfishness, and lust. Could I have done that and been true to my faith? Maybe…but it certainly would have been a much more difficult road. Jesus Himself said you can’t serve two masters (Matt 6:24). The job in front of us is too important to only do half way. We need to make the wiser choice and go all-in with Christ: look like Him so that we can successfully complete our call.
Chosen People Have a Job to Do
That call (our job) is described right in these verses: teach and admonish (or warn), sing praises to God (with all types of music), and let Him be your target and goal in everything else you do. We must be at our best, which is why Jesus sets us apart (or calls us out) for this work. In our kitchen, we use a lot of hand towels, and while mostly, they are all just different colors because we like color in our home, the green hand towels have been set apart for a specific purpose – cleaning up spills either on the counter or floor. That’s all they are used for, because they have to do the “dirty” work. That’s what set apart or sanctified means (in a basic sense) – being used for a specific purpose and called out so that you can do that very thing. For Christians, that means when playing at the park in a way that others can see Jesus in us with our attitudes and actions. Same when we go to work or walk around the mall. Same when we deal with people we don’t like. Same when we work through difficult stations in life – maybe dealing with that nurse or doctor when you’re sick. No matter what situation you’re in, you have a job and that job is to represent Christ with your actions and attitudes. That’s why you need to put away the old self – which can’t be done except with Christ and Christ alone. It is His work in you that makes this possible; like John the Baptist, He must increase, and I must decrease (John 3:30).
Next Steps
That is sanctification. It works by allowing Christ more lordship over you by doing things build more trust in Him and put Him at the front of our minds. Read v15-16a. The key word in those phrases is “let”. Let the peace of Christ rule and the word of Christ dwell. This is making Christ the center. He must be our focus, our intention, our desire, our everything. We must fix our eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:2), letting Him run our hearts and our thoughts and studying His word so that we know Him fully. I knew I had to give up swing dancing; trying to live as “kinda” Christian won’t work. Christ is either your center or you will ultimately go back to the world. You’ve been chosen with a choice. Will you go all-in with Jesus?
- Go all in with Christ by literally putting your money where your mouth is – trust Him by giving your tithes and offerings.
- Spend time each day in scripture! Keep Him your focus with study and memorization.
- Celebrate Jesus every day, but especially when we meet together.
You’ve been selected by the King of Heaven and Earth because He wants YOU! On His side! But He didn’t choose you so you could sit all day on the couch watching stories and eating bonbons. He chose you and set you apart so you can participate in His grand adventure. Will you go all-in?
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