| “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders…” |
| —Colossians 4:5a |
There is a definite difference between being wise and being a “wise guy.” I don’t hear that latter term much any more. Instead, due to the coarsening of our language, most people use a more profane term to describe someone who is acting like a jerk.
Wisdom is clearly a gift from God. Displaying wisdom is definitely a worthy quality that benefits the wise person, as well as the people around him or her. In writing to the “Christ’s-ones” gathered at Colosse, the Apostle Paul offered these potent words of advice, as recorded in Colossians 4:5-6:
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Now Paul is not urging the use of “salty” language in the sense that we use that term today. Rather, he is making an allusion to the use of salt as a preservative. In other words, the Apostle Paul is urging us to choose words that will stand the test of time.
As we welcome people to our fellowships (churches) who are not yet believers, we must extend God’s love to them. At the same time, we must not set aside our convictions, nor pretend that biblical standards don’t matter. But, in showing the love of Christ, we must choose our words carefully, always remembering that we, too, are nothing more than sinners saved by God’s mercy and grace.
When we meet new people, we never know but that God is already at work in their hearts, drawing them irresistibly into His grace. That’s why we must be wise toward them. We must choose our words carefully. We must make the most of every opportunity to model the love of Christ. In so doing, we will act just like Jesus. He welcomed sinners because He knew He would die for them. We welcome sinners because we remember that we are also sinners to whom God has shown His mercy, love, and grace.
Just as God is continually making us into the people He wants us to be, so He will perform a holy makeover on all those He draws into His love and grace. Let us determine this day to be wise in the way we act toward everyone we meet. This surely will please God.
Based on a blog originally posted on Monday, May 9, 2016
