“I tell you this so that no one may deceive
you with fine-sounding arguments. For
though I am absent form you in body; I am present with you in spirit and
delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.”
Colossians
2:4-5
Writing can be a
challenging prospect, especially if you are devoted to the kind of style that
commands transparency. I am committed to
being authentic and genuine in my writing.
It would be ridiculous for me to allow any pretense in my blogging. I would be a fool. I have too many beloved readers who know me
and love me well enough to call me out if even a whisper of duplicity was woven
within my wording.
Unfortunately,
because I choose to live and write real, there are embarrassing moments of
absolute candidness used for illustrations that one would rather not use. The text calls for it. The illustration is perfect and for all my
creative efforts I just can’t find another that works as well and is as useful
for scriptural application.
So here I go. My name is Arlene and I am an Avengers fan. Yes, I just viewed Avengers, Age of Ultron currently in the theatres. And
yes, I loved it. There I was popcorn in
hand, face plastered with a silly grin, engaging with every minute of it. Sorry, I know I have written some pretty raw
posts in the last few months but if I have gone too far and you need to turn
away feel free.
I am not sure what
exactly drives me to these kinds of super-hero movies. But there are several things that draw me in
and rarely it’s the story line. My
attraction lies mostly in that the Avengers see truth; they fight for truth and
they battle together for truth. They
maintain unity even though they are incredibly different in strengths and
perspectives. In fact, they could easily
destroy each other since they have superhuman ability that varies with each
character. Yet they don’t turn on one
another. They work together and battle
for truth and justice. And they always
win…together.
What does this
have to do with our verses today? Kind
of a lot. In my last post, I discussed
what Paul identified as spiritual maturity and we all took a spiritual math
test of sorts. Paul described for us
four key areas we need to see change in order to grow in our spiritual
life. A moving forward momentum in the
following areas marks spiritual growth;
1)
A spirit
of encouragement
2)
Loving
unity
3)
Knowing
the full riches of our inheritance in Christ
4)
Living
in the complete understanding of those riches
Now, Paul is
wrapping a bow around all of these with one last emphasis. He adds an additional quality, which has
everything to do with my candid illustration above. Can you figure it out? It’s warfare.
Yup warfare. Something we would
rather not discuss but discuss we must.
In my own personal
life, I think this is the area that I am most deceived about. I continually forget that there is an enemy
whose sole job is to mess with me. He
comes ONLY to steal, kill, and destroy and he will use any means to accomplish
that. Loved ones, finances, physical
illness, misunderstandings, believers etc.
Here is something else, he rarely troubles me when I am not doing
something to advance the kingdom and always comes to me when I am at my weakest. And when that happens I forget and he uses
his clever art of deception to keep me hammered and unproductive for Christ.
Paul is warning
the Colossian church in the verses above to not be deceived. He is cautioning them to not be swayed by any
“fine sounding arguments”. That is a
word for today if ever I heard one. Friends,
this world is filled with fine sounding arguments against Christ. They espouse that Jesus is not God. He is only, a prophet, teacher, wise leader
or one of many spiritual children God has placed on the earth. Our opponents will attempt to convince us
that there are many ways to God and you in fact are quite intolerant of others
peoples beliefs. Their arguments could
sound confident, reasonable and forceful enough to convince us out of our
absolute need for Christ.
This is why it is
essential for us to know and I mean KNOW what we believe and why. Christianity is a defendable faith. It is not some elusive viewpoint that can’t
be substantiated. I would love to go
there and give a lesson on how to defend our faith, but that is for another
post. Paul is warning them that there
are people about who would love to use “fine sounding arguments” to convince
them that what their need is really outside of Christ. NOT TRUE believer. We have all we need in Christ. He is the cornerstone of our faith.
Paul, then,
continues encouraging them in their faith in Christ in verse five. He is choosing here to use military
terminology, through the use of specifically chosen words, implying that there
is indeed a battle for their faith. The
words “orderly” and “firm” used in verse five were distinct military inferences.
“Orderly” referred
to soldiers arranging themselves by ranks with each soldier in his proper
place. When we all take our place in the
body of Christ, with the gifts God has given us, we are strong. The body needs everyone operating within
their spiritual and natural gifting to wage proper battle against the
enemy.
“Firm” pictures
soldiers in battle formation presently a solid front against the enemy. “Firm”
represents unity. We need to be in unity
fighting for one another. The enemy is
not each other. But unfortunately we
fight so strongly against each other that he easily destroys our “firm”
standing in our faith.
Do you understand
my compelling yet reluctant need to share my Avenger movie weakness with
you? Like I said, it isn’t the story
line that moves me but the obvious portrayal of what the church could do if we
stood together with all our many strengths and fought the fight for OUR faith
together. It’s not for my faith but our faith. We fight for each other not with each other. Everyone is
needed. No one gets to sit out. When we do there is nothing that can stand
against us.
We are at war
friends. To be spiritually mature means
not only do you know this but also you guard yourself from any deception, take
your place in the body and stand with each other because we should be united
for Christ. We are not on a playground
we are on a battlefield. And good news,
when we do, we win… together!
There’s many a battle fought daily the
world knows nothing about.
Phoebe Cary
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