Gracious Words about the Body of Christ, the Church
Paul commends speaking to everyone gracious words seasoned with salt (Col. 4:6). The metaphor of “salty speech” suggests healthy words that grab the imagination of listeners and capture their lives as well. Paul follows his own advice in his gracious words to the church in Colossae as he counters the empty speech of false teachers who were trying to capture them with “sound bites” of their philosophy. He describes their talk with salty words like “shadows not substance,” “puffed up and sensuous,” and “valueless” on the real issues of living a godly life (2:17, 18, 23).
Paul speaks gracious words about many things (3:12-17). Foremost are his gracious words about Christ’s church. In the middle of a “Christ hymn” which describes his position in relation to the universe and the church, Paul says, And, he is the head of the body, the church (1:18). Sadly, today those words may dribble off our tongues like the valueless words of those teachers in Colossae. Worse still, they may become words about the preeminence of our church versus your church, since we are the only true church.
We must affirm the importance and necessity of seeking to be a church that truly values the teachings and directives of our Head, Jesus Christ. Today, however, I call attention to the gracious words of Paul on the body of Christ, the church. His words are adversarial to many contemporary views: 1) The church is the body of Christ, not just a body of Christians; 2) Church members are not merely limbs connected to one another, but are the limbs of Christ himself; 3) The Church is a living organism, not merely an organization; 4) The church is not just a nice, nourishing community which helps us live better, it is nourished and knit together by “joints and ligaments” which Christ supplies for growth from God; and 5) Paul’s words contain a gracious warning. In anticipation of the Legends of Sleepy Hollow, Paul says that if one heeds the words of those false teachers or false teachers today, it is possible to become a Headless body.
Gracious words indeed! They call for study and conversation among us. As Paul puts it, Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ (1:28). Be warned, Colossians may be our next study.
—Tom Yoakum