Garden of the LORD

Garden of the LORD

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

A Winning Plan

“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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