Sermon 3-27-11

“THE WORLD IS WATCHING, WHAT DO THEY SEE?”

Colossians 4:5-6

Now more than ever the lives of Christians are under a 24 hour microscope because the world around us has become obsessed with looking in on other people’s lives. It all began about 15 years ago with a show on MTV called “The Real World.” Then came shows like “Survivor,” “Big Brother,” and “Bachelor(ette).” Currently we have social media sites like MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook that have placed us all out there for the world to see our lives. That’s not a bad thing. After all as Christians we are called to be “salt and light.” Salt does no good when kept in a cabinet and a light is useless when hidden by a closed room. Just like people know it when you season your food heavily in salt or they see when you come in and cut the lights on, they should be able to know when a Christian is around them and see what is happening in our lives. The question is what do they see?

Paul addresses this issue with the church in Colosse. The Christians there were a minority in a hostile environment and needed to be cautious about the impressions they made on their neighbors. They were not resentful that they were marginilized in their society. They believed they existed for a kingdom and a purpose that was greater than the world they lived in. The pagans around them were simply outsiders that were worthy of sympathy and needed to be shown the entrance door into the kingdom. To do that their life would have to match their message. Paul tells them how to do it...

I. The Way We Are To Live (vs. 5)

“Walk” - “to order one’s behavior” - it speaks to our conduct in daily life. In Paul’s letters just like this one, he spends a lot of time telling us how great God is, how amazing it was that Jesus would come and die for our sins so that we could be saved, how much God loves us and blesses us, but he also spends much time telling us how we are now to live in light of that.

1. Live Wisely

“wisdom” - It is properly evaluating circumstances and making godly decisions. In this use it is more than intelligence or academic achievement. It speaks to how we live before the world in a way that best conveys our message of Jesus to them.

How do you become wise? There are at least six sources of this type of wisdom:

1) Prayer

James 1:5 - “If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to you.”

2) Fear of the Lord

Prov. 9:10 - “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

3) Bible

Col. 3:16 - “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom...”

4) Teaching

Col. 1:28 - “Him we preach, warning and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

5) Humility

Prov. 11:2 - “When pride comes then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.”

6) Discipline

Prov. 29:15 - “The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.”

2. Live Lovingly, Thoughtfully, and Compassionately

Everything changes in our lives when we surrender them to Jesus.

The world believes you live your life looking out for #1. Then if you have anything left over, you can do a little for other people if you like them and if they are really bad off. The life of a Christian is different from that. We don’t live for ourselves first. Our first priority is to surrender to God daily, then concern ourselves with others, before finally looking out for our own interests.

If there is ever any doubt then consider what Jesus calls the two most important commandments to live by in Matthew 22:

Vs. 37 - Love God // Vs. 39 - Love your neighbor as yourself.

So it should come as no suprise when Paul says “order your behavior toward those who are outside.”

“those who are outside” - outside the family of God. That is anyone without Jesus. This means we don’t do anything that would give them an unfavorable impression of the Gospel. We don’t do anything that would make it difficult to share the Gospel. We’ve got to constantly be living with this thought:

Is what I am about to do or say going to help or hinder someone in giving their life to Christ. I’m not so sure we always do that.

Years ago Jerry Vines was the pastor of FBC Jacksonville. In a sermon delivered at the 2002 SBC pastor’s conference he was denouncing Islam and called Muhamed “a demon-possessed pedophile.” Needless to say that made the headlines and stirred up Muslim fury around the world. It also got a rise out of the missionaries who pleaded for those back home to tone down the rhetoric. Why? It’s hard to witness to people that you are attacking and insulting. We don’t withold truth. We must share the Gospel and make it clear why Jesus is the only way, but that should be done in love and compassion rather than through a war of words.

Do homosexuals need the Gospel? Does that pregnant teenage girl who is contemplating abortion need the Gospel? Does that young man involved in drugs and gangs need the Gospel? The only way they will receive it is when our relationship to them is grounded in love, thoughtfullness, and compassion. Not judgment, condemnation, or rejection. As Christians its not our place to be superior because we are “in the family” or “right with God.” It is our place to be a beggar that tells another beggar where to find the bread.

3. Live Urgently

“redeeming the time” - sieze the opportunity that won’t always be available. There is an urgency in what we do.

We don’t have forever with lost people. Each Christian has a special opportunity for witnessing and should make the most of it while it lasts.

Illst - American Pickers - “The time to buy is when you see something.”

John 9:4 - “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

Some of the biggest regrets I have in life are not the bad things I did but the good things I didn’t do. Mainly the witnessing encounters that were right in front of me and I fumbled.

Transition: The best advertisment for the Gospel will be a life lived in Christ that the whole world sees. What believers are, gives credibility to what believers say.

II. The Way We Are To Talk (vs. 6)

“speech” - not referring to specifically preaching the Gospel or witnessing but to general conversations we have with those on the outside.

2 things to avoid in your speech:

Don’t talk like a lost person. (Murphy’s law: never argue with a fool, people might not be able to tell who the fool is. Make sure when you talk to a lost person people could tell who has Jesus!)

Don’t talk like an ivory tower religious person who has no concept of reality.

Paul tells us what our speech should be characterized by:

1. Grace

To be a lot nicer than someone might deserve. Places this might have some practical application: waiter @ restaraunt who messed up your order, umpire on ballfield that missed the call that costs your team the game, person that got the parking spot you were waiting on @ walmart, etc. Note the word in verse 6 - “ALWAYS”!

Remember: Don’t expect people who are on the outside to act like those on the inside. Those on the inside are never justified in acting / talking like those on the outside.

Remember #2: You aren’t representing you, you represent Jesus and His kingdom. It is more important for Him to be seen than for you to get your way.

2. Saltiness

Not in the sense that a sailor’s language is salty...

“seasoned with salt” means two things:

1) Purity

One thing salt was used for was to preserve food from corruption. Out of our mouth should come words that are healthy, build others up, and reflect the work of Jesus in our lives - not words that tear down or cause rot in our relationships.

2) Flavor

As you well know, when you put salt on something it adds flavor to it. There seems to be this thought here that the language of a Christian should be dull, dry, and boring. Have some life in you. After all we aren’t dead any longer. In Christ we are raised up alive not in the future but now. We’ve got a reason to be loud and fired up.

3. Knowledge

We should be ready to discuss our faith in Christ or discuss world events with a biblical worldview.

1 Peter 3:15 - “...always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you...”

We don’t have to have all the answers, but we can have enough to be a credible witness.

*****

How are you living in the eyes of the world?

(at your job, school, among your family, on Facebook, around your friends?)

If there is no difference between you and the world could it be there is no Jesus in your life?