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Colossians 4:5-6 - Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Let me clarify from the outset. I believe that right is right that wrong is wrong and that there is righteousness and that there is wickedness, that there is good and that there is evil.
God’s standard is the standard. He calls us to righteousness and holiness. Without holiness NO One will see the Lord.
Marriage is between one man and one woman. Any other relationship is not a marriage in any form it may try to take.
There are only two sexes – male and female. Sex and gender are the same thing.
Now with that said – the purpose of this message is out of my concern for the way that many Christians are approaching the issues in our culture and our response to people who are outside the faith. Especially those who do not believe as we do or live like we live. People who vocally and radically advocate for a way of life that is not according to the Word of God.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside,
~ Rod Loy - Behind every issue is an individual. It’s easy to talk about problems in broad terms - conflict, policy, growth, liability, structure. But if you zoom out too far, you forget the faces. Whether it’s immigration, trafficking, a discipline issue, or tension in your team, people are always at the center. Their stories. Their pain. Their worth. Great people never lose sight of the individual. Because people matter.
At the heart of all that we do as Christians is to live out the two Great Commands that God has given to all of us.
Matthew 22:37-39 - Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Mark 16:15-16 - And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
You might recognize these as the Great Commitment and the Great Commandment. We are not only called to love God but to love people enough to share the good news of the Gospel.
People matter to God. All people. People inside the family of God and people outside the family of God. The purpose of the Great Commission is to move people from outside the family of God to the inside of the family of God.
To do that we need to walk in wisdom towards those who are outside. In the way that we see them. In the way that we speak to them. In the way that we share the Gospel and in the way that we share our lives.
To many people in Christian circles put sin into categories. – I hear people say – I know that person is sinning sexually but at least they are not gay. – I have heard people say this about those having affairs. Well – If I had a spouse like that I would cheat too.
Sin is sin. Yes, the Bible does address certain sin as an abomination. Homosexuality is one of those.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? (all of them) Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators (Sexually immoral), nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
And such were some of you. BUT we were washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. – That is my testimony.
That is my testimony. Thank God people spoke into our lives in the midst of our mess.
Thank God when I made a mess out of my life there were people who were kind to me, who spoke truthfully to me about my sin but who also chose to be a friend.
While the Bible is very clear about sin. We need to be better at how we are with people not like us. People who don’t know Jesus.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside,
We need to understand people. See their hurt and pain. Understand their need for Jesus and know how to speak into their lives.
The truth is that sometimes we don’t even treat people in our own camp very well when they present different than we like
Jesus was a friend of sinners. – adulterers, tax collectors, religious hypocrites.
We as Christians act like if we get around people who don’t know Jesus that we might get cooties.
The Bile says that Love covers a multitude of sins. How can the sins get covered if we don’t actually show love to people.
James 5:20 - let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8 - And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
I am so thankful for the Love of Jesus that allowed His Blood to cover my sins.
The Standard of right and wrong is always God’s moral standards according to the Word of God.
But we must walk in wisdom and love in order to help People come to Jesus.
Right after Paul instructs us to walk in wisdom towards those who are outside, he shows us what that looks like.
Colossians 4:6 - Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
(NLT) - Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
To many Christians have become salty in the bad way instead of adding flavor and enhancing they are mean and unkind.
Our speech is to always be with grace seasoned with salt. Salt actually causes people to want more. It adds to the flavor.
People know if you are a true friend or a fake friend.
I love the fact that God had prepared the tree that Zaccheus would climb long before he did.
Jesus going to Zaccheus house was scandalous to the religious. Zaccheus was a little big man. He had robbed and bullied many. He was insecure. He knew what he was. Yet he did all he could to see Jesus. Jesus sat and ate with him. They talked about things, laughed and had a serious conversation about his life. We know that Zaccheus made a turn around. – at the end of the story is where Jesus said- the Son of man came to seek and save that which was lost.
The lost need people who care enough to help them be found
People need to know that they have people who care and will treat them well.
We are to be kind, truthful and always treat people with dignity and honor. Even when they are unlovable. It was the kindness of Jessus that led to Zaccheus’s turn around and God’s kindness that led to ours.
Romans 2:4 (AMP) - Or do you have no regard for the wealth of His kindness and tolerance and patience [in withholding His wrath]? Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking—seek His purpose for your life]?
Jesus came to heal the sick.
Mark 2:15-17 - Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. He came to call them to turn around.
He sat with them, got to know them and ate with them. – Wow.
Jesus said it is not the healthy that need a physician.
A physician needs wisdom to diagnose, Skill to operate and a good bedside manner to set at ease and to communicate well.
How a doctor treats people personally is just as vital as how they treat them medically.
I have been in the hospital and spend time with Dr’s. I appreciate the ones with a great attitude that cares. I have met incredibly smart and capable doctors with a horrible bedside manner. I love the ones who make me feel cared for, give me assurance to calm my fears and talk to me like I matter to them.
The world is filled with hurting people. And unfortunately, we as Christians add to the pain instead of healing the hurt that sin and shame cause.
There are times that the world treats its own better than we as Christians do.
We need to be the ones that people can find hope in and then disciple them in the ways of God.
We have extremes in the church – on the left a permissiveness about sin. Accepting and giving our approval of things that are contrary to the word of God.
On the right there are those who speak of holiness but they are hateful and uncaring.
There is a better way a middle way between the two- the narrow way that is uncompromising but also loving and caring.
I am excited about the opportunities that lay before us to share the gospel.
People are open, hurting, and have questions and they are willing to engage in conversation like never before.
May we walk through the open doors that are before us. May we love people like Jesus does. May we be skilled, seasoned with salt and graceful. Most of all may we represent Christ well and with wisdom.
This November lets also be mindful of all the things that we have to be grateful for.
Remember that you are loved.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn