June 2 - Colossians 2:4-5
“I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. For though I am absent from 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.”
For some of my friends, this verse is joyous – for others it could be a nightmare. Paul liked order. He said in 1 Corinthians 14:40, “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
It is actually quite interesting to consider the passage from 1 Corinthians in which he writes of ‘Orderly Worship’ (the subhead in the NIV translation). If we read that entire passage, we discover that his sense of order is such that it brings peace (For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. 1 Cor. 14:33).
However, he never stops the flow of worship, no matter how many of us might interpret order and disorder – there was prophecy, speaking in tongues, revelation, interpretation … everything was done to strengthen the church. In Corinth, the problem seemed to be that people would talk over the top of each other, not giving respect or time to others who might also be hearing from God.
The church in Colosse was strong in its faith. There were obviously teachers trying to bring false teaching into their midst and that concerned Paul. He couldn’t be with them to give them good counsel as they heard these ‘fine-sounding arguments,’ but he could pray for them and he seemed to be confident that they were strong enough to handle the situation. They lived lives that were obviously attuned to Christ and their faith was firm.
“I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. For though I am absent from 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.”
For some of my friends, this verse is joyous – for others it could be a nightmare. Paul liked order. He said in 1 Corinthians 14:40, “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
It is actually quite interesting to consider the passage from 1 Corinthians in which he writes of ‘Orderly Worship’ (the subhead in the NIV translation). If we read that entire passage, we discover that his sense of order is such that it brings peace (For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. 1 Cor. 14:33).
However, he never stops the flow of worship, no matter how many of us might interpret order and disorder – there was prophecy, speaking in tongues, revelation, interpretation … everything was done to strengthen the church. In Corinth, the problem seemed to be that people would talk over the top of each other, not giving respect or time to others who might also be hearing from God.
The church in Colosse was strong in its faith. There were obviously teachers trying to bring false teaching into their midst and that concerned Paul. He couldn’t be with them to give them good counsel as they heard these ‘fine-sounding arguments,’ but he could pray for them and he seemed to be confident that they were strong enough to handle the situation. They lived lives that were obviously attuned to Christ and their faith was firm.
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