Wise Witness (Col. 4:5-6)

This sermon was preached on 14/7/2011

In these verses, Paul describes the witness of Christians to non-Christians, whom he describes here as outsiders. The witness is twofold: in verse 5, he refers to life in general and in verse 6 he refers to our speech. It is likely that there is an evangelistic thrust in this witness because Paul has just asked for prayer for his own evangelistic activities. Now he turns and addresses the form of witness that the Colossians should engaged in.

The meaning of ‘outsiders’

This word does not sound a friendly word, but Paul does not suggest that Christians should be unfriendly. Instead it is a word that highlights several features. First, it is a word that reminds us that most people do not belong to the visible church, that is, the organised church in a community. The mark of the visible church is baptism, which is given to those who profess the Christian religion. Until a person has been baptised he is obviously an outsider from its public functions – he cannot take part in the Lord’s Supper or in the prayer meeting.

Second, the word reminds us that many people are outside the family of God. It is possible to belong to his family without being a member of the visible church, although such a situation is not desirable. Membership of the family of God, as we know, begins when a person trusts in Jesus and receives from him the Spirit of adoption. One effect of having the Spirit of adoption is that all who have him want to meet with others who have him. Therefore they soon make it obvious that they are insiders.

When we think of the outsiders themselves, obviously there would be different kinds and they can be viewed from a range of perspectives. In Paul’s own day, he could divide them into two racial groups, Jews and Gentiles. Yet within these groups, they could be divided into hostile, indifferent, curious and interested, with individuals moving from one sub-group to another. We can easily similar groups and sub-groups within our own society.

The basic attitude towards outsiders is that we must want them to become insiders. There are two basic reasons for that. One is that we know where they are going whereas they do not. Outsiders are ignorant of their destiny. The second reason is that we know the way of escape because we have found it through the gospel. On top of these basic reasons, there is overriding reality that our attitude towards outsiders must be Christlike.

How did Jesus react to outsiders, to those who were outside the family of God? We have an example of his general attitude when he wept over the city of Jerusalem, which showed that he had a strong emotional concern for their destiny. On another occasion, before he performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000, he was filled with compassion for the multitude because he saw them as sheep without a shepherd. A third example is the prayer he made on the cross for the soldiers who were executing him. The obvious feature is that Jesus cared about outsiders, and his concern was not adversely affected by their mistreatment of him.

It is obvious that Paul also had a concern for outsiders. With regard to his race, the Jews, Paul was willing to be lost in order for them to be converted: ‘I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh’ (Rom. 9:1-3).

He also regarded himself as a debtor to the Gentiles: ‘I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome’(Rom. 1:13-15).

Paul’s attitude is described clearly in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23: ‘For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.’

Walking in wisdom

Paul uses a word picture here – walking. Even in a literal sense, if we are out walking, whether on specific tasks or in a more casual manner, it is guaranteed that we will meet a wide range of individuals. The first important qualification for witness is consistency. All the different individuals that we meet should see the real ‘us’ – we should not be different with one person that we are other with others.

The second important qualification for witness is observation. This is stressed in Paul’s next phrase, ‘making the best use of the time.’ Obviously this is a principle that should cover all the time we have. It will look terrible on the day of judgement to be told that we wasted or misused our time. There are many reasons why we should be careful with our use of time. Here, with regard to outsiders, Paul probably had in mind a sense or urgency because they are perishing, and we have to be on the lookout for opportunities.

A third qualification for witnessing is carefulness regarding what we do and say. Our conduct and words should be marked by wisdom. Wisdom is more than knowledge – it is the ability to apply one’s knowledge correctly in each different situation.

How does one become wise? Meditate on the Bible, read biographies of spiritual Christians and note the reasons why they made choices, value the opinions of others even if you disagree with them, develop a humble mindset, pray for wisdom.

Knowledge in regard to wisdom can be divided into three areas: practices that God commands, practices that God forbids, and practices that are neutral. The first two areas are easy to identify. It is the third category that can cause problems. Here are some details that life has taught me:

• If something makes you feel bad, don’t do it. If you do something merely to be popular, you will later regret it.
• I am very reluctant to pass on my opinions on anything that is neutral. The reason for this is that it becomes the basis for something becoming permissible for others.
• I don’t announce my opinion concerning what others do with regard to something that is neutral. I give to others the same Christian liberty I give to myself.
• The question that surrounds any public activity is, ‘Will my action be a help or a hindrance to someone else who is thinking of becoming a Christian?’

The point of all these details is that we have to make up our own minds prayerfully and live according to our own assessment.

Speaking with grace

Paul details two prerequisites before we are ready to speak individually to another person. The first is ‘let your speech always be gracious’ and the second is that it ‘should be seasoned with salt’. It may be that both ideas cover the same thing, so that grace is the salt that seasons our speech. Yet I suspect that the first clause is more general and the second one is more specific. I would say that it is inconceivable for Paul to imagine that a Christian would have any other kind of speech apart from gracious speech. This is the kind of speech he should have at all times. He describes such speech in Ephesians 4:29: ‘Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.’ Our speech in general should reflect the fact that we belong to heaven, that we have been delivered from the old way of life.

Sometimes we have to add something to our speech on a given occasion, and I think that is what Paul means by seasoning it with salt. There are many ways by which the illustration of salt can be applied. Salt prevents a piece of food from putrefying, so a Christian’s speech should prevent unwholesome talk. Salt can create aspects of taste in a particular item of food that we did not anticipate. So a Christian by his speech can introduce into a conversation aspects that the other person may not have realised existed. Salt was used to confirm covenants or agreements between individuals, so a Christian should insert into conversations suitable elements of the covenant that exists between him and God.

When we speak in such a way with other Christians, then we will know how to speak with outsiders. Today it is generally the case that believers have a problem with speaking about their faith to outsiders. Yet it may be the case that the real problem is that we no longer know how to speak to one another about Christian experience, about the Bible, and about a whole list of items connected to Christian living. Shortly after I was converted, I noticed that the individuals who had spoken best to me (as a non-Christian) were the ones that spoke generally about Christian things to other believers. And the ones who had greatest difficulty in witnessing were often those who did not speak about the things of the faith.

Every non-Christian that we meet needs Jesus. In one way or another, we should look for ways to bring the conversation round to knowing him. If we have been doing it generally, it should flow naturally, without seeming strange. There is no guarantee that we will be successful, but our way of speaking should cause others to note the difference and make them curious about us. And that is a door for introducing them to Jesus.