by R. Herbert | Mar 4, 2015 | Relationships, The Church & the World
“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:5-6 ESV).
To the Jews of the apostle Paul’s day every non-Jew was an outsider, and this concept is true in Christianity also: every person who is not a Christian is an “outsider” in being outside the church and the Christian faith. This is not a negative concept, it is just as much an understanding that Christians have a special responsibility toward those whom they could help or hinder in terms of coming to faith.
It is important to notice that in discussing how to interact with those outside the Faith, Paul could have mentioned scrupulous financial dealings, avoiding inappropriate dress or behavior, general helpfulness or many other things, but he doesn’t. These things are all important, of course, but Paul singles out two other aspects of our Christian walk instead.
First, Paul urges us to make the best use of the time we have. This could mean two things: either using time wisely so that those outside the Faith see our diligence in the calling we have, or, alternately, that we use the time we are with those on the outside to maximum advantage by making sure our behavior is always a proper witness. In Paul’s words “making the best use of the time,” the Greek expression is “buying up the opportunity,” so the latter possibility is perhaps more likely – that we use the time with those outside the Faith to maximum advantage.
But in any case, after admonishing his hearers to use time wisely (see also Ephesians 5:15-17), Paul continues by stating the one aspect of our interrelations with others that he wished to stress above all others at that time: that our speech should always be gracious and “seasoned with salt,” so that we know how to answer each person with whom we deal.
“Gracious” speech was something noted about Christ himself (Luke 4:22), and Paul stresses that His followers must reflect that same aspect in their own lives if they are to reflect Him truly. Gracious speech is the opposite of words that are unpleasant, unkind, unedifying, unclean or in any way unwholesome. Why stress this above other things? Perhaps Paul had in mind the ease with which many people slip into the wrong kind of speech when they are with others whose speech is not gracious. And our speech, along with our actions, is certainly one of the two things that define us to others. In fact, we are often with others in situations where we have no opportunity to show our faith through our actions, yet the need for right speech is always present.
An interesting aspect of this is seen in Paul’s mention that our speech should be “seasoned with salt” – a figurative way of saying that it should not become corrupted. The Greek expression is in the “perfect” tense giving the meaning of a past action with continuing effect. We need to remind ourselves that our speech has been cleansed and needs to be kept that way in interactions (Ephesians 4:29). It is with that meaning rather than being “ready to discuss our faith,” as is often said, that Paul ends his exhortation by saying that we should “know how … to answer each person” – know how to answer them graciously and “seasoned with salt.” Paul makes it clear that this is one of the most important things we can, and must, do in interacting with those outside the Faith.
by R. Herbert | Feb 23, 2015 | The Church & the World
By C.S. Lewis from the classic Mere Christianity
“If conversion to Christianity makes no improvement in a man’s outward actions – if he continues to be just as snobbish or spiteful or envious or ambitious as he was before – then I think we must suspect that his ‘conversion’ was largely imaginary; and after one’s original conversion, every time one thinks one has made an advance, that is the test to apply. Fine feelings, new insights, greater interest in ‘religion’ mean nothing unless they make our actual behavior better; just as in an illness ‘feeling better’ is not much good if the thermometer shows that your temperature is still going up. In that sense the outer world is quite right to judge Christianity by its results. Christ told us to judge by results. A tree is known by its fruit; or, as we say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making Christianity unbelievable to the outside world. The war-time posters told us that Careless Talk Costs Lives. It is equally true that Careless Lives Cost Talk. Our careless lives set the outer world talking; and we give them grounds for talking in a way that throws doubt on the truth of Christianity itself.”
by R. Herbert | Jan 7, 2015 | Prayer, The Church & the World
“Pioneer: Noun, singular. One who is among the first to go somewhere or to do something.”
There is a mystique about pioneers. They often seem larger than life, braver, stronger, more dedicated than the rest of us as they bravely go where no one has gone before. When I was a kid I thought it would be neat to be a pioneer – one of the first people to explore unknown continents, open the US West, go to the Moon, or whatever. Now I’m older, I realize it was not as easy as I thought for the ones who were the first to do these things.
Whether being among the first to open up new continents or making some other kind of new path in any age, being a pioneer has an extra share of difficulties most of us don’t have to face. Certainly the first Christians found this. They were pioneers who had to map out and go through a whole new way of life that often met discouraging obstacles and dangerous opposition. Just think about Stephen (Acts 7:59) or Paul (2 Corinthians 11:25) or what many of the early disciples went through (Acts 8:1).
So who are the spiritual pioneers today? Who are the Christians who face the particular difficulties inherent in walking the path alone – in being the first to do something with much more limited support and encouragement from others? Those people do exist in our faith – and their numbers are growing. They are the pioneers – the first in their families or villages to convert to Christianity from other faiths – groups that are often hostile to Christianity itself.
When individuals come to the knowledge of the truth in many parts of the world, they cannot help but stand out; and in those areas they may be regarded as apostates from their background faith – worthy of harassment, punishment, and even death. It is not a hypothetical situation, it is an ongoing reality that sees Christians afflicted and even killed in areas not officially classified as areas of persecution. Often these individuals are rejected by their own families and friends and have no local support to which they can turn.
There are other pioneers also worthy of our concern today. Consider the pioneers in various areas of humanitarian effort – the William Wilberforce’s of today, those fighting human trafficking, substance enslavement, and every other evil in this world – all who are struggling against steep odds and difficult conditions to suppress evil and to help people where help is needed.
Wherever they are, pioneers don’t have it easy. We may sometimes think we do not either, but they have it worse. The pioneers often encounter so many more obstacles, so much more opposition. They face more dangers, endure more discouragement, loneliness and for many, fear. It’s harder for pioneers than for most of us except in one area. It’s easier for them to give up. We need to pray for the pioneers.
by R. Herbert | Aug 18, 2014 | The Church & the World
As Christians it is easy to become desensitized to the bad and the not so good aspects of the world around us. We learn to look away from advertisements, images, words and media content that are clearly spiritually lacking, to say the least. But this can make us unnecessarily passive and accepting of things we might possibly be able to change. Now I’m the first to admit that we need balance in this – there is a balance between being constantly judgmental on the one hand, yet trying to make the world a better place where we can on the other.
An experience recently set me thinking about this. A website I utilize regularly redid its home page recently and the image on the new front page was in poor taste, to say the least – and bordering on the obscene from my own perspective. I need to use this site, and so I wrinkled my nose and tried to look past the image several times as I logged in. Then I decided I wasn’t going to do that any more, and I went looking for the “contact” link.
I sent an email to the site explaining that I was a regular customer, but that I was pretty much grossed-out by the image that greeted me every time I logged in. I made the point that just because most people don’t complain didn’t mean that there were not many others who were also offended by the new image. Finally, I stressed that I knew they were a professional company and that the image really did not fit the high standards they doubtless wanted to convey – so (especially if they wanted to keep my business) would they please find a better image for their welcome screen. Although I didn’t really expect them to change, and thought I would probably have to just go find another website, I got a message back from the site’s webmaster saying my complaint would be passed to management. To my surprise, when I returned to the site the next day the offensive image was gone and it has not returned.
This small experience reminded me that the more we speak out, the more we can make a difference in the world in which we and our kids live. Sometimes it may be in the smallest way, but it is still making a difference. I know culture is deteriorating all around us in all kinds of ways, and we can’t spend our lives focusing on the details of that slide; but there are also millions of Christians in the world and if we take a few moments to speak up, we may find many situations where speaking out will accomplish something.
So next time you are offended at something in advertising, television or wherever, if there is a way to contact the people behind the public offensiveness and you have opportunity, don’t hesitate to speak up – you just might be heard!
by R. Herbert | Aug 11, 2014 | Persecution, The Church & the World
The #WeAreN Campaign is bringing attention to persecuted Christians in Iraq. The campaign is named for the letter N or “Nun” in the Arabic alphabet (as shown in the illustration) which fanatical Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) militants have placed on the homes of Christians in areas of Iraq they now control.
The letter “Nun” is being used to signify the Arabic word for “Nazarene” (Christian) on Christian homes in much the same way that Jews were forced to wear Star of David armbands in Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
It is unclear what the final fate of many of the Iraqi Christians marked by this sign will be, but already hundreds of Christians have been killed, often in a brutally barbaric manner. If you haven’t already seen the reports, news services have confirmed the fact that ISIS is routinely beheading men, women and children and numbers have been crucified, while thousands of Christians are being driven from their homes and possessions. This is in addition to the desecration and destruction of Christian churches and tombs.
The #WeAreN campaign now underway has helped fuel protests across the United States and in many parts of the world against these horrendous crimes and in support of the multiple thousands of Christians being victimized by ISIS. World leaders are being urged, by means of active demonstrations in many cities around the globe, to stop the anti-Christian genocide, and we see increasing support for counteraction as tens of thousands of people change their social media photos to images of the Arabic “N” in identification and support.
US President Barack Obama has begun to act in regard to this situation. Although the response has been slow in coming and is still small, it is to be hoped that leaders of the US and countries around the world will quickly escalate support for the Christians and others in Iraq who are being targeted by ISIS.
In addition to participating in the #WeAreN campaign, Christians everywhere can pray for their brothers and sisters in Iraq. As Christians we should also pray for those who are committing this kind of persecution in Iraq and in other areas in the world. We need to pray that the eyes of these people might be opened to see the evil of what they are doing, and to turn from it.
by R. Herbert | Aug 7, 2014 | Fellowship, The Church & the World
A recent issue of
Christianity Today carried a very interesting interview with researcher and author Dr. Philip Jenkins on Global Christianity. Dr. Jenkins was asked: “What are some differences in global attitudes to the nature of the Bible and the Old Testament?” Here, in this short excerpt, is part of his answer: “When you are in Europe or the United States, if you are dealing with ordinary, secular people, the Old Testament can be almost an embarrassment. ‘We do not understand [it]. This is an ancient, primitive world. This is of no relevance to us.’
If you go to many parts of Africa there’s the opposite problem – which is that people can be tempted to read the Old Testament, see it as so relevant, so immediate that they don’t need anything else. The church in the Sudan, for example, tries very hard not to issue translations of the Book of Leviticus because the danger is the people will just read that and not want the New Testament, because Leviticus was so obviously written for their [kind of] society.
Think about that in terms of evangelism. If I am talking to an American or a European and I’m trying to explain a concept like atonement, that’s a very strange idea. Blood sacrifice is strange and alien. But now imagine trying to spread that same message in a society in Africa where they’re very used to the idea of animal sacrifice. They know the idea that blood pays the price of sin. All you have to get across is the idea that all these sacrifices are trivial. There is one sacrifice, which is Christ. They can understand that.” You can read the whole interview here (
Christianity Today: Mar 21, 2014, subscription required).
The article certainly makes one think about the many other differences in viewpoint that must apply to Christians in various cultures looking at the Bible from a primarily Old Testament perspective, or an almost wholly New Testament perspective. Moral of the story: being aware of this difference can help us in interacting and working with people of like mind – but different cultural perspectives – around the world.
Recent Comments