ABR#4 Colossians

I have begun to read the Bible alphabetically (see here for my rationale), reading each book at least three times (in this case seven) and trying to get into the mind of the original author and readers as well as listen to God’s message for today. Here’s what I’ve discovered from reading Colossians.

First impressions:
What was Paul’s aim as he wrote this letter to a church he knows only by reputation?
First he compliments them and assures them of his (and his colleagues’) prayers. Then he explains the centrality of Christ in God’s scheme of things, and his own role as a servant of the gospel and of the church (and by implication his right to speak with authority). Then he comes to the heart of the matter – the danger in being led astray by plausible additions to the gospel, which would detract from a full reliance on Christ. Having established that what matters is Christ, he illustrates what kind of life that should lead people to live, giving lots of specific advice about appropriate behaviour. Finally he records news and greetings from some of his colleagues who are known to the Colossians.

Historical and Geographical context:
If the narrative in Acts is reasonably accurate, Paul spent some years in Ephesus, on the West coast of modern day Turkey, during which time the gospel spread into the surrounding countryside. If you travelled South a bit and then turned inland up the river Maeander for 100 miles to its headwaters you would reach a trio of towns called Laodicea, Colossae and Hierapolis, and beyond them the region of Phrygia. (This river’s wandering course is the origin of the word ‘meander’ and supposedly inspired Daedalus to construct his famous labyrinth.) In Paul’s day Colossae had lost something of its earlier prominence, but he surely knew of it, and years later, maybe whilst imprisoned awaiting trial in Rome, he heard news of the church there from one of its citizens, Epaphras.

This letter describes Christ in more exalted and mind-boggling terms than, say, the Jesus Paul talks about in Acts. So much so that some scholars believe the letter is the work of one of Paul’s disciples and written after his death. If that is true, then the author clearly had things to say which he felt would be best expressed by getting people to imagine Paul writing to the church at Colossae in response to news which had reached him in captivity. Therefore whoever wrote it, the best way of getting to grips with the message is to treat it as a letter by Paul. (A similar argument will apply to certain other Biblical books whose authorship is disputed.)

The Importance of Christ
When people were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, they envisioned him as a human being anointed by God to rescue his people. Once the Messiah arrived and his followers got to know him as both Saviour and risen Lord, then their understanding deepened.
a) Christ existed before anything else (except God of course) and was responsible (with God) for creating the universe. In fact the whole universe was created ‘for him’. This makes Christ superior to all other earthly or heavenly powers in every conceivable way. He existed before they did. He made them. They only exist for his benefit.
b) Christ is the perfect image of God. There is no longer any mystery as to what God is really like. Christ has revealed God’s nature and purposes.
c) Christ had a job to do – to reconcile all things (all people and all the rest of creation) to God. He did this through his death on the cross. Because of what Christ has done God forgives sin and turns enemies into friends.
d) If the church is like a body, then Christ is its head. The church needs no other focal point. Christ as our head unites us, guides us, empowers us and gives our lives purpose and meaning.

What was going on in Colossae?
Reading between the lines, one of the problems at Colossae could have been gnosticism with its emphasis on secret knowledge as the key to understanding God and life. For Paul Christ alone is the key. All anyone needs to know of God is found in Christ. Paul expects and prays for the church to have a full knowledge of God. If there ever was a secret it is now out in the public domain, being proclaimed throughout the world, and being lived out by the Christian church. There is no need for initiation rites such as circumcision or for keeping strict rules about food. There are no magically significant days to conduct special rituals. The rite of Christian Baptism is not to divide those ‘in the know’ from the ignorant – it is a symbol of the change in our lives when we die and rise with Christ. Far from promoting divisions, Paul says that Christ is “all” and “in all”.

This is an encouraging letter. Its tone is: ‘I know you’re doing well – here’s how you can do even better.’ Unlike, say, Amos (‘This is what you’re doing wrong – stop it or else!’), Paul doesn’t actually accuse the Colossians of anything bad. He warns of false teaching and he lists some of the behaviour which they should avoid, but we shouldn’t therefore conclude that Colossae is a hotbed of heresy, indulgences of the flesh and broken relationships. What Paul actually says of them is all positive.

A message for today?
This letter is not primarily about individual behaviour, nor is it about the state of society as a whole, but it is about the life of a church – its beliefs, teaching, attitudes and lifestyle. There are some principles which individuals (or society) would do well to take note of, but by and large it is the church which should pay attention. The marks of the church which impressed Paul (in his opening summary) were their faith in Christ and their love for all the saints – his letter builds on these strengths by emphasising the importance of Christ and exploring the best ways to love others

The section for wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves and masters illustrates that the appropriate attitude and behaviour depends on the nature of the relationship – these days marriage is seen as an equal partnership, and in some senses we recognise an inherent equality of all people (as does Paul – no Greek or Jew, slave or free etc), but there are still plenty of relationships where people have different roles – governors and governed, leaders and disciples, employers and employees, teachers and students, famous people and fans of famous people (dare I add breadwinners and homemakers?) The same basic principles apply – understand your role and fulfil it to the best of your ability, whilst taking into account that the person in the other role is also a human being with feelings and needs.

Paul was never a lone evangelist. He always worked in a team. This letter mentions eleven other people who helped build up the church.
Jews with Paul: Aristarchus (a fellow prisoner); Mark; Jesus known as Justus
Gentiles with Paul: Timothy (co-author); Epaphras (founder of church); Doctor Luke; Demas
Messengers delivering the letter: Tychicus; Onesimus
In Colossae: Nympha (host to a church meeting); Archippus

We meet some of these people elsewhere in the New Testament, indeed two of them wrote gospels. The only reason we know Luke was a doctor is that he is so designated in this letter. Imagine how many simple facts like this remain unknown. These people lived full and interesting lives and we know so little about them. It’s as if I went down in church history as ‘the minister with brightly coloured socks’ and no-one knew or remembered anything else about me.

If Mark was the cousin of Barnabas, then it’s no wonder that (in Acts) Barnabas was willing to give him a second chance when Paul wasn’t. It’s good to see that by this point all parties seem to be reconciled.

A final bit of self-analysis
There are many parts of the Bible which I am happy to re-interpret for today. “Wives be subject to your husbands” is an example. I try to see such passages in their original context and work out what message the writer was trying to convey and why it was important to him (and it probably was ‘him’ not ‘her’). With historical narrative I will often wonder ‘did it really happen like that?’. Sometimes I think it probably did, sometimes I’m fairly certain it didn’t. What the author was wanting to say is more important to me than historical accuracy. In other words I am willing to see the Biblical writers as fallible in recording facts and contextually biased in moral teaching. So why is it that some passages I not only take at face value, but see as absolutely essential to my faith? For example, the idea that Christ has always existed with God and through him everything in heaven and earth was created. There is no way I could ever dismiss that concept as if it were just someone’s idea and they may have got it wrong. Perhaps it’s because the moral and historical aspects need to be reconciled with everyday life whereas the grand supernatural concepts don’t. Or perhaps I am subconsciously doing what Paul advocates in this letter – relying fully on Christ and taking mere human authority with a pinch of salt.