Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Colossians 3:16
When Paul comes to the end of his letter to the Colossians, here is part of his admonition to the readers of that letter. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. What strikes me the most are the words “each other”. I believe that if I am letting the message or Jesus fill me, if I’m letting my roots grow down deep into Jesus (as Paul states earlier in this letter), if I’m letting the richness of the message of who Christ is saturate my life, I will have some wisdom to share with others.
We have, in our church culture, relegated the “sharing of wisdom” to the pastor or the teacher. We must learn by experience that we all, no matter where we are in our walk with Jesus, have something to share. We all have something to offer. So when we gather, we don’t come together to receive, we come together to give, to offer the wisdom that has come from letting Christ, in all his richness, fill our lives.
We are so indoctrinated into coming to church to get. Many of us believe that we really don’t have anything to offer. We’re too young, or not in the right place in life, or don’t have that gift, or haven’t taken the responsibility. Whatever our reason, we’ve given the task of “giving” to the “pastor”. I really believe that until we understand that each of us has a piece to give that we’ll be frustrated in our gatherings, feeling like something is missing or like they are just a “social” time.
When I am letting Jesus fill my life, and understanding the wisdom He is sharing (remembering that knowledge plus experience equals wisdom), when we come together and I share, that will encourage, or convict, or teach someone else and when they share, I will be encouraged, or convicted, or taught. And so the family of God serves each other and growth happens naturally. But if we come together with nothing to share, we sit around and look at each other and wonder what’s wrong.
So here's the question. What has Jesus shared with you that You are to share with others. Understand it doesn’t have to be “earth shattering” or plumbed from the depths of theology. Wisdom is wisdom and Jesus shares it as He sees fit. What is it Jesus wants you to share?
Can you think of anything? If you can’t, what are you going to do about that?
