Misguided Fear

My phone vibrates and I glance down to see a group message from my friend and Executive Director of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. A long-time JDRF volunteer met the Lord last week. Young, healthy, fit, devoted husband and father, but none of these is a match for type 1 diabetes. Only God can truly manage a pancreas.

Fear flows through my body like hot lava oozing its way to my eyes and out in the form of heavy tears. Why is this disease so horrible and hard to manage? I was just getting comfortable with the kids going out on their own and not a wreck with Sam on his constant travels for work…alone in a hotel room. Our lot is a house with three out of four having this disease.

Don’t I deserve to be fearful? Isn’t that my right?

A soft whisper enters my soul, “everything is permissible, but not all things are beneficial.” I Corinthians 6:12, a memory verse from years ago.

My rational, Bible study girl mind knows that fear is not from God. So why is it such a commanding boss in my life?

This life is so brutally hard. So many terrible things can and do happen. Nothing is truly in our control.

As I have been reflecting on fear the past few weeks, rattling off the many things I am fearful of – some big and some pathetically small – a soft steady chorus in my spirit has been, “but do you fear the Lord more?”

I wrestle with this. Why in the world would I fear the Lord? It is when fear is so deep and so terrifying that all I know to do is give it to God. When it is beyond my physical, emotional, mental capacity to carry any longer, the Lord feels like the only safe place to retreat. And He is. But the Bible talks about fear of the Lord on hundreds of occasions, and I continue to hear the refrain over and over in my quiet time.

Do I take the fear of the Lord lightly? Do I brush it off as merely awe, reverence, respect...which it is, but could it also be fear…that powerful emotion that demands prioritization of all that flows from it?

Francis Chan said, “The reality is, whoever you are, the moment you see God, you are going to fear Him.”  We see this in the Bible. People encounter God or His messengers and there is clearly fear. Awe, for sure. Reverence, absolutely. But also fear. Real fall-on-your-face and tremble fear. Is God that big, powerful, reverently fearful to me?

Yes, God is love, and God is also a consuming fire. God is mercy, and God is justice. God is creator, and God is slayer. God will bring forth new life, and God will judge, punish, destroy. God longs to take us under His wings, and God is to be feared. But God is always good.

I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Luke 12:4-5

The devil works hard to transfer the fear of the Lord to a fear of other things, all distracting me from my loyalty to, and fear of, God, the only one worthy of my fear. Only perfect love – God – can cast out fear. I can’t pep talk my way to being unafraid or alter circumstances to eliminate its stronghold. Only God.

If fear is the opposite of faith, are my steady streams of fear revealing a lack of faith? That gets my attention. 

Is God life to me as much as the insulin my family takes? Do I fear separation from God or missing quite time like I would a missed dose of life giving medicine?

Do I fear for the eternal salvation of my family and friends more than their wellbeing here on earth? Do I believe God loves them more than I do?

Do I fear dropping balls, adverse future outcomes, other people’s opinions more than I fear obedience to God? Do I believe God is good and has good plans?

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, pioneer of near death studies and the stages of grief, says, “There are only two emotions: love and fear. All positive emotions come from love, all negative emotions from fear. From love flows happiness, contentment, peace, and joy. From fear comes anger, hate, anxiety and guilt.” 

Fear is always a reaction to a negative perceived future outcome related to something I love. They seem to be connected. But I think that is a flawed way to look at it.  There is no fear in love. All future outcomes are in God’s hands alone. Do I believe this more than the voice of my fears?

Do I believe that the exact portion of manna – my daily bread – will be there without fail each and every day, even when I can’t see it in advance?

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! Psalm 111:10

CS Lewis says, “Put first things first and second things are thrown in. Put second things first and you lose both first and second things.” What is my steady first?

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, Deuteronomy 10:12

Fear of the Lord comes FIRST… before walking, loving, serving.

Fearing the Lord, in both reverence AND holy fear, must be my first. It has to trump all other fears in my life. In my hierarchy of fears, only one can sit on top. I can only serve one master. I can only have one true guiding core, giving me the lens to look at anything else that threatens me, putting them in their proper place.

Because what I fear most is what I will protect the fiercest. Where my eyes are focused is where my energy will be expended.

Without a fear of the Lord, I am prone to not only fear other things more, but to take liberties, let things slide, go through the motions, dismiss the quite voice of the Spirit, rationalize behavior. I begin to fear people, acceptance, being open-minded and accommodating more than I fear God. Not the life I was created for.

If my eyes are clearly focused on Him, any fears of the surrounding things will become more blurry… they won’t be so vividly in focus. I have to believe this to be true. I must fear my eyes slipping from His face. If my hope and faith and trust is in the Lord…If I really believe He is who He says He is, fear won’t have such a tight grip on me.

The reality is, it is so much easier said than done. Love is the welcoming open door, while fear is the hovering megaphone. Like all hard things, the academics are so much easier than the execution. So I continue to work out my faith with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). God, please help me to fear You – to trust You – more than my fear of lesser things.

Made for Love and Relationships...Just Ask Harvard

God in His very being models intimate relationship and community. Three persons in one God…the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. All present from the very beginning. All participating in the creation of all that was to come. All working together even now.

Jesus, God in the flesh, models community with those he teaches, feeds, heals in a broad sense, but also the many student disciples, the 12 apostles, and the three in his closest inner circle.

The gospel message is about love. A love that extends grace, forgiveness, reconciliation all while we are in our messy worst state…not only if we become good enough, worthy enough (who can ever meet that standard?). Loving us for who we are in all our mess and letting that love transform us. And what does God want in return? A person relationship. Love.

Jesus sends his followers out in pairs, in groups. We are meant to do life in community. Unity of the church, looking out and caring for each other is a staple. We love and fill in the gaps for one another.

Should it come as a surprise then that the 75-year Harvard study tracking two seeming polar opposite populations, poor men growing up in Boston and male graduates from Harvard, finds that a common thread leads to fulfillment? It is the manifestation of God’s character and God’s creation…community, relationships, love. This. Not wealth, or health, or social status, or awards, or power. It’s love and vulnerability and connection.

Jesus in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy continues with the wandering of the Israelites and the recount of the promises and instructions for God’s people. You, Jesus, are the culmination of the promise of God.

I see you in Moses the prophet, deliverer, mediator, messenger. You carry the words of God. You are the word of God…God in flesh.

God doesn’t want His people in poverty or bondage. He makes a way for freedom and provision (Deut 15:1-18). He declares a year of Jubilee every seven years – a Sabbath, a year of rest and renewal -- where debts are canceled and servant workers set free. What joy as every seventh year rolls around. What freedom as the debt burdens are removed. Those formerly enslaved walk a little lighter, a little jump in their step. Freedom. A new start. That doesn’t even come close to the freedom you give us, Jesus, when you paid for our debts on the cross. The heavy burden of guilt, shame, eternal punishment rolled off our shoulders and onto yours. In turn, we get your white robe, your crown, your righteousness. Freedom. A new start.

I see you, Jesus, as the only one who could ever satisfy the instructions for a king God lays out and Moses utters to the people (Deut 17:14-20). One of the Lord’s choosing. A fellow Israelite. One who doesn’t acquire many things, gold, silver, wives. One with whom the law is known and ever present. One who is humble, who doesn’t consider others better than themselves. Only you fit that job description, Jesus.

You are the prophet to come Moses speaks of (Duet 18:14-22), the firstfruit offering and the firstfruit of resurrection life (Deut 26:1-15). You are the gap Deuteronomy closes with that doesn’t seem will ever be filled…

¹⁰ And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,¹¹ none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, ¹² and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. Deuteronomy 34:10-12

And you, Jesus, become the curse for us. The one person who doesn’t deserve it who takes it for all of us who do.

²² “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, ²³ his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. Deuteronomy 21:22-23a

Finally, as Moses, who though flawed served faithfully, steps into his last days knowing he will not enter the promised land, God takes him atop a mountain to see it. I can’t help but picture Moses with you in that beautiful moment hundreds of years later before your last days on earth…

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. ³ And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Matthew 17:1-3

You, Jesus, usher in the ultimate promised land. Moses enters it and watches it unfold from above. And thanks to your work on the cross, we too can enter it. 

Jesus in Numbers

So many instructions around the tent…the tabernacle…the dwelling place of God. Only the Levites must put it up and take it down.  Anyone else who approaches it is to be put to death (Numbers 1:51). It is the center of camp and the Israelites are to camp around it, but some distance from it (Numbers 2:2). It is holy space and on our own we are unholy. I see you, Jesus, as the way to holiness. In you and through you we are able to approach God.

To be sure no one approaches God’s dwelling place, heavy, thick curtains are installed. But when you died on the cross, this separation was no more…

³⁷ And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. ³⁸ And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Mark 15:37-38

I see me in the grumbling and unbelief of the Israelites despite the signs and wonders performed Moses and Aaron. You cast out demons, you healed every kind of sickness, you fed thousands out of nothing, you turned water to wine, you raised the dead, you made the blind see and the deaf to hear. But among your own people, you experienced only unbelief, grumbling, and a death sentence.

I see you in the water God allows Moses to extract from a rock (Numbers 20:5-11). You are the everlasting living water that quenches our thirst and satisfies like nothing else can. 

Only through you can we never be thirsty again.

The constant complaining and sinning of the Israelites, despite God’s provisions, lead to snakes prowling around, biting, killing. But God provides a way to live. The terror with each strike as the poison makes its way through the bodies. Families desperate for a way to keep them alive, crying out to Moses to seek God on their behalf. The news quickly spreads that Moses is up to something. At God’s direction, he constructs a bronze snake and places it atop a pole. Look to the pole, they say, to the snake on the top. Looking up will keep those bitten from death (Numbers 21:7-9). I see you Jesus, atop the cross. When we look up to you, we too can live, despite the bites of our sin.

I see you in the fourth prophesy of Balaam (Numbers 24:15-19). In the star that pointed the way to your glorious, humble birthplace, and in the scepter that represents your kingdom.

I see you in the plea from Moses…

Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation  who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” Numbers 27:15-17

Though Joshua was selected for this time, you, Jesus, are the Good Shepherd now and we are your flock. I see you there gently leading the way.

And I see you beautifully in the God ordained cities of refuge. A safe place to live in peace when fear, doubt, destruction, condemnation are swirling about (Numbers 35:6-12).

You, Jesus, opened up God’s dwelling place for us to approach God personally. You fight for us even during our grumbling and unbelief. You are the living water, our Good Shepherd, our place of refuge. You are who we look up to in order to be saved from certain death.  

Jesus in Leviticus

A major theme of Leviticus is holiness and being set apart. This is how the people of God are called to live. God’s kingdom is different than the world, requiring acknowledgement and payment for sins and a turn toward holiness. But the law itself and our inability to follow it demonstrates our lack of holiness on our own.

A sacrificial system is set in motion for the forgiveness of sins and giving thanks to God. Leviticus lays out a sort of priest handbook for oversight of the temple – God’s dwelling place – and sacrifices.

The Day of Atonement is also established. One day a year the high priest is to wash, wear special garments, and seek forgiveness of sins for himself and the Israelites for a year. 

Much is required to approach a holy God. It is not to be taken lightly. The priest is to bring two young goats and a bull. At God’s direction, on goat will be sacrificed with the bull and one set free. The blood from the sacrificed goat and bull is sprinkled on God’s mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant (which contains the law). The priest then puts his hands on the other goat and confesses the sins of the nation, transferring them onto the goat. The goat is brought deep into the wilderness and released with the sins of the people.

¹⁵Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. ¹⁶ Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. Leviticus 16:15-16

²¹ And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.²² The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. Leviticus 16:21-11

Two goats – payment for sin and removal of sin. Bloodshed and freedom.

With the crucifixion, I see you, Jesus, as both high priest and sacrifice, freeing us from our sins one time for all time.

¹¹ And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,¹³ waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴ For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:11-14

Only a perfect and holy sacrifice can wash away our sins for good. You are the great high priest. The perfect lamb that was slain to end the endless cycle of sacrifice and temporary cleanliness.

Jesus in Exodus

Genesis ends with Jacob’s family moving to Egypt and thriving under the protection of Jacob’s son, Joseph’s, protection. Exodus picks up with a new king in Egypt who knows nothing of Joseph and how he, under God’s direction and provision, saved Egypt from famine. The descendants of Jacob/Israel (called the Israelites) have grown extremely numerous. This new king feels threatened by them and oppresses them with forced, harsh slave labor.

God raises up and calls a deliverer for His people, the Israelites. The man under God’s providence was saved from death (as all Israelite newborn boys were directed to be killed), raised in the home of Pharaoh, then banished to the wilderness for 40 years to escape the wrath of a murder he committed. He was raised in the Pharaoh’s home and learned to survive in the wilderness. Two things that would serve useful for his calling.

Moses remains the main character in Exodus. He is the one called to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land set apart for them. I see a foreshadowing of you as our perfect deliverer whose life, death, and resurrection ushers all who believe into the promised land of eternity with Him.

Pharaoh is stubborn and unwilling to let his free labor go when Moses presents his requests. God displays His power though a series of plagues to convince Pharaoh – the Nile water is turned to blood, frogs literally everywhere, gnats in all the land, swarms of flies, death of livestock, boils breaking out on man and beast, heavy hail, locusts covering the face of the land, complete darkness for three days.

Pharaoh digs in his heels. He won’t let them go. The tenth plague will be devastating. They are warned. Every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die. God tells Moses that Pharaoh won’t listen. His heart is hardened, but through it God’s wonders will be multiplied.

God instructs the Israelites to take and kill a male lamb without blemish. They are to take some of the blood from the lamb and put it on the two doorposts around their houses.

In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:11-13

As promised, the angel of death shows up. All firstborn sons – including livestock – are struck dead. All the houses with the blood over the doorposts are passed over. You better believe Pharaoh lets them go. And sends them on their way with gifts. They plundered Egypt on the way out…gold, silver, clothing. God provides for their journey.

This is the beginning of the Passover celebration.  The “last supper” celebration that you will participate in with with your disciples just before you become the ultimate lamb without blemish sacrificed to save us all.

This is a taste of what is to come. We are hopeless in our mess and pride and disobedience, but God provides a way out for us. God loves us so much, He wants to save us from the death and destruction that is sure to come when we dig in our heels, harden our hearts, and insist on doing things our own way. He wants us to be “passed over” from death and instead have eternal life with Him.

Jesus in Genesis

I see you in the beginning. The first book of the Bible. You are there with God. You are God. Part of the Trinity at the start of it all…

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness... Genesis 1:26a

Who is us? You are with God. You weren’t created by God, but were part of God from the beginning.

I see you foretold about when sin enters the world. Your enemy, the devil, tempts Eve and she eats of the forbidden fruit. The fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam joins her and they are newly aware of themselves. They hide from their nakedness. They hide from God.

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:14-15

God tells the devil his fate as a result of tempting Adam and Eve. He is cursed. And while his offspring shall bruise our heel with pain, suffering, sin in the world, crucifying Jesus, he will ultimately be destroyed. You (as her offspring) will come. You will give us a taste of heaven – revealing God, healing, casting out demons. You will yourself suffer and die. But You will conquer death. You will rise from the dead and return to heaven for a time. And you will defeat death for eternity. The devil will be crushed. Utter destruction.

We get another glimpse of you in Genesis in the story of Abraham and his son, Isaac. God tells Abraham He will make him a great nation with many descendants. In him all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Twenty-five years after the initial promise (and at the age of 100), Abraham has a son with his wife Sarah. Finally, Isaac, the promised and long-awaited son, is born.

But then the unthinkable happens…we are told God tells Abraham to take his son and offer him as a sacrifice.

Just as Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac, an angel calls from heaven.

He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. Genesis 22:12-13

This has always been a hard story for me to wrap my head around. But it is a beautiful picture of what God has planned for us. He will be the one to offer up – to sacrifice – His only son. You, Jesus.

We see a glimpse of the power, relief, freedom of what it looks like when you take our place. The ram enters the scene to the be sacrifice, just as you will appear to take our place. A substitution of our sins for your righteousness.

Genesis continues with the emergence of God’s chosen people to tell His story through…the Israelites. We see the beginning of the family line, in conjunction with the hold spirit, that will birth you into earth. Isaac has a son, Jacob (whose name changed to Israel), and the sons of Jacob/Israel will ultimately become the twelve tribes of Israel. From the line of one of the sons, Judah, you will arrive on the scene.

The devil may have his time, but it will be temporary. We lament the sin we are faced with at this time, but a time will come when it will be defeated forever. So we wait for your return. But we rest in knowing you were there from the beginning and will be there at the end.

The Bible is a story about all about you, Jesus. Love, sacrifice, redemption. From the beginning to the end. 

Day 33 - With My Own Hands (Col 4:18)

¹⁸ I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Colossians 4:18

This letter is personal. While the majority of the letter was transcribed by Paul and written by another, this final greeting is directly from the bound hands of Paul. It is a common close for the apostle…

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 2 Thessalonians 3:17

Two more short closing sentences hand written by Paul. First, remember my chains. How would you want to be remembered? For Paul, it wasn’t his conversion count, the churches he planted, his beautifully written words. It was his chains. The length he would go to make the mystery of the gospel fully known. His joining of Christ in His suffering. It is a reminder of the sacrifice of following Jesus and making the gospel known. Paul counts it as a blessing, not something to be pitied.

Finally, grace be with you. The sign off from Paul. Paul’s opening and closing blessings include grace. It is the essence of the gospel…

Grace to you and peace from God our father. Colossians 1:2

The opening, grace imparted TO them as they are fed with God’s inspired Word. The closing, grace WITH them as they continue in the everyday of life. Grace when they get up, when they do their job, when they hang with friends, when they discipline their kids, when they succeed, and when they mess up miserably. Grace that was given TO us now lives WITH us.

The letter complete. Rolled up tightly and handed to Tychicus and Onesimus. Packed safely in their satchel with provisions for the long trip to Colossae. Possibly a few tears. Covered in prayer, no doubt.

In this day of instant communication via a multitude of channels, it is hard to grasp how special these letters are. They can’t just FaceTime Paul with a question, or shoot a quick text to Luke asking him for advice, or post a message on Demas’s Facebook account to encourage him to stick with the ministry. It was a slow process of penning a letter, hand delivering it hundreds -- even thousands -- of miles away, and then waiting for word to travel back. But I imagine it brought a savoring and careful consideration and study of each and every word. Something that is lost in our time of information overload.

I have to say, I’m quite sad as the letter comes to a close. It has been such a blessing to slowly, verse by verse go through this powerful letter, rich in doctrine and instruction. I pray I will treasure these words and reflect on them often. And in all things, seek first and always the things above.

Grace be WITH you. Amen.

Day 32 - Who's on Your Team (Col 4:12-17)

¹² Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. ¹³ For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. ¹⁴ Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. ¹⁵ Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. ¹⁶ And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. ¹⁷ And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” Colossians 4:12-17

Paul continues his greeting with more fellow workers, and a peek into the team performing a mighty work of God. Each with different skills and purposes, and some not using them to the fullest at times.

We meet Epaphras in the beginning of Paul’s letter…

⁷ just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf ⁸ and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. Colossians 1:7-8

He was likely converted by Paul when Paul was in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-10) and returned to Colossae to plant a church. He likely also planted churches in the neighboring Laodicea and Hierapolis that Paul mentions here. Perhaps he is in Rome to seek counsel from Paul due to the false teachings amidst his church family.

What a testament to Epaphras that Paul says he is always struggling on their behalf in his prayers for them to stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. Paul commends his hard work on their behalf. I wonder why Tychicus and Onesimus are delivering the letter instead of Epaphras returning to his beloved church with this message. Does he need more time with Paul, does Paul need him, does he need to be sent to another location, is there a new pastor in Colossae? We aren’t told these things, but we do know that he loves and is fervently praying for the church communities he helped build. There is a season for everything indeed.

Luke is also mentioned as the beloved physician. Luke, the writer of Acts and the Gospel of Luke. I imagine he had much opportunity to use his medical training while working with Paul and the others who were frequently persecuted. In one of Paul’s last messages, we see how special Luke is to Paul…

Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 2 Timothy 4:11

Paul pens this letter to Timothy near the end of his life as he is facing his execution. The beloved Luke is with him.

The final person mentioned as with them is Demas. Unlike the others, nothing additional is said of Demas by Paul here. In Philemon, written just before Colossians, Paul calls him a fellow worker (Philemon 1:24). Paul may be seeing a change in Demas here that eventually comes to fruition. In Paul’s letter to Timothy written later, he says of Demas…

For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 2 Timothy 4:10

Demas, though once a fellow worker, has chosen the world. He jumped ship. Perhaps he came back at a later time in his life, but we aren’t told. The pull of this world is so strong and none of us are exempt from going that way. I take Demas as a personal warning.

Paul closes with greetings to other people and church communities and instructions on reading the letters. His final words before his sign-off in the next verse, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” Encouragement for Archippus, but for all of us as well.

As I look back over the team in Paul’s closing greeting, it is a beautiful compilation of people we could all hope to be and have in our lives, along with the sad reality of relationships that don’t pan out as we would have hoped.

Do you have real names associated with these characteristics? In which do you see yourself?

Tychicus – Someone deeply loved and trusted to represent you and carry an important message. Someone you know has your back and best interests in mind even when you are not around.

Onesimus – Someone you look up to for what they have overcome. Someone who messed up, but made things right and their life will never be the same. Someone who gives you hope that great divides can be greatly unified and there is sweet freedom in Jesus.

Aristarchus – Someone who shares your burdens in the worst of times. Someone who makes you feel like you are not alone.

Mark – Someone who greatly disappointed you, but has changed even though you never thought they could and now you are reconciled, joined together in work. Someone to remind you we can all get back on track.

Barnabas – Someone you were once very close to, but have drifted from. Someone you may need to reach out to.

Jesus called Justus – Someone who is a great encouragement. Someone with just the right words when you need them the most.

Epaphras – Someone deeply committed in prayer and service. Someone you can turn to who will pray without ceasing for and with you.

Luke – Someone who won’t leave your side, when everyone else does. Someone you can count on 100%.

Demas – Someone who has all the potential and opportunity, but chooses things of the world instead. Someone to remind us we are all a decision away from turning away and we need to stay strong and committed.

Who’s on your team? What kind of team member are you? 

Day 31 - Friends, Fellow Workers for the Kingdom of God (Col 4:10-11)

¹⁰ Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), ¹¹ and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. Colossians 4:10-11

As Paul continues his greetings, he introduces three more people with him who also send their greetings. The first is Aristarchus, a fellow prisoner. He is mentioned a few times in Acts. We learn he was a Thessalonian (Acts 20:4) and suffered along with Paul for his faith, perhaps even onboard with Paul when he was caught in a storm, without food for days and eventually shipwrecked (Acts 27).

So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel. Acts 19:29

And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. Acts 27:2

Next, Paul mentions Mark, then Jesus who is called Justus. Paul tells us these are the only men of the circumcision amount his fellow workers, meaning these are the only three of Jewish descent, like himself.

I love that Mark is included in the greetings as a fellow worker with Paul. Mark was the source of sharp disagreement and eventual parting of ways between Paul and Barnabas, his close friend and companion on his first missionary journeys...

³⁶ And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷ Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. ³⁸ But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹ And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, ⁴⁰ but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹ And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Acts 15:36-41

Barnabas wanted his cousin, Mark, to join them on their reunion tour of the cities they initially preached. Paul was adamantly opposed. Mark had deserted them on the first tour, why should they bring him along? Both were so convinced of their sides, they parted ways.

Initially it can feel discouraging and disappointing, but God was working in it all. Instead of sticking with Barnabas and Mark, Paul took Silas and eventually met and mentored Timothy and others. Relationships and friendships that might otherwise not have developed. And the Gospel was spread even further with Barnabas and crew in one direction, and Paul and crew in the other.

Neither was necessarily wrong, but they sharply disagreed and parted ways. The Bible talks so much about Christian unity and this feels like a perfect example of unity, even among disagreement. Both teams stayed on mission and Christianity grew as a result. Perhaps the gifts of encouragement Barnabas had were needed by Mark during this season, while Paul was ready to start mentoring others. Barnabas stuck with Paul when no one else would after his unlikely conversion. Perhaps this is what Mark needed after his ministry failure.

Regardless of what went down, now twelve years later Mark is with Paul. It was a temporary parting of ways, but not a forever split. And Paul now counts him as one who is a comfort to him. I wonder if Mark’s reputation was tarnished. Paul offers a side note for the Colossians to welcome Mark if he comes to them. Paul vouches for Mark. And this is the Mark who writes one of four of the Gospels!

Paul’s final greetings, upon which these few fall in the middle, are a beautiful example of friendship and working together on mission.  We need loyal friends who will stick by us, encourage us, carry burdens for us and with us, and possibly even step away temporarily when a new direction is needed.

I’m challenged to reflect on if I am this kind of friend…If I have these kinds of friends. And both ways it is my fault if I don’t and aren’t. Friendship takes closeness, time, vulnerability, sharing, living life with. I know I fall short in all these things. I’m selfish with my time. But I want to live in full Christian relationship and mission. And it means more than just acquaintances. It is strong Christian friendships where we build each other up, bear each other burdens, encourage and help refine one another. 

God, help me be this kind of friend. Help me open up and invest in these types of friendships with fellow workers for the kingdom of God. Help me be vulnerable enough to receive comfort from them and loving enough to give it to them.