By Jo Trickey, reprinted from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.
It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
Colossians 1:28
I’ve got a five-year-old who’s currently football mad. He’s making lists of the most important pieces of kit to buy, asking, ‘Is this good food for footballers?’ before every meal, reading football encyclopedias (yes, they do exist!), and training every morning before school with his mates. He’s making sure that his time alone in the garden kicking his ball (AKA destroying my plants) and his time playing on a team are helping to achieve his goal – becoming a mature footballer.
I could learn a lot from his drive and focus, be that making the most of my time alone with God, in conversations with neighbors and school parents, and gathered with fellow Christians, treasuring what I learn from others, or sharing with others what I’ve learnt.
Paul is a man with his eyes on Jesus. His short letters convey passion, priority, and purpose. In the greetings at the start of each of his letters, he locates his identity in relation to Jesus – and that’s one of the key things he’s persuading the churches to do through his letters.
In Colossians 1:28, Paul writes, ‘It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.’ What a great summary of Paul’s life. It’s also a great challenge to us as the church! Paul’s love for Jesus drives him to worship and spurs him on to witness to others through the most challenging of times.
Paul exhorts the church in Colossae, and by extension us, to grow together in maturity. We are to be both teachers and those being taught, learning together as we seek to follow Jesus in all we do. When we gather as a church, it’s with a call to glorify God and to edify one another. In a perfect world, we’d be coming out of church gatherings inspired for the days ahead.
When we meet on Sundays and midweek, do we, like Paul, have our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus? Do we seek to build up everyone in the church, whatever age or stage they’re at, so that we all grow more like Jesus? Or do we leave that to the ‘professional Christians’, turning up purely to be fed and leave? Do we keep our attention on Jesus with the focus of a five-year old determined to become a professional footballer? Because that’s worth gathering for!
Who are the people you are helping to grow in maturity? Who helps you grow?
The Green Room 