An Excerpt from Paul

Colossians 2:1-5 ¹ I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. ² I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. ³ In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. ⁵ For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong. (NLT)

Paul is writing to a church that struggled with the early heresy of Gnosticism. Without defining the elements of this heresy (you can look it up on your own if you like) I want to unpack a few things from this passage that I believe applies to us as small group coaches and those who strive towards maturity in Christ.

V.1. When you pray do you truly agonize in prayer over the groups in your care or do you simply throw a “blanket prayer” over them and check the “pray for my hosts” box? I personally need to step up both my prayers for my hosts and you the team I get to shepherd. That last phrase in vs. 1 “and for the many other believers (Hosts) who have never met me personally”. Maybe this is one direction we need to pray: that we would start personally meeting the hosts we pray for. That God would make our paths connect. 

Here is how we are to pray for our groups. vs. 2.

·        Encouraged
·        Knit together by strong ties of love
·        Have complete confidence in knowing and experiencing Christ

 V.3 We need to mine all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are in Christ by spending more intentional time in His word, in solo prayer and in community prayer. Specifically, that we would not be content with just getting it done, but staying in His presence until we are satisfied with the encounter. (Like Jacob, wrestling with the angel and not letting go until he was blessed). The end result of us pursuing Christ beyond what our current life experience has been and dig deeper into the One who knows us and desires to be known.

 

V.4 The better you know (Both about and through experience) in someone the deeper the trust you have in that person. It works the same with our relationship with Christ. The more we strive to know Him the more we will trust in Him and the more He will trust in us. When you really know someone (let’s say a close friend) the moment a false or defaming statement is made about your friend you don’t even question whether it is true or not because you know the person. When false doctrine is expressed, it is your constant intimate connection with the Lord that helps you to discern the truth from the lie. This is exactly what Paul was writing (praying) about for the church in Colossae and is passed down to us as an example of how to pray for those in our care.      

I close with Paul’s words as an expression of my love for you:  I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.