Rev Gav

It’s all about relationships

Colossians 3.1–11

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things — anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

Reflect

Part of me would rather avoid awkward passages of scripture, and it is not because I take issue with them, but because they get taken out of context and used to clobber people, however, I like to tackle things head on!

FAB Church, as you know, is inclusive and sex-positive, and for those of us in such communities the phrase ‘sexual immorality’ comes with a lot of unhelpful baggage. The Greek word is ‘porneian’ and it is sometimes erroneously interpreted as ‘fornication’ (meaning sex outside marriage) but it is actually about the desire for sex at the expense of others, or using sex as a means of self-gratification without regard for those from whom that sex is being ‘taken’. The focus here is on our inner desire without regard for others.

Putting it in context, in this passage are two lists. The first list deals with our own internal desires that put ourselves first at the expense of others — whether that is physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. This is the ‘sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed’ list. In fact the word Paul uses the word ‘idolatory’ to describe them — the devotion of something or someone first, ahead of God. The second list deals with the relational expression of those inward desires — anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive language, lying — all things that affect detrimentally other people.

The thrust of the whole passage is about our character and how we need to be transformed from the inside out, and how that inner transformation translates into how we treat other people. To drive home the message, Paul finishes this section with a sentence that reminds us that we are ALL one in Christ, no matter what our race, religious background, or social status.

You see, how we treat and relate to other people and the world around us matters a great deal to God — and it begins with ourselves, who we are on the inside.

Today, no matter who you encounter — their attitude, their spikiness, or their disagreeableness — set your mind on Christ and be kind, loving, generous, and positive. Be fabulous to them and infect them with God’s love.

Pray

Holy God
Help me to seek you first
and re-orbit my life around Christ.
May I always try to
put others before myself
and see them as you see them.
Help me to be Jesus to the world
and to be fabulous to everyone today.