
“Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints”
Colossians 1:4
Have you ever done that thing where you try to describe a friend in two or three words? (Or yourself, because you know we all do that) You try to think of the best word that would sum that person (or ourselves) up, because we all love being put in boxes right? š āJohn is strategic and seriousā, āSarah is reserved and cheerfulā, āLaShonda is outgoing and organizedā, āKobert is hardworking and enthusiasticā, āI am super amazing and awesomeā ;P, etc. Go ahead, because you know you want to (or already have) what are one or two words you would use to describe you? š
Iāve always loved this verse in Paulās opening to his letter to the Colossians. He expresses his thanks for them and that He is praying for them and then basically goes about describing them in one or two words. š It, in a sense, leaves us with the question: what do people think of when they think of you or me? If they are describing you to someone else (beyond physical appearance) what would be the first thing they would bring up about you? What is the defining thrust of your life? They say that you donāt get a second chance to make a first impression, and we shouldnāt be trying to make a great first impression simply so that others will like us⦠but our lives each moment with every person we meet should be a reflection of Christ.
What would those closest to you say about you if they were being blatantly honest? Would they describe you as patient and kind, or would they more readily think of you as someone that just loses it sometimes? Would they describe you as full of faith or a worrier? Would they describe you as cheerful and trusting or as a complainer? Now, most of the time people arenāt going to just call us out like that. āWow, he/she is such a jerkā hopefully isnāt something that people would readily use to describe us⦠but in my flesh, thatās exactly who I can be. So when I read Paulās impression of the Colossians I canāt just be trying to make that same impression on others and wondering what it is they think of me⦠but I must also realize where the source of those things is. So letās dive into this a bit!
āSince we heard of your faith in Christ Jesusā¦ā Faith is such an incredible thing. I think we overuse it in the most weak-wristed way possible and it has taken all of the meaning out of it. We slap it on t-shirts and jewelry. We throw it in at the end of a long worry session to make our friends not be too concerned about us (e.g. āmy life is a complete disaster and I donāt know what to do at all, but ya know itās all good because I have faith and stuffā). We have described it as ābelievingā, and it is, but since we donāt really know what that word means either⦠we just see it as a vague hope that maybe something will go the way we want it to. How pathetic!
When Paul is saying he heard of their faith He is not saying: āI heard you have a faint hope in Jesus that He might do what you wantā. Most of us donāt want to admit it, but our faith is lame. It has no gusto to it⦠it is easily overcome by worry, by fear, by the tiniest hint of opposition. Jesus said if you have a schmiggon of this stuff (mustard seed is tiny, folks!) you can move mountains. This stuff is potent!! This is the very substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen! This is the tenacity that grabs hold of God and the promise of the One Who cannot lie and defies all that would stand against it! This is the stuff that gave those we see as heroes (of the faith!) the guts to stand before lions and giants without so much as a flinch⦠not because they had a vague hope that it would turn out alright, but because they knew their God!
One way Iāve heard faith described is āto cast yourself uponā. I love that description, but I donāt like the way it is usually illustrated. It is usually illustrated like a hammock. You throw your full weight onto the hammock trusting it to hold you, and you rest in that it will. Donāt get me wrong, this is a fine example, because you do fully cast yourself into the hammock and then rest in it to hold you⦠but the problem is, if the hammock gives out what happens? We fall on the ground. Ouch! But Iām still fine. And the problem is that this is exactly how we see faith in God.
We trust Him like we trust that hammock⦠but we also have a ābackup planā if He fails us. Not necessarily consciously, but where do you turn when it looks like God is going to let you down? Most often, I have a vague belief in God, and cast myself on Him⦠but if He fails I will just take care of it myself. Most of us wouldnāt admit that out loud, but we very often have a greater faith in ourselves than in our God. We are the ground we would hit if the hammock gave out⦠we hope the hammock will hold us, but all our confidence isnāt in it. So if that same hammock is held over the Grand Canyon⦠we arenāt getting in that thing! And even if we muster up enough (what feels like) stupidity to get into it, we wonāt rest, we will be thinking of how we will possibly survive if this thing gives out. We will stay close to the edge, we will bring a parachute, we will do whatever we can to cushion the fall we inevitably know will happen one of these days⦠so when the smallest breeze blows there we go questioning the hammock.
This is not faith. Faith is the audacious confidence in the Promiser and His ability to do what He said He will do, and fully casting myself on Him, and then completely and care-free-ly (I know thatās not a word, itās okay, it is now ;)) resting. This is what the heroes of the faith had. It looks absolutely crazy, and it is, if it is placed in anything other than God Himself. And I donāt know about you⦠but I can esteem that, and I can āoooā and āaaaā at it all day long⦠but when it comes to actually having it? I fall short.
So how did the Colossians get it!? Or how did any of the heroes of the faith get it? When faith is used to literally describe someone it isnāt the mamsy-pamsy version⦠So are some people just better at conjuring this up than others? I would say some people are maybe better at faking it than others, but crisis tends to strip us all down to who we truly are⦠to where you canāt fake a single thing anymore⦠So how did these people with faith withstand the crisis? They didnāt just have a conjured up faith. They had exactly what you and I still need and still have access to (!) today. They had and lived by the faith of the Son of God (Galatians 2:20). He is not just Who I place my faith in, He must also be the source of my faith! So often I am fearful and unbelieving⦠but Jesus never doubts His Father. Paul hearing of the faith that the Colossians have āin Christ Jesusā, is not merely a faith they have conjured up and placed in Him, but the faith they have obtained through Him! This is the faith we are also to live by!
Now letās look at the second part of this verse: āand the love which ye have to all the saintsā. Jesus said this is how people would know we belong to Him. Amazingly enough it isnāt by our ministry, our charity efforts, our church attendance, or even our faith (though those things matter)⦠He said they will know we are His by our love for each other (John 13:35). In our culture today love has been equated with tolerance⦠but that is a far cry from what love is. We think of tolerance greater than love in so many ways even. We see it as just accepting whatever a personās preferences are without judgement, but this isnāt love. And sadly this idea has also crept into our thinking in so many ways!
Love and tolerance are not the same thing. āI love youā vs āI tolerate youā are two completely different sentences. And yet we have relegated love to just that⦠putting up with, not judging, accepting where they are at and who they are without trying to change them⦠so when we interact with each other this is whatĀ we do⦠we take on our cultureās idea of love and we put up with each other, we donāt bother challenging each other or exhorting each other in the Lord because we donāt want to start a fight (which it shouldnāt honestly), we donāt pursue the other and push them to Christ.
I have been so convicted recently on how little I love my fellow saints. Love deeply desires the best for the other person. It gives all it has to help when the other has need. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things! It doesnāt give up, but relentlessly pursues the other for their good. And yet we donāt love like this⦠why? Because we are busy, lazy and selfish. We donāt have time, motivation or concern⦠so we just donāt. And yet 1 Corinthians (13:2b) says if we have faith that could remove mountains (like we just described), and donāt have love we are nothing. If this is how the world will see that we belong to Jesus (and Who He is), and without it we are nothing⦠we have got to stop acting like this is something we can tack onto our lives when it is convenient! Because, guess what, it will never be convenient to lay down your life for someone else on a daily basis⦠and yet this is exactly what God has called us to. Relationships are hard. They involve other people, and people are messy.
In my flesh there is nothing in me that wants to give up my time, talents, energy, or self for them⦠even the ones called saints! (Letās admit it, sometimes they are the hardest ones to love⦠*ahem* myself included). I heard this description of love recently and I love how simple it is. Love is āconstantly choosing towardsā. And if I look at what I constantly chose towards, I can tell you what I love (most of the time⦠itās me). I chose towards God sometimes, and I chose towards others sometimes, but if Iām honest that is definitely not the consistent way my āchoosing towardā goes. And, as you probably guessed, selfless love, like faith, isnāt something Iām super amazing at just pulling out from somewhere deep inside of me⦠If I look in my own pockets, they arenāt there. But you know Who does have them and has given us of His fullness (John 1:16)? Ding, ding, ding! Jesus! Guys, we canāt pull this Christian life thing off! We canāt do it. We canāt muster up what it takes to even love our fellow heirs! We need Jesus!
We need His love to just love the person next to us. We donāt really need Him to tolerate them, we can manage that⦠but that isnāt what He called us it! Itās pathetic! He called us to a radical love that fights for (not with), pursues, selflessly serves, honors and prefers, gives of self for, consistently seeks the benefit of, and lays down our lives for others! This isnāt human tolerance or even human love⦠this is other worldly stuff⦠and we canāt mimic it⦠we need the real thing (!); because this will get tested from virtually every angle all day long, and if you are the source of it⦠it isnāt going to last. We cannot be looking to ourselves for this love; we must look to and abide in the One Who is Love! He is the One Who wants to not just give us love, but come and live in us and love through us! And He has a never-ending supply, because it is Who He is!
So what is the thrust of your life? If people heard of you, would they hear of your faith and the love you have for the saints? Would you be described as someone that just trusts God like crazy and loves people like you wouldnāt believe? My prayer for you is that it would be. It has got to come from abiding in the Faithful One, in the One Who is Love⦠Jesus. May He be the very source and thrust of our lives, that the world might see our precious Savior!
-Amy S
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