You are a construction zone

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."
~ Colossians 3:9-10

When you walk into a building or store being renovated, sometimes you will see an "Under Construction" sign letting you know that you may encounter some mess or empty shelves. The same is true when you go to a website that is only partially built or under maintenance. There's a message that not all the features may be working.

When we encounter these messages they change the way we see and possibly judge the place. We may have a little more grace for mess and things not working properly when we know something is under construction.

Holy and Beloved...

In Colossians 2 Paul expounds on the freedom that followers of Jesus have. He tells the followers of Jesus in Colossae they have been set free from things that enslave: powers, legalism, and a rules-based religion.

Then, in chapter 3, Paul contends these followers of Jesus are not only set free from all these things, but also set free for something: to live a new life. 3:3 says, "You died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." You have died to something (old self enslaved by sin) and been raised to something (new self alive in Christ), and he lists some of the behaviours of the old self which are put to death (3:5-8).

Later on in verse 12 he describes these Colossians as "holy and beloved." The word "holy" literally means "set apart." In other words, Paul is telling followers of Jesus you are loved by God, you have been set apart by God, so take off the old dirty clothes of your self-centred nature and the sinful actions that arise from it and put on the character of Christ. Take off, and put on... die, and rise.

It a high calling. It's a hard calling. We make a mess of it all the time. However, take a look at verse 10 again. We have hope!

... and Under Construction

Our new self “is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”  There are two things in this verse that can give us great hope for living a new life.

First, he says the new life is being renewed.  We are a work in progress.  We are under construction, and always needing more renewal.  There is no time that we can say we have arrived at holiness.  We are continually dying to the old self and continually being raised up in the new self.

The reason this is hopeful is because it frees us from fear about messing up.  We will mess up.  It's not a question of if we sin, but when we sin.  That doesn't mean we don't strive for holiness, but it means we can accept the fact that we are not perfect and are a work in progress, and always needing transformation.  But we can be confident of this, says Paul to the church in Philippi, “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”  (Philippians 1:6).

Which leads me to my second point.

It doesn't come across as well in English, but in Greek this sentence is in the passive voice, which means that this being renewed is not so much something we do, but something we receive.  Putting to death the sinful nature and living in Christ is about receiving God's transformation of our mind and heart.

There is effort in our part in making hard choices and having discipline, but renewal does not come only from our own efforts.  That gives me hope.  It's not a matter of simply trying harder.  Yes we try, but more so we receive.  God will continue the good work he began.  We need to give him the openness and permission to do the soul work he desires in our life.

When it comes to living a new life, transformation is primarily receiving, not doing.  The doing comes after the receiving, so let us learn to receive.

PAUSE and REFLECT

What set of clothing (old nature or new nature) have you been wearing lately? Think back to your interactions with people the past few months. What behaviours have come through?

Here's why receiving and living this new life is so important.  Suppose you were to move to an area where there were only two towns.  And suppose that everybody in the first town behaved the old-self way described in Colossians 3:5-9 (you may want to read these now).  A few kilometers away was the other town.  And everyone in this town behaved the new-self way described in 3:12-17 (read here).

What town would you want to live in? Who do you think your neighbours want to live next to?  Who do you think reflects Christ and has the opportunity to convince more people of the love of Christ?  Which set of behaviours?*

That's why it is so important to put off our old set of clothes, and put on the new set.  If you and I are followers of Jesus, then we are called to this new life. 

Yet we remind ourselves we are a work in progress, as are other followers of Jesus. So just like we'd have a little more grace and a little less judgment of stores and web sites under construction, let us have the same grace for ourselves and our brothers and sisters in our church family.

We are holy and beloved... and in progress. The identity of holy and beloved is firm and 100%, and God is at work to renovate our character to match this beautiful identity. How might he want you to posture yourself today to receive the transformation he wants to do in you?

* I think I read this analogy in a book years ago, but I don't know which one!