Special Instructions (Colossians 4:2-6)

(1)    PRAYER

How would you explain “keeping alert” in prayer?

• What is God saying? 
• Listening as well as speaking … listening to God & listening to others. 
• Reading Scripture prayerfully. 
• What are circumstances saying? 
• What are circumstances saying about God? 
• Prayer is the place of decision-making.                                                                                                                                                                                                              
• A priority for prayer … prayer is for the spreading of the Gospel. Two specific points here – (a) prayer for open doors; and, (b) prayer for a communication of the Gospel that is clear. (a) Where there seems to be resistance or lack of progress, we should pray for new doors of opportunity to open. (b) Then as new doors open (or old doors seem worthwhile again), there needs to be a clarity about how best to represent the Gospel message to the various recipients … which generally means an understanding that allows us to speak and to act in their language.

Now Paul prays this way from prison, being able to focus on the priority of mission despite his personal circumstances. In fact, he would have sensed a degree of success and vindication, because it is the impact that he has had … that has put him in prison in the first place. Prison to Paul is something of a compliment! Not to say that Paul (or anyone else) should not pray for release from prison, just that not being released from prison is not the end of prayer. There needs to be an acceptance of circumstances such that there may be a greater purpose found in any continuing form of ‘imprisonment’.

John Dickson comments: An “open door” for the message, even though the chief messenger is locked up “in chains”: only prayer could ensure such a beautifully illogical reality!

We ourselves, because of a seeming lack of effectiveness in our witnessing or Gospel sharing – might we feel that we are in a sort of prison ourselves?!? We seemingly have trusted God, but to little effect. We have talked our head off, walked our feet off, or worked our heart out, with little response. Is there an answer here in verse 3-4??

We should pause to look at one other word or phrase (from verse 2), i.e. “with thanksgiving”. We should note always that God is doing something as a result of our prayers, and that would be something good (even though we may not yet perceive it), and that this is worthy of thanksgiving.

(2)    CONDUCT & COMMUNICATION

Paul, in his time, believed there wasn’t much time before Jesus returned. He had a great sense of urgency. Today we always seem ‘time poor’, which might alert us to a similar urgency, lest the mission of God’s Gospel falls right of the back of the stove … you know, not just on the back burner, but right off the back of the stove. This is often what happens when churches get fixated or bogged down in internal affairs. The cynical person inside me says that some people in churches actually like it that way because it protects them from real risk-taking mission work.

Paul’s phrase, “making the most of the time” (v.5) suggests to me again what the priorities of our life should be. This includes living in a way that makes it easier for other people to come to know God. We might say ‘living in a way that attracts other people …’; but I think a more basic necessity is just opening up paths for people to be able to appreciate God, i.e. making it easier (not harder) for them to know God. And the most basic way to do this is to humbly walk in the Jesus way. Another way of translating this “making the most of the time” is ‘buy up the occasion’ (Dickson) i.e. grab hold of the opportunity with both hands!

What particular advice does Paul give in terms of our speech (in verse 6)?

(a)    Graciousness – what does this mean? Words that point to the Grace of God i.e. God’s love, mercy, compassion, desire for relationship; words that make people feel encouraged, supported, cared for, accepted, valued.

(b)   Seasoning (with salt) – what does this mean? Words that make a difference, words that touch the heart, words that preserve life, words that tend towards an improvement in the appreciation of life. As one commentary puts it: our speech should be “compelling”, not dull nor uninteresting … I would add not trite and full of platitudes (what Tom Wright calls “parroting stock responses”).

All this implies listening carefully both to God and to the other person. This mindset of ‘graciousness’ and ‘salt-seasoning’, is so that we don’t merely ‘tell’ stuff, but rather so that we can “answer” real (heart-felt) enquiries (v.6b)! John Dickson suggests that Paul’s intent here is to see Jesus followers simply respond to other people’s own comments, questions, or even criticisms, with a gentle and gracious reply. People may have many objections to belief in God, or, have absolutely no faith background and are thus just puzzled, or, have bad experiences of Christians or the church, or, have ever-present personal difficulties whereby they find it hard to access a compassionate God – each needs to be listened to with gentleness and graciousness.

This can all take place in natural conversations (not just in evangelistic sermons … and probably preferable to), yet are conversations that are prepared for prayerfully, and undertaken with a redemptive mindset.