It Was a Beautiful Day For a Wedding

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

I purposely left my phone in the dressing room so that I would not be tempted to be a recorder instead of a participant.  Besides, the phone was too heavy for the pocket in my dress anyway.  So I have no pictures of the wedding myself...only what other folks have taken. 

My Sweet Babboo did get a selfie.  I will say, cell phones have uncanny resolution these days.  I think you can see the individual beads of sweat, lol.

I will finish the Colossians series this Friday.  Despite my best intentions, the to-do list got overwhelming and I got behind.  But I figured you'd all understand.

Blogging Bible Study: Colossians -- Living Rightly Relating to Others (Col. 3:18 - 4:1)

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

I suppose I ought to start this out with a 'Trigger Warning'...there are words in this passage that are fraught with emotional overtones in our current society.  I hope I can navigate around them to get at the message Paul was trying to convey but if those words cause such an emotional response that  it's impossible to go past them...well, I'll catch you next week with the wrap-up...

We start with the 'S' word...used in the context of marriage relationships...

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. (Col. 3:18).

Most folks stop there.  I mean, it's a hard stop.  Either they want to wave a flag stating how sexist Christianity is to suggest that women should submit to men (and, may I respectfully point out...that is NOT what the verse says), or they want to hop up on a soapbox and say that women have no business in the workplace and should Stay Home. (Also...that is not what the verse says).  It is talking about a relationship between ONE woman and ONE man...and it needs the next verse for the balance of context.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. (Col. 3:19).

This verse gets virtually NO press.  Promise Keepers talked about it back in the day...but the anti-Christian crowd didn't even recognize that, jumping on the stereotypical assumption that godly men  suppress women. The fact that the PK movement was to encourage men to love their wives was completely overlooked.

Just for grins, let's look up the Greek words used in these verses.  'Submit yourselves' is the Greek word hupotasso, and, according to the Blue Letter Bible site, was a Greek word pertaining to the military;  meaning 'to arrange [troop divisions] in a military fashion under the command of a leader.'   In a non-military context, it was used as 'a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility and carrying a burden.'    'Love your wives', well, my friends, 'love' here is agapao... 'To be full of good-will and exhibit the same; have a preference for, wish well, regard the welfare of; take pleasure in, prize above all, be unwilling to abandon...' This is the Greek word for 'love' that especially implies caring for the well-being of the one that is loved; it is the word used in John 3:16 describing the love God had for us. It is a love that sacrifices ones' self for another  (John 15:13).  Husbands are instructed to love their wives in THAT manner; wives are instructed to cooperate...take responsibility...basically, be a supportive partner. This is teamwork that Paul is describing.  Oh, and worth noting...romantic love had very little to do with marriage in that day.  Marriages were arranged for a number of reasons...to financially or socially assist a family, to cement friendships between families, to maintain an inheritance, etc etc.  So Paul is writing this to people who did not choose their spouses.  How much easier should those instructions be for folks who have the freedom to choose?  And...given that romantic love isn't a requirement for marriage to begin with...should 'I just don't feel in love anymore' be a reason for dissolving a marriage?  The love that is described is not an emotion...it is a behavior pattern. Cherish, care for, nurture, prefer...those are actions, not emotions.  Cooperate, support, take responsibility...those are actions, not emotions.  We have, in our society, romanticized marriage to the point of nullifying it if the emotions aren't right.  It's a shame...because families are shattered and people are damaged, all for the sake of some kind of ethereal emotion that cannot stand up under the pressures of life.  

Children are instructed to obey their parents, and fathers are instructed not to embitter their children (KJV...'provoke to anger')...lest they be discouraged (Greek: athymeo...to be disheartened, dispirited, broken in spirit).  Notice...instruction for those under authority and those in authority.

Which brings us to the next trigger word, which also starts with 'S'...

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything ... (Col 3:23a).

What??? Is Paul endorsing slave holding?  Cancel him!

Sigh.  Slavery was...and is...a horrible practice.  But the fact is that it was the foundation of the economy for millennia, in some form or fashion.  There were very few folks that we would consider 'employees' in that day...folks who lived at their own house, got up and went to work for another person, got paid in money, and could leave their job whenever they wished.  It just wasn't part of the culture.  We could, likely, substitute 'employees' for 'slaves' without a great loss of meaning here.  Paul is talking about working with a good heart for your employer...just, in that day, 'employer' generally meant 'master'.  But look at this, his real instruction:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  (Col. 3:23).    This is almost a direct quote from 2:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus...

And, look, we also have the balance of instruction to those both under and in authority:

Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.  (Col. 4:1)  Likewise...you could substitute 'Employers/ employees' here for the modern application...

Do you see the pattern?  Whether you are in authority or under it, whether in a family or out of it, treat each other correctly and fulfill your responsibilities with honor...just as if you were doing it for Jesus himself.  Because...you are.

Blogging Bible Study: Colossians - Living as a Follower of Jesus (Col. 3: 1- 17)

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Set your hearts and minds on things above, Paul says.

And 'above' is 'where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.'...not the next step up, or the top floor office,  or the top rating in [whatever]...or anything else that might be confused with 'above'.    Not earthly things.

He's talking about priorities...and he's talking about lifestyle.

You died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Col. 3:3)

That makes...or should make... a difference in how one conducts one's daily life.

That kinda messes with the popular message that God wants everyone to be happy.

Paul goes on to talk about death.  Things that should die because, you know, we died.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. -- (Col 3:5a)

What belongs to the earthly nature, you ask?

 Well...here's  a list of things that are to be put to death/ gotten rid of (v. 5 -9):

Sexual immorality (setting such a high value on sexual satisfaction that one goes outside of the boundaries God set in an attempt to procure it)

Impurity (mixing sacred and profane)

Lust (fixating upon and consumed with obtaining a forbidden thing)

Evil desires (revenge? selfish ambition? I'd say those are two...)

Greed (that's idolatry, Paul says in verse 5)

Anger

Rage

Malice (that probably includes schadenfreude...happiness at the misfortune of another)

Slander (spreading stuff that makes others look bad just for the sake of making them look bad; yeah, that would include unfounded Facebook posts about those people on the other side of the political fence)

Filthy language (really...it ain't cool to cuss.)

Lying 

But verse nine reads 'All such things as these'...so this is not an exhaustive list, it's a set of examples of  the kinds of things that belong to the earthly nature.  Pretty much anything that focuses on what I want,  how I want to be seen,  keeping my position above those inferior to me, satisfying physical appetites without regard to the parameters God gave regarding such things, etc.  I, Me, My, Mine over anyone else.

And we can't excuse the pet little naughties by saying, 'Well, at least I don't do ...XYZ on that list'.

Nope.  It's ALL supposed to be put to death, gotten rid of, or...maybe...overcome.

...since you have taken off your old self with its practices (Col. 2:9b)

All of that is stuff the natural human practices.  But we are to be supernatural humans.

...and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Col.3:10)

And guess what?  That 'new self' has no race, or even ethnicity...

Here there is no Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.  (Col. 3:11)

If this is the truth, then why do we (and by 'we' I mean those who claim to follow Christ) divide over race, ethnicity, social standing?  Are we retaining somewhat of the earthly nature, that pays attention to such things?  Because in the kingdom...those things simply don't matter. 

We are ALL God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved  (Col. 3:12)

So...how ought we to live?

We are to live clothed with:

Compassion

Kindness 

Humility

Gentleness

Patience

We are to:

Bear with one another

Forgive one another  (Just as the Lord forgave each one of us)

Put on love over all  (the binding agent of all virtues)

Let the peace of Christ rule in us

Let the word of Christ dwell in us

Be thankful

All of this is to be characteristic of any admonition given in wisdom, of any psalm, hymn or song we sing.

But here is the summation of behaving as a follower of Jesus:

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  -- Col. 3:17.

Now, 'in the name of the Lord Jesus' means 'as one under the authority of Jesus'...like an ambassador in a foreign country does everything in the name of his government back home.  A legal representative.  

If I find myself in a situation in which I'm tempted to do something...be it legal or illegal or whatever...a big thing or a little thing (and remember...big things almost always start with little things)...if I can't honestly do it as a representative of the heart and nature of Jesus, then it should not be done.  Even if it secures my rights or saves my reputation or something else that just seems logical.  

Because that old self is dead...and the new self has a different set of priorities...above...