“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching
everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in
Christ. To this end I labor, struggling
with all his energy which so powerfully works in me.”
Colossians
1:28-29
I lost my cat two
weeks ago. Not the most encouraging way
to open a post but its raw and its real and I promised you raw and real. No plastic Christianity. No polished version of spirituality. Just me and the real stuff.
Her name was Grace
and she came to us not long after my salvation.
I gave her that name as a constant reminder to me of the grace that God
had poured into my life when He revealed Himself to me. She was a relentless cat, always climbing on
us and making her presence known. You
couldn’t get away from Grace. Her
passing happened quickly. I knew that
she had been losing weight but she had always been a pudgy thing so no
worries. In the midst, I had a dog that
had surgery and I was distracted by her recovery and rehab. I hadn’t really noticed that Grace’s
countenance was changing rapidly. When
I did, it was too late. We had to let
her go. The hardest thing I have ever
had to do.
I know as I write
this that Grace was a cat and not a human.
My heart, while heavy with loss, is very aware how exponentially more my
grief would or could have been had it been a child or any human who had gripped
my heart. Yet my grief is real as is my
guilt. I keep thinking that “if only” I
had done this or that, it might have turned out differently. You see if we do everything perfectly and
right doesn’t life go perfect and right.
If our life is easy and happy and goes exactly as we expect, doesn’t
that somehow in a cosmic sense scream perfection, rightness, having it
all-ness.
While we might not
admit to it, I think deep down for many of us this is the foundation of our
theology. We think if we follow all the
rules and do things just perfectly, than life will be perfect. No scars or bruises just a clear unblemished
history of circumstances. Unfortunately,
life invades and keeping the rules and doing things perfectly is an
unattainable goal. Yet we keep
trying. We hang on to a theology that
unrelentingly drives us with the mantra “if you just do this or that everything
will work out”. Happiness is attainable
if you just do everything perfectly. Do
this! Don’t do that! Go here! Don’t go there! The drive is relentless and unyielding. Yet we succumb. Over and over and over and we are
miserable.
In our passage
today, Paul addresses perfectionism. Why?
Because those annoying gnostic’s (I think that is what I will call them
from now on) were telling everyone at Colossae that perfection was not only
attainable but necessary for their spiritual life. Sound familiar? You can’t necessarily tell this from the
above scriptures but this is where background and context are crucial to study. Background and context. They are so important when studying
scripture.
We are going to
address two questions today. 1) What
does Paul mean by the terminology “perfect
in Christ”? 2) Why is he struggling
to that end?
The word used for
“perfect” in the original Greek manuscripts is teleios. It generally means
a goal or purpose but there are also several nuances with the word as it is
translated into our English version Bibles.
Firstly, according to the lexical aid I am using, the use of teleios in Colossians 1:28 has a very
specific connotation.
“In Colossians 1:28 the meaning of teleios is defined against the backdrop
of what scholars have termed ‘incipient gnosticism’, a theology that threatened
to undermine the pure gospel doctrine in the Colossian Church. Gnosticism taught that faith in Christ was
only a starting point in one’s experience of divine redemption and revelation;
according to the Gnostic thought, lies a whole order of extraordinary religious
experiences through which one could ascent to greater heights of redemptive
knowledge. Persons who had undergone
these mystical experiences and gained this knowledge were thought of as
initiates (teleioi) enlightened
leaders initiated into divine mysteries.
As an argument against such showy nonsense, Paul states that his efforts
of teaching and admonishing were aimed at presenting the fact that in Christ
every man is already teleios.” (Key
Word Study Bible, AMG Publishers, p. 1678)
Paul was
essentially explaining to the Colossians that there was no other experience
that would make them more perfect. In
Christ, they had already achieved all that they needed spiritually. It was finished.
So if it was
finished, what is all Paul laboring about?
Two paragraphs back I mentioned that this word for “perfect” in the
Greek, had several nuances regarding its meaning. Perfect can mean perfect as in Matthew 5:48
where we are instructed to “be perfect as God is perfect”. Here it means perfect. No softening of the meaning. It is meant to be unattainable so that the
reader would recognize his need for a savior.
But there are
other places where the teleios is
translated “mature”. Most commentators
agree that Paul was emphasizing the Colossians need to mature in their
knowledge of Christ and what they already have in Him. It seems Paul is doing two things by
emphasizing his goal to present everyone perfect in Christ. He is informing them that
1)
In
Christ, they are already perfect.
2)
They
need to mature in their understanding of this relationship.
There is no plan
B. Only plan A. They are already made perfect and they need
to grow into the understanding of that perfection. Everything they need or desire is found in
Christ. Nothing extraneous. Only Jesus.
How does this
maturity happen?
James 1:4 should
bring us some clarity.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever
you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith
develops perseverance. Perseverance must
finish its work so that you may be mature
and complete not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 (emphasis mine)
The word
highlighted mature is our word teleios
in the Greek. James is telling us that
maturity is directly connected trials.
It is through these trials, difficulties and challenges to our faith
that we learn not only who God is but who we are as well. We learn that life with Christ is not smooth
sailing but a roller coaster ride filled with magnificent highs and heart
pounding lows.
Paul is implying
to the Colossians, that this life of perfection is not free from adversity but
that this adversity is part of what will mature us in our faith. Paul at the time of this writing is in prison. If anyone thought he must have done something
less than perfect, it would be him. Yet
he was adamant about presenting everyone perfect in Christ. Everyone would include him.
On this path of
perfection and maturity, we will face trials that cause us to doubt who we are
and what we believe. Trials that bring
us to question the “Who” of our faith, the One who holds all things together
and Who is supreme over all things yet allows the hardship that rends our
hearts. We don’t understand this God. It
couldn’t be Him because He is good. Perhaps
there is something more I need. It must
be me. I must be doing something
wrong. He is perfect. Life with Him is supposed to be perfect. We question, falter, argue, pound the pillow
at night, yet we still believe.
We persevere in
spite of the ache in our hearts.
We become aware
that we are fallible and we are more conscious of our need for a savior. We aren’t perfect after all.
We learn that our
God is a wild God and He can not be tamed.
We lose things we
love yet we still trust.
He lifts our heads
and we press on.
And we mature.
One of the marks of spiritual maturity is
the quiet confidence that God is in control…without the need to understand why
he does what he does.
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