live wisely

Live wisely among those who are not Christians, 

& make the most of every opportunity. 

Let your conversation be gracious & effective 

so that you will have the right answer for everyone. 

Colossians 4:5-6



Paul wrote this in his letter to the followers of Jesus in Colossae.

Paul lived in during the peak of the Roman Empire, which is not place & time known for its virtue.

But then, sometimes I wonder if our day & time would be considered in many ways similar.


Bottom line, Paul challenges the Colossians to be gracious to non Christians.

Sometimes it feels like we Christians here in America have lost that talent.

It feels like we spend a awful lot of time these days defending or demanding our rights & privileges.

Maybe we should remember that anyone who tries to communicate & live out the simple mandate of Jesus to love God & love other will always be experiencing pushback or negative response.

Remember that they killed Jesus because of what He said & did.

And they killed / martyred people ever since for the same reasons.


And yet, Paul says to "live wisely" & "make the most of every opportunity".

How can we do that while many among us seem to be such strident voices demanding our white evangelical privilege?


Let's pretend for a minute...


Let's assume there is a mission board crazy enough to commission you & I as missionaries to Northern China.

What Paul said in those two verses would make total sense.

As we lived among the people in our town / area of Northern China, we'd try to woo & win those people who are around us, asking God to channel His love through us to the people we connect with.

We'd always be cognizant of people's reactions to who we are & what we do, using both as a port of entry with anyone in our sphere.

We wouldn't be pushy or demanding of any rights or privileges as Christians - that would be really stupid.

Our job would be to build bridges of connection, not be some oversensitive pouty jackass expecting some sort of parity simply because we hold certain religious beliefs.

That would be immensely counterproductive to the mission given us by the Lord, & the mission board crazy enough to send us there.



So why wouldn't all that reality not only apply to us as missionaries to Northern China but also to us as missionaries to people in whatever place or locale we live in here in America?