Colossians 3:16
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God.”
Think of your favorite food right now…..Are you hungry yet?? It is important to understand that this food that you are thinking of is probably made up of different ingredients that come together to form this great dish (unless of course your favorite food is an apple, orange, banana, etc., to which I might say you need to expand your horizons just a bit – haha). In this dish though, there is probably a main flavor that is prominent over the rest and that is influencing all of the rest of the dish. The main ingredient influences the smell, taste, and visual look of the dish as a whole. Today I want to try to help us understand how the Word of Christ (i.e. the Gospel, the Bible, Jesus’ teachings, etc.) can and should be the main influence in the ingredients that make up our lives.
The Word of Christ
This is a reference to Christ’s teachings, the Gospel message, and/or the Bible as a whole. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly”, I believe this to be a call to allow the Word of God to be the most evident influence in the dish of your life! When we do allow this to influence everything about us, we will inevitably be a much more “tasty” treat for others to be around. The smell and taste of your life will begin to show forth fruits such as the ingredients that we have been discussing for the past several posts, such as; a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiving, etc. (I have been using a clothing analogy in previous points, but think of all of those virtues as ingredients to the dish of your life). This kind of a life is certainly a sweet smelling offering to the Lord and to the people around us!
There is a Scripture that says a little leaven leavens at the whole lump (Gal. 5:9), and I believe that this can be to the good too. When the leaven of the Word of God is in the lump of our lives, that will definitely influence our life for the better!
Teaching and Exhorting one another
I cannot express strongly enough the importance of teaching, both sitting under the teaching of the Word and being the one who is teaching others this Word of Christ! The wonderful thing about the Word of Christ is that it is simple enough for all of us to be able to teach it to others. Now, there are some complex issues and stories in the Scriptures that do need to be studied through and taught through from a Pastoral and theologically informed instructor, but for the basic and simple message of the Gospel anyone is able to teach and exhort (encourage with a warning!) others to embrace this message!
Exhortation is a Spiritual gift (see Romans 12:8) given by the Holy Spirit (as is teaching according to Romans 12:7), and I do pray that there are many who will operate within this gifting. When we do operate in the gift of exhortation, you’re “centrally motivating drive is to encourage believers to mature in Christ and to grow spiritually. Exhorters often seek to stimulate that development by discipling, teaching, and counseling others.”, according to the Institute in Basic Life Principles website.
I took my Spiritual gifts assessment quite a few years ago, and I found through that my highest Spiritual gift is Exhortation (tied with Evangelism). So, I will get accused a lot of being very direct and almost forceful when I talk with people about Christianity and their need to be transformed by the Gospel. My “life verse” is Col 2:2 and it says, “My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ,”. I can remember reading that in the office where I was working at the time and being moved to tears as I reflected upon God’s calling upon my life! Encouraging people to grow in their love for God and each other, and to grow in their knowledge of God is paramount in my life’s mission!
It also explains that we need to teach and exhort with wisdom. This is important too because it puts an emphasis on the need to approach each person and situation with a sense of humility and dependance on God and His will at that time. We need to remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, so when we are faced with an opportunity to teach someone else some Biblical principles then we need to do so with a humble heart that is asking the Lord for His direction throughout that conversation. That is wisdom.
Singing songs, Hymns, and Spiritual songs
I love this directive from Paul because I just so happen to be the Worship Pastor at Eagleville Bible Church and this gives me some good “ammo” for the congregation (haha). Seriously, I love this because of the importance music does play in educating and enhancing our expression of our faith! Singing is a great way to say something that we normally wouldn’t say, but because it is put to music it allows us to freely express it. For example, when was the last time you said to the Lord in prayer, “By your Spirit I will rise from the ashes of defeat, You as my resurrected King and You are resurrecting me.”? I did just last night at the Oasis prayer meeting at Church because I led that song (Resurrecting) to begin our service, and when I sang it I was actually praying it!
That is the power of putting words to music, and I especially love those Spiritual songs that put the words to music in a prayerful way. For example, I led a Special prayer service on Saturday the 26th of September in conjunction with the worldwide effort to unite in Prayer called “The Return”. The one song I sang said, “God would You forgive us, find us on our knees, Father come remind us what Your Church could be.” What a great prayer, but without that song I don’t know that I would have been able to say it in that way. Sure I pray for that in principle, but it is so helpful to have the song to express it for us too!
I also find it interesting that these songs are to be a source of teaching! As someone who spends much of his time researching songs and putting together set lists for worship services, I have come to appreciate the theological truths in them from the Word of God! I am very grateful to the people who spend much of their time writing these songs through much prayer and study, and I feel that it would be a great disservice to our congregations to not keep up with the music industry and to withhold these new and theologically accurate songs. With that said though, it would also be a great disservice for anyone tasked with the responsibility of leading the charge of creating set lists for worship services to forget the hymns that have and will last for a very long time because of their sound theological expressions and their profound truths that when sung can bring a sense of peace and reverence over us as none other would! For example, “Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea, the Great High Priest whose name is love, who ever lives and pleads for me, My name is graven on His hands, My name is written on His heart, I know that while in heaven He stands, no one can bid me thence depart.” Even just writing that stirs up a strong sense of gratitude and worship in my heart!
I think the point is to allow the Word of Christ to dwell in us to such a degree that in whatever conversation we are in, whatever musical notes we are humming, whatever prayers we are praying, we will exude the Truths of God’s Word! That others around us would be able to count on us to teach them the Word of God in any and all situations that they are facing.
I also believe that there is a connection here with John 15:4 where Jesus exhorts His followers to abide in Him, “John 15:4 (NET): Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. When we allow the Word of Christ to dwell in us richly, that in essence means that we will be drawing from that Word and His presence constantly in our lives. That is truly living a worshipful life!
God bless you.
I will take this opportunity to share with you an exciting announcement!!
My wife (whom I love dearly and am super proud of) has just launched her online business today (10/1/20)! Please feel free to click this link: https://joyfullyessential.co or the picture below, and check out all of the wonderful handmade creations on her shop! There are excellent gift ideas on this shop for those of you wanting to get a head start on Christmas shopping! Thank you for your support.
