Colossians 4

We don’t allow slavery in our culture today. What if Paul revised Colossians 4:1 to say, “Employers, treat your employees right. Be fair and just with them. You need motivation for that? Remember that you have a Boss in heaven.” Do you think the Christian employers you know today would take that to heart if Paul had been talking directly to them?

Paul told the people of Colossae to do something that sounds pretty uncomfortable: “Ask God to give us opportunities to tell the story of Jesus—the story that got me into these chains in the first place” (Colossians 4:3). It sounds as though he’s asking the people to pray for an opportunity that will get them in trouble, possibly arrested, and perhaps executed. What sense does that make?

This is a cool way to describe how a Christian should talk. “When you talk, put some seasoning on your words: charm. Keep that in mind so you know how to answer someone when it’s your turn to talk” (Colossians 4:6). Normally when we think of putting some seasoning on our words, we’re not thinking of charm. We’re thinking of something with a bit more spice. When have you heard someone respond in a charming way in circumstances that didn’t sound like it would produce a charming response?

In what could sound like a pretty lousy way to end the letter, Paul seems to take a potshot at an associate minister there in Colossae or perhaps in Laodicea—it’s hard to tell which based on the context of Colossians 4:16-17. He tells the minister, “The Lord gave you a ministry job to do. Make sure you finish it” (v. 17). Perhaps Paul did not intend the note to sound as blunt as it does. But what do you read into this note?

LIFE APPLICATION. What makes it tough to do what Paul suggested, “Keep your head about you when you’re around people outside the faith” (Colossians 4:5)?