Seeking Things Above Part 1
We as Christians tend to get very caught up in the world around us. We worship God in church on Sundays, but the rest of our time seems to be focused on worldly goals and ideas. When we get together, rather than discussing scriptural topics or praying together, we recount TV shows and last night’s game. Our focus is on the “things of this world, rather than the things above”. But what does that mean? Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at exactly what that means. This week, we’re going to look at what things we need to cast aside so that we can look at things above.
Paul, in Colossians 3:1-4, tells us that we’re not of this Earth since we were raised with Christ, so rather than focusing our minds on things of the world, we need to be focused on the things concerning Christ, and forsaking things of the world. In verses 5-10, Paul gives a list of worldly things that we need to cast aside.
Some of the things he lists are obviously sinful and don’t need much exposition. Things like immorality, blasphemy, uncleanness, passion, anger, filthy language and lying are all obviously not godly, and while we may struggle with them , we all probably are working to cast those aside. Others, like covetousness, and malice might not be so obvious to us, so let’s take a look at them in a little more detail.
Covetousness is defined as desiring something that someone else has to an inordinate degree. It’s not seeing something a friend has and thinking for a second that it might be nice to get one of your own, it’s more of looking at it, and wishing that you had it and not them, and then focusing on that thought constantly. Paul even states point blank that it’s idolatry, which makes complete sense when you think about it. By focusing that intently on an earthly object, you’re definitely focusing on it more than you would God, which is wrong. We need to watch our thoughts about earthly possessions, even when we own them.
Malice is another one that we might need a little more information on. Most people think that malice is just being mean to someone else. While that is correct, there is another part to the definition. Malice is also when one takes pleasure in another’s misfortune. It’s very easy to celebrate inside when we see someone who’s been cruel to us get hurt or be in a bad situation. When we celebrate, not only are we sinning, but we’re not showing the Love of God. Sadly, a lot of Christians get happy and excited when they see sinners suffer the consequences of their actions, rather than trying to reach them for God. This is a very sad, but very common example of malice in everyday life. We need to watch ourselves constantly to make sure that we’re keeping a positive, loving, godly attitude, even on the inside.
Before we close part one, I just wanted to mention one other thing. Some Christians take the above verses to mean that we can do nothing that the world does, which is an incorrect interpretation of the passage. The passage isn’t saying we’re not to have anything to do with the world, but rather we need to be “in the world, but not of it”. If we want to discuss the game or a TV show that everyone is interested in, that’s fine, but we need to be very careful that that is not the depth of our fellowshipping with fellow believers. If that’s all there is, besides being sinful, what’s the point of fellowship? The fellowship is supposed to strengthen us in our walk with God, and if all we do is talk about the game, how are we strengthening our walk with God?
Next week, we’re going to look at what virtues and qualities that Paul uses as an example of seeking things above. Let us all try to remove the malice and covetousness from our lives.
