Colossians 3:9-11 …little white lies

I decided that my 2011 resolution was to live with Colossians 3:1-17. What follows are my personal insights, experiences, and ramblings related to that decision…

^9-11Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

How often do you lie?

Another way to ask that question is to ask: Are you truthful with everyone you encounter?

I believe that most of us “shade the truth” much of the time – or at least – I do. I doubt there are many of us that out and out lie intentionally, but I think we all add a little here and there, or just don’t mention certain things to our advantage. It’s like playing golf, and a buddy asks, “What’d you shoot?” We throw out a score, and rarely if ever do our mulligans and do-overs, make it into the score. Who are we hurting, right? …we would (or should) have shot that anyway…

In reading and living out Colossians 3, one of the phrases that God seems to love to whisper to me throughout the day is verse 9: Don’t lie to one another…

So far this year verse 9 (and that whisper) has forced me to:

• have a tough conversation with my Boss – that I really did not want to have!
• discuss some things with my wife that weren’t exactly easy to talk about
• tell a friend what I really think …rather than what they probably wanted to hear from me

…and what’s funny – all those conversations turned out really well! I was really nervous about a couple of them, but being truthful really seemed to work out.

Why is it that we think lying, or shading the truth, will make things easier?

Its been my experience that the truth is generally harder initially but makes the long-term much more manageable.

Honestly though – there are many areas of my life where I still love to shade things. Its a temptation that I face daily. Perhaps its because I have always been so concerned with my own image. Sometimes for me, image management becomes the priority, even at the expense of the truth! …maybe that’s why in this passage Paul talks so much about learning to live in the new life that Christ brings. That old life is gone …and the new life is hidden in Christ. His image is really whats important…not mine.

One of the things I am (hopefully) finally learning is that its just better to live the truth. Its just better to be the me I really am – warts and all – than to try to live as someone I am really not. It’s much more freeing too…

 

Colossians 3:1-2 …a beginning

I decided that my 2011 resolution was to live with Colossians 3:1-17. What follows are my thoughts, insights, experiences, and ramblings related to that decision…

^1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. (Colossians 3:1-2 – The Message)

• Crazy good start to the year. I’ve actually read and meditated on this passage each day. Honestly, I’m doing better with the middle half of the passage than I am the beginning and end so far – perhaps because it’s easier to focus on “not doing” certain behaviors/actions than it is to actually implement or add new and good things…
• I am finding it very challenging to not get “absorbed” with the things right in front of me. For instance, today I had a minor panic attack. I actually had to call my wife and a friend to help walk me through some things… One of the things I realized from my meltdown is that it really is hard to be alert to Christ when life seems so chaotic and in flux. Christ brings peace, so I think today’s lesson was a reminder that maybe I need to continue to explore giving him more control and influence in everything.
• What does it truly mean to be “in Christ” and to experience his resurrection power? …I doubt God has too many panic attacks in the middle of the day.
• I love the imagery of pursuing the things of Christ – of trying to find out where he is at work – of trying to join him in that activity…but how does that mesh with every day life? Some might accuse Paul of being “so heavenly minded he was no earthly good.” How do we live out our theology beyond just Sunday morning …and still be a real person?
• Maybe we are just so absorbed in our lives that we miss Him. Maybe that’s Paul’s point. If we’re not “serious” about living the resurrection life, then maybe we miss out on truly living all together.