The Colossian Christ followers were facing challenges to their faith. Since that still happens today we’ve been learning from Paul’s letter to them about how you can reach your full potential for God – reach it even though your faith is being tested.
As you begin to grow in Christ Satan will see to it that your progress is challenged. The good news is that God has given you the information to go forward even as you face confrontation with the forces of darkness. We’ve been studying the Colossian letter for this reason.
In chapter one of the letter to the Colossian church we talked about the pre-requisites for reaching your full potential for God: (1) Wanting more than just a ticket to heaven; (2) Worshipping more than just a good man and great teacher (the heresy some were trying to slip into the church at Colossae is still being peddled by the devil today – that Jesus was just a good man); and (3) Withstanding faulty philosophies.
In chapter two we covered making your faith foolproof. (Gnosticism and The DaVinci Code) (1) Maintain constant communion with Christ; (2) Watch out for smoke and mirrors; and (3) Live in the light, not in the shadows.
Last week in chapter 3, Potential Building Principles for Every Day: (1) Set your heart on what is in heaven; (2) Don’t be controlled by your body; (3) Let love be the most important thing in your life; and (4) Let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts.
Now we come to chapter four.
Reaching your full potential is not just something God wants you to be interested in for your sake alone. He wants you to help others reach their full potential. Especially, we’ll see in this fourth chapter of Colossians – God wants those of us who know Him to help those who don’t to find Him so they can reach their full potential.
How do you do that? What practical steps can you take to help others reach their full potential for God? We all know people; we all have people on our hearts and minds who are missing out on the great joy of knowing Jesus. What can we do to help them accept the Good News about Jesus?
1. Never give up praying for the message about Jesus to be spread.
Colossians 4:2 (CEV) Never give up praying. And when you pray, keep alert and be thankful.
3 Be sure to pray that God will make a way for us to spread his message and explain the mystery about Christ, even though I am in jail for doing this.
4 Please pray that I will make the message as clear as possible.
"Never give up" is a great admonition in itself. It can apply to many different areas. But here the Word of God applies it to prayer.
You need to be encouraged to not give up praying for the message of Jesus to be spread. Have you given up on your prayer life in this area? The Word of God and the Spirit of God are challenging you to rekindle your prayer life for others.
And the Bible not only tells you to not give up praying – it specifically tells us three ways to pray. If you do these three things it will help you not to give up on your praying for the message of Jesus to be spread.
a. When you pray, keep alert and be thankful. (Verse 2)
Watchfulness and thankfulness go hand in hand. Be watchful because as you pray Satan is going to attack your faith. I think this is one reason you can be thankful. You say, "Brian have you lost your mind? Be thankful that Satan is attacking my prayers and my faith?" Yes and I’ll tell you why.
If Satan is attacking your prayers that means your prayers are having an impact in the unseen spiritual world where he operates.
Your prayers are scaring the devil out of the devil!
If Satan hates anything he hates prayer! He hates the Word and he hates prayer.
Ephesians 6:11(CEV) Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks. 12We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world.
For spiritual warfare you need spiritual equipment and after Paul describes the believer’s armor in Ephesians chapter six he says this:
Ephesians 6:18 (CEV) Never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert and keep praying for God’s people.
Prayer is the oil that keeps the Christian’s armor from rusting.
a. When you pray, keep alert and be thankful. And then the Bible says,
b. Pray that God will make a way to spread his message. (Verse 3)
There are many means of spreading the Good News about Jesus but the methods are not as important as the power of prayer behind them.
Consider the story of William Carey’s sister. William was a missionary who labored in India for forty-two years in the mid to late 1800s. He and his coworkers translated the Bible into twenty-five Indian languages. Many books have been written about him, and rightly so. His impact was so great that he is known as "the father of modern missions."
But it may have been William Carey’s sister who played a large role in his success at spreading the Good News. Warren and Ruth Myers wrote a book entitled, "Pray," in which they tell her amazing story.
Mary, William’s youngest sister, whom he called "Polly," was bedridden and almost completely paralyzed for fifty-two years. But she was close to God and to her brother.
William wrote to her the details of his struggles in creating Indian grammar books, primers, and dictionaries. He described the difficulties of figuring out how to get books typed and Bibles printed. As he sent these details to her in London, she lifted them to the Lord in prayer, faithfully offering up many hours of prayer "work," asking God to meet her brother’s needs year after year. As Warren and Ruth Myers ask, "To whose account will God credit the victories won through this remarkable man?"
What a woman of faith Polly was to never let her physical disability paralyze her prayer life.
What difficulties do you let keep you from prayer? Pray that God will make a way in spite of the difficulties!
And then you are to
c. Pray that the message will be as clear as possible. (Verse 4)
Satan wants to confuse people about the Good News about Jesus. He wants them to believe all kinds of distortions of the truth. It is vital that the truth about Jesus be clear. That is what the Bible is about. That is what the letter to the Colossian church is about and why we’ve made it the topic of our consideration this month.
We need to pray because we can’t overcome Satan’s propaganda campaign on our own.
So, 1. Never give up praying
And secondly, if you want to help others reach their full potential for God:
2. Imitate Christ in your relationships with unbelievers.
Colossians 4:5 (CEV) When you are with unbelievers, always make good use of the time.
6 Be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message. Choose your words carefully and be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions.
When you read these instructions from this church letter they sound familiar. They should. They are patterned after the life and relationships of Christ. When you study the gospels you see Jesus in all of these principles.
a. Always make good use of time. (Verse 5) No one can manage every minute of every day perfectly because we’re all human. But you need to think about making good use of time in regard to sharing the Good News about Christ.
b. Be pleasant. (Verse 6)
c. Hold people’s interest when you share the Good News. (Verse 6)
d. Choose your words carefully. (Verse 6)
e. Be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions. (Verse 6)
I want to sum up the importance of all of these biblical instructions in an article by Lee Strobel called "Irksome Christians."
"The news from Jesus was mind-boggling: The very people who thought they would never be eligible to get into God’s Kingdom are invited in - not because of their goodness, but on the basis of His.
What’s more, Jesus wanted this life-transforming message to be communicated around the globe throughout history. But how? What would His approach be?
That’s when Jesus unveiled His strategic plan. In effect, He told His followers: "You are my marketing strategy. You are the means by which my message will be spread in your family, neighborhood, workplace and school. You’ll do it by being salt and light. That’s Plan A. And friends, this had better work, because there is no Plan B."
What an outlandish idea - that frail and fallible people like you and I would be the main purveyors of this eternity-altering message.
It was a high-stakes strategy. And the results have been...well, let’s admit it, a bit mixed. Even though Jesus used the images of salt and light in a positive way, some Christians have managed to turn them into negative metaphors.
Just as there are times when salt can sting and light can glare, some Christians have good intentions, but they inadvertently repel people from God’s Kingdom. At least, that’s what I found when I was an atheist. In fact, four kinds of Christians particularly irked me.
First, there were the in-your-face Christians, like the guy I used to pass on my way to work at the Chicago Tribune. He’d shout into a bullhorn that distorted his words so much I couldn’t even tell what he was saying. But he angrily waved a Bible, so I got the basic idea. "If that’s Christianity," I’d say to myself, "Then count me out!"
In-your-face Christians were always anxious to launch into a spiritual discussion at the most inopportune times. I could imagine squeezing between the rows at a crowded movie theatre, looking for an empty seat. "Is that seat saved?" I’d ask the person next to it.
"No, it’s not," he’d bellow. "But hte real question is, are you saved?"
Frankly, I resented strangers who tried to push themselves into something as personal as my spiritual beliefs.
I also was repulsed by the greeting-card Christians, whose understanding of their faith was so shallow that they could only talk about it in the kind of simple-minded cliches you’d find on Christmas cards.
I’d ask a million-dollar spiritual question and they’d give me a 25-cent answer - or no response at all. I’d think, "how can they believe something they’ve never even thought through?"
The holier-than-thou Christians repelled me too. Smug and self-righteous, they painted themselves as being much better than they really were, and tarred people like me as being much worse than we really were.
I got the idea that if I were to venture into one of their churches, people would frantically whisper behind my back, "Look out! It’s one of those hell-bound pagans! Quick, lock up the valuables! Gather the children! Protect the women!"
The other folks who chase me away were the cosmetic Christians. They had a skin-deep spirituality that looked good on the outside but didn’t penetrate deep enough to change their behavior - like the journalist who was one of the most unscrupulous reporters in Chicago, but who let everybody know what a church-going family man he was.
It doesn’t have to be that way. As individuals and churches, we can make a conscious decision to fulfill Jesus’ command in the way He intended. We can commit, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to be like salt that is savory and light that gently illuminates." (Outreach Magazine, Sept/Aug 2005)
1. Never give up praying for the message about Jesus to be spread.
2. Imitate Christ in your relationships with unbelievers.
3. Get involved in the lives of others.
Colossians 4:7 (CEV) Tychicus is the dear friend, who faithfully works and serves the Lord with us, and he will give you the news about me.
8 I am sending him to cheer you up by telling you how we are getting along.
9 Onesimus, that dear and faithful follower from your own group, is coming with him. The two of them will tell you everything that has happened here.
10 Aristarchus is in jail with me. He sends greetings to you, and so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have already been told to welcome Mark, if he visits you.
11 Jesus, who is known as Justus, sends his greetings. These three men are the only Jewish followers who have worked with me for the kingdom of God. They have given me much comfort.
12 Your own Epaphras, who serves Christ Jesus, sends his greetings. He always prays hard that you may fully know what the Lord wants you to do and that you may do it completely.
13 I have seen how much trouble he has gone through for you and for the followers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.
14 Our dear doctor Luke sends you his greetings, and so does Demas.
15 Give my greetings to the followers at Laodicea, especially to Nympha and the church that meets in her home.
16 After this letter has been read to your people, be sure to have it read in the church at Laodicea. And you should read the letter that I have sent to them.
17 Remind Archippus to do the work that the Lord has given him to do.
18 I am signing this letter myself: PAUL. Don’t forget that I am in jail. I pray that God will be kind to you.
Paul didn’t do ministry from an ivory tower. Like His Master, he and his missionary helpers got involved in people’s lives.
People are not reached for Jesus by sitting inside the church and voting on what color of carpet to install. People are reached for Jesus by us getting outside these four walls and getting involved in their lives! Yes we need to have good programs and good music and a comfortable environment in which to worship, but it takes getting involved in people’s lives to help them reach their full potential for God.
Church signs are good, church mailings are good at letting people know you’re here but without the personal touch it’s all in vain.
Jesus got out and mingled with people in their daily lives. He touched them. So did the successful missionaries of the first century.
The examples of the people Paul spoke about in Colossians four illustrate how it’s done.
a. Get involved in the lives of others by being an encourager.
Verses 7-9: Tychicus & Onesimus– Paul sent them to cheer the Colossians up. You need to get involved in the cheering up ministry. So many people drag others down. The Christ follower who wants to help other reach their full potential for God will cheer others up.
This weekend the NCAA Basketball tournament is taking place. One of the greatest coaches ever in NCAA basketball was John Wooden. He coached the UCLA Bruins to ten national championships in thirteen years! WOW! How did he do it? One of his instructions to his players was that whenever a basket was made, the player who scored was required to smile, wink, nod, or point to the player who passed the ball to him.
When coach Wooden gave these instructions to one team, one of his new players said, "But Coach, what if he’s not looking?" John Wooden said, "I guarantee he’ll look." He was right, because everyone is looking for encouragement and affirmation.
b. Get involved in the lives of others by being there.
Verse 10 Aristarchus was in jail with Paul!
In Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan the priest and the Levite who passed by the wounded man in the ditch and let him continue to bleed after having been beaten by robbers were no help to him. It was the Samaritan who got down in the ditch with the man, tended to his wounds and put him on his donkey and paid for him to have a room in the inn until he got better who modeled true Christ-likeness.
c. Get involved in the lives of others by being a comforter.
Verses 10-11, Mark, Barnabas and Justus comforted Paul. The Greek word implies to comfort someone by coming along beside them. That’s kind of like the "being there" we just covered, but it involves being there for someone with the explicit purpose of comforting them.
Someone may need comfort during or after the illness or death of a loved one. They may need comfort after having gone through a divorce. Perhaps they need comfort because they have faced a financial or vocational crisis.
d. Get involved in the lives of others by praying for them.
Verses 12-13 – Epaphras prayed hard for the Colossian believers. It’s very possible that Epaphras was the pastor of the church at Colossae.
Since this chapter has already covered prayer we won’t stay here for long. Tell others you are praying for them and do it. Let your unchurched friends see the power of prayer.
e. Get involved in the lives of others by offering practical help.
Verse 14 – Doctor Luke spent a lot of time with Paul on his journeys. What do you need a doctor for? A doctor can diagnose and treat illness. That’s pretty practical. A doctor is a healer through medicine and knowledge.
The healing influence believers can have in the lives of the unchurched is invaluable toward reaching them for Christ!
f. Get involved in the lives of others by opening up your home.
Verse 15 – Nympha of Laodicea hosted a house church.
Hospitality can be one of the greatest barrier removers to the Good News about Jesus.
Get involved in the lives of others.
1. Never give up praying for the message about Jesus to be spread.
2. Imitate Christ in your relationships with unbelievers.
And
3. Get involved in the lives of others.
God put you here to help others reach their full potential for Him. Don’t sit on your hands. Don’t give up.
Never give up praying. Does someone here today need to make a re-commitment about praying for the message of Jesus to be spread?
Are you imitating Christ in your relationships with the unchurched? Are you pleasant? Do you choose your words carefully?
How are you doing about getting involved in the lives of others? Are you expecting the lost to come to you or are you obeying the Great Commission of Jesus to go to them?
It’s time for action. It’s time for commitment. Put your life in the battle for helping others reach their full potential for God.
Last week I picked up a book called "Brainteasers for CEO’s." The book was page after page of questions to stimulate business leaders to think about what they needed to be thinking about.
I flipped open the page to the question, "What’s your exit strategy?"
Business leaders are taught to have a corporate and personal exit strategy nowadays in case something goes wrong.
I realized that in all of my years of ministry I’ve never had an exit strategy. Satan tempts me to have an exit strategy. Sometimes the work of ministry gets discouraging and frustrating. Sometimes I’d like to go start a business somewhere and have less sleepless nights and less digestion problems. But a long time ago I burned the bridges behind me.
Sometimes you’d like to have an exit strategy. You’d like to give up praying, and imitating Christ and getting involved in the lives of the unchurched because frankly, most of the time they just don’t get it. They don’t realize you’re trying to save their souls and change their lives in a positive direction. (Like the bumper sticker I read yesterday: "God protect me from your followers.")
But some will get it. Most of you did.
Aren’t you glad there was someone who didn’t give up praying for you? They didn’t give up imitating Christ or getting involved in your life?
Coming to Christ in America may have its detractors but when you see people like Abdul Rahman in Afghanistan this past week under sentence of death for converting to Christianity from Islam you begin to realize our struggles for Christ in America are small in comparison. We wilt under lesser pressures than our brothers and sisters around the world are facing for their faith!
Who will commit themselves afresh and anew to helping others reach their full potential for God today?
