Colossians Your Choice
I have a confession to make. I have way too many shirts. I don’t know what it is, but I have a closet full of shirts. Now before you judge me about being fiscally irresponsible, I’m also a Frenchie’s shopper. For years, when I was at my heaviest, I found it difficult to find shirts that fit me, now the world, is my oyster. Or at least Frenchie’s is my oyster.
The difficulty though, is having to choose what shirt to wear each day. I have some favourites, and the temptation is to just wear my favourites, but then I feel guilty about all that closet space that is being wasted with shirts I don’t wear. And whether the other shirts will feel neglected.
It gets worse when I travel, because I always want to take more shirts than I need. I know I will only be gone for three days, but what if I spill something on my shirt?
Does anyone feel my pain? It might not be shirts for you, maybe it’s dresses, or shoes, jackets or purses. I’m not here to judge.
We are continuing our series on Colossians: Christ Above All, and today we find ourselves in the third chapter of the Paul’s letter to the Christians who made up the church in Colosse.
Back to my shirts. In 2004, American psychologist Barry Schwartz wrote a book called, The Paradox of Choice – Why More Is Less. In the book, Schwartz argues that eliminating consumer choices can greatly reduce anxiety for shoppers.
It is a lot easier to order in a restaurant that has fewer choices on their menu, then having a four-page menu and dozens of choices to choose from.
One of the examples that Schwartz mentions is salad dressing. When I was growing up, we had French, thousand island, Catalina, and Italian. And they all came from Kraft.
In the book, we learn that in the United States, there are over 200 different varieties of salad dressings. Which seems kind of cool, and maybe a little excessive.
There are now all kinds of different ways to top your salad. But you must decide, and according to research, the average shopper will spend at least 10 minutes in the salad dressing aisle picking a dressing. Even when they know what dressing they are looking for.
I probably spend more time than I need to each morning, just picking out a shirt to wear.
When I first went into the ministry, I remember reading about the pastor of a large church who always wore the same thing. A navy suit, a white shirt and a red tie.
When asked about it, he responded by saying, “God’s time is too valuable to waste picking out clothes in the morning.”
In the third chapter of Colossians Paul tells us that we have choices that have to be made. And the most important choice is what we will wear. He wasn’t challenging the Colossian about the number of togas and robes they might have, or about the modesty of their dress. He was talking about our spiritual clothing, what we wear as Christians.
Last week, Rob looked at how Paul had challenged the Colossians to avoid Legalism in their Christian lives.
His scripture was Colossians 2:20–22 You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.
But Paul wasn’t telling the Colossians that they were free to do whatever they liked. Sometimes we want to replace legalism with licence to to do anything. Instead he was telling them to choose a better way.
So, we are told in Colossians 3:9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. So, he begins by telling us there are things we need to take off. In the New International Version, it reads this way: Colossians 3:9 NIV Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.
So, Paul starts by telling us, There are Things We Need to Take Off. And he gets very specific.
It seems that in 2025, people get a little cranky if the church should have the audacity to actually call out specific sins. We are called judgmental. We are told that we aren’t very accepting, and we are asked, where has our Christian love gone?
It seems that the church is expected to accept everyone’s behaviour without question.
And to a certain degree I understand where those outside the church are coming from. The church has been very judgy toward society and the unchurched through history. Demanding that those who don’t have a relationship with Christ behave as if they did.
2000 years ago, Paul addressed that very issue when he wrote to the church in Corinth, saying, 1 Corinthians 5:12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.
And today that becomes a problem, when we think as Christians, that our political parties and politicians should enact and enforce laws to ensure that people will behave as Christians. And that my friends is simply Sharia Law, dressed up in Christian clothes.
Throughout the New Testament, there is an expectation that Christians will behave in a certain way, embraced some behaviours while rejecting others.
Jesus, himself, said that our behaviours would identify us as his followers, we read in Matthew 7:17–19 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.
In today’s culture, if you challenge someone about their behaviour, they get all huffy and say “Don’t judge me, you’re not supposed to judge.” But Jesus said that we can tell what type of tree it is, because of the fruit it produces. That’s not being judgmental, that’s simply being observant. When we live in Australia, our first home we had bananas, mandarins, mulberries, mangos, peaches and lemons growing out back. And when we moved there in August, it was the middle of winter, and there was no fruit on the tree.
But in the spring, there was all kinds of fruit, and if I went up to the tree with mandarins and said, this is not a lemon tree it is a mandarin tree. I wouldn’t be judging the tree by its fruit, I would simply be identifying it by it’s fruit.
He goes on to say, that how we behave would be indicative of our love for Him, John 14:15 Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments.” You can’t live like the devil Monday through Saturday and then say you love Jesus on Sunday.
And so, Paul tells the Colossians that there were certain behaviours that they were supposed to stop doing.
Colossians 3:5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
And just in case he missed a few, he adds to his list in Colossians 3:8–9 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.
As Christ followers, he tells us that these behaviours are supposed to be stripped off and put to death.
Some of those things deal with our personal lives and have an impact on who we are, what we do and how we treat the people in our lives. Others deal with our interpersonal relationships, how we deal with others. And still others, relate to our relationship with God.
And in most cases, we know we shouldn’t be doing them, it’s really no surprise that they need to be avoided. Paul tells the early church in Galatians 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious. . .
But, apparently, it’s not enough to simply stop doing some things, there are other things we should be doing.
Paul goes on to write, Colossians 3:10–11 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
So, we are not only to take some things off, but Paul also tells us that, There are Things We Need to Put On
When we accept the forgiveness of Christ, we become a new person. We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
Over and over again we see this concept reiterated in the New Testament. Being born again, the new birth, a new life. This isn’t just some lofty goal to aspire to, instead it is supposed to be a reality for the believer. And because we are new creations, Paul says our past is no excuse for how we live as a new person in Christ.
Remember, he said, In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
This is what we were like. And this is what we are like now, and they are supposed to be different. The old life is gone; a new life has begun.
And then, just as he has given us a list of behaviours that we are supposed to reject, he now gives us a list of behaviours we are supposed to embrace. Colossians 3:12–15 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
And again, some of those behaviors deal with our personal lives and have an impact on who we are as individuals. Others deal with our interpersonal relationships, how we deal with others. And still others, deal with our relationship with God.
And we shouldn’t have to take the time to define what each of these qualities are.
Now, you’re probably thinking, what do these things have to do with Denn’s shirts?
It goes back to the concept of choices. Each day, I have to decide which of my plethora of shirts I will choose to wear, but as Christians, we just have to decide if we are going to wear our new clothes or our old clothes.
The awesome thing is that the bible tells us that we don’t have to decide between many different options, that we only have two choices here.
When I was speaking about the Paradox of Choice, I mentioned going to a restaurant, and dealing with a menu with a few options, or many options.
I was in Moncton for meetings awhile a go and stopped at a Wing Place for lunch. The server gave us our menu and told us they had over a hundred different ways we could get out wings. It was horrible. Not the wings, I love wings. But the experience was horrible for me and I’m never going back. I agonized for way to long until I finally made my decision, and they didn’t have that flavour I chose.
On the other hand, in 1995, I attended a training event, in Mt. Crested Butte, Colorado, for people starting new churches. On our last night we discovered a restaurant that had been in the community for over 100 years.
And the restaurant only had two choices. The first choice was what they had on the menu and they had one thing on the menu. A fried chicken dinner, with mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and biscuits. For dessert there was apple pie and vanilla ice cream
The second choice of course was to eat someplace else.. It was my dream restaurant.
As Christians we are told that we have two choices. We can choose to give up the old and embrace the new or we can choose to hang on to the old and reject the new.
In between the scriptures that were read earlier, we see these words.
Colossians 3:9–10 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
And Paul tells us that It Will Have to be an Active Choice Look at the actions that Paul uses throughout this passage.
He tells us to set our sights on the realities of heaven. He tells us to put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within us. He tell us to clothe ourselves with new positive attributes and he tells us to Let the message of Christ fill our lives.
Every day we make choices and the choices we make today will shape our future tomorrow.
I know that I sound like a broken drum sometimes about this subject, but I can’t emphasize enough the power of the choices we make. We are where we are today, because of the choices we made yesterday.
And it goes right back to our childhood. We chose whether we would pay attention in class or not. We choose who we would hang out with. We chose the career or educational track we would pursue. We choose who we would marry.
And sometimes when I talk about choices, people will say “You want me to accept the blame.” No, not at all, but we each have to accept the responsibility, to say I am where I am because of choices I made.
And it’s the positive choices as well. If you love your job, that was a choice you made, if you have a happy marriage, that was a choice you made. If you love the colour you painted the living room, that was a choice you made. If you had a good exam at the dentist this week, that’s because sometime in the past you chose to take care of your teeth.
And the choices we make in our spiritual lives today will affect our spiritual lives tomorrow. We can talk about the hypocrites in the church, by the way, my very uncompassionate response is the only thing smaller than a hypocrite is someone who can hide behind a hypocrite.
We can blame the leadership in the local church or scandals in churches that the media seems to relish reporting. But ultimately your spiritual life is a result of the choices you have made.
And the great thing is that, if the choices we made yesterday determine where we are today, then the choices we make today, will determine where we will be tomorrow. We have control over our future.
So, strip off your old self, and put on your new self.
And you are thinking, that sounds tough, it is. But the great thing, is that it’s not something we have to do by ourselves or even something we are supposed to do by ourselves.
Choosing to take off the old and putting on the new is our part. But God plays the most important part. Listen to what Paul tells the Colossians:
Colossians 3:1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God’s right hand.
Colossians 3:4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
Colossians 3:12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
You see, ultimately, It’s Not Because of Who You Are, It’s Because of Whose You Are
The reason you are to strip off some behaviours, and the reason you are to clothe yourself with other behaviours, isn’t to make you a Christian, it’s because you are a Christian.
This isn’t some secret handshake. Do this and this, don’t do that or that, and you will be a Christian. That’s not the way it works.
The Bible is very clear in Ephesians 2:8–10 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
We cannot earn our way into heaven, no matter how good we try to be. That’s why Christ came, and why he offers His grace and forgiveness. We are told in Romans 11:6 NIV And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
And Jesus not only gives us the opportunity to follow him, but he also gives us the power to live as His followers. He will never expect of you to live in a way that he won’t empower you to.
When you choose to become a Christian, you’re not just living for Christ, you’re living with Christ. You are inviting him into your life.
It’s not just offering a chance to come along for a drive, it’s allowing him to drive.
And it’s letting him have control and letting him choose what you will wear.
