We Proclaim Him

My readings this morning included Colossians 1:13 – 29. Not only do I never tire of the beauty of Christ Jesus in this passage, but the radiance of His beauty increases as the years of my pilgrimage increase. If we do not behold the glory of Christ today, what shall we do tomorrow?

Colossians 1:28 (NASB) particularly captured my heart this morning:

“We proclaim Him

            admonishing [warning] every man

            teaching every man in all wisdom

                        so that we may present every man

                                    complete [perfect, mature] in Christ.”

We proclaim Christ so that we may present those to whom we minister mature in Christ. Who are we presenting every man to? To Christ. Those who proclaim Christ are charged with presenting others to Christ. What does our presentation look like?

We are called to present others not as babes, not as children, but as mature. Mature in what? Mature in whom? Not in the ways of this world, not in the ways of Christless Christianity, but mature in Christ. Not mature in us, not mature in Paul, or Peter, or John – but mature in Christ. Not mature in a pet doctrine, not mature in what we style “doctrinal distinctives”, but mature in Christ. Not mature in our denominations, nor in our non-denominations, but mature in Christ.

What a tragedy it will be to present others to Christ who are in an image other than the image of Jesus Christ.

We are called to proclaim, admonish [warn], teach, and present.

The Gospel, the Good News, is not something to be read in a monotone, it is not something to be communicated matter-of-factly, it is to be proclaimed, announced – just as a sailor on a ship would announce above the roar of the storm to a man in the water, “I’m throwing you a life preserver! Grab it! Hang on to it! I’m throwing you salvation from death! We’ll pull you in!”

When people have good news they tell it like it is good news. Imagine how the news would spread if a cure, and a vaccine, for Covid-19 were to be found – how long would it take for that news to spread? And how would it spread? Would it spread as if we were talking about the weather on a mild day? Would it spread as if we were talking about our daily agendas and things to do? We are called to proclaim!

We are also called to admonish, to warn. In our day of severe-weather alerts, would not the failure of the National Weather Service to warn a region of tornados be considered akin to criminal? Would not the National Weather Service be called to account? How much more will not our Lord hold His servants and His people accountable for not warning their families, their friends, their coworkers, their neighbors of God’s judgement on sin and death and rebellion? 

There are tornados on the ground everywhere around us, sweeping up men, women, and children into sin and death – hurling them into an eternal darkness – and yet God’s people stand mute. Doctors, nurses, hospital staffs, first responders, place themselves in danger in seeking to save lives during the present pandemic…and yet God’s people refuse to proclaim Christ and warn others of the tornadoes of sin and death on the ground because we seek protection for ourselves. Perhaps the doctors and nurses of our time will judge us on that Day. (2 Cor. 5:9 – 10).

We are not called to entertain – we are called to proclaim and warn.

But, how can we warn others if we, the church, will not receive warning ourselves? How can we warn others with credibility if we live like the world, as the world, embracing the temporal and rejecting the eternal? How can we expect others to submit to God’s Word of correction and call to repentance if we reject His correction and call to obedience? We do not want our pastors and elders and teachers to call us to account before the Word of God. We reject the idea of submitting to one another as members of the Body of Christ. Let us not forget that judgment begins at the House of God. Let us not live like fools, having a picnic on the lawn while a tornado descends upon us.

We are called to proclaim, and admonish, and teach; but not just teach, but to teach in all wisdom. What is wisdom? The answer is in Colossians 2:2 – 3 in which we see that God’s mystery is Christ and that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:30, “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption…”

To teach in all wisdom is to teach in Christ, to teach Christ, to teach unto Christ – to be bathed in Christ and to bathe others in Christ.

We are to proclaim, to admonish, to teach, and to present. Our goal is to present every man, every person, complete in Christ. If we don’t know where we are going we will get there. If we don’t have a target we will hit what we are aiming at.

Absurd? Of course it is. Yet, how many pastors and church leaders, how many congregational councils – have no idea where they are going? They have no goal but to meet the budget. They have no desire but to maintain buildings and programs. The idea of equipping the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:12) and of a fully-functioning body of believers growing up into Christ, obedient to Christ, is a concept not only alien, but often one that is opposed when presented. Whether people are growing in Christ individually and collectively is irrelevant as long as pews are filled and checks are written and no one is required take up the Cross and follow Jesus.

Note the emphasis on every man, or better – every person. We are to admonish every person, we are to teach every person, we are to present every person. Are we shepherding every person in our congregations? Are we proclaiming the Gospel to every person in our communities?

How are we measuring up to Colossians 1:28? How am I measuring up? How are you measuring up? How are our congregations and other associations measuring up?

There are tornadoes on the ground.

Let us not live foolishly – we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Who will you and your church present to Christ, and how will you present them?