Colossians 3:1-11
“Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” — Colossians 3:1 (HCSB)
It’s Not a Step Bar
I’ve been thinking about adding a step bar to my truck. One of those running boards that makes it easier for people to climb in. It could be a useful addition. But it doesn’t change what my truck is. It doesn’t turn it into a different vehicle. My truck would still be a truck. It would be something bolted on to what was already there. You’d still have the same truck underneath.
Paul is describing something that is the complete opposite of that. He’s not talking about adding Christianity onto your existing life like an accessory. He’s talking about a fundamental change in identity. If you are a follower of Jesus, you died. The old you is gone. What is alive now is something entirely new, raised with Christ, oriented toward completely different things. The list of behaviors he tells us to put away (anger, lies, filthy talk, greed, all of it) aren’t just bad habits to work on. They belong to an identity that no longer exists. We don’t do those things because that’s not who we are anymore.
The last part of the passage is where it gets really interesting. Paul says that in Christ, the old tribal identities are gone too. The things that used to define us, like where we came from, what group we belonged to, what we looked like, where we were born those aren’t the primary things anymore.
I love being an American. I’m genuinely proud of that. But Paul is pretty clear that my identity as a member of Christ’s family overrides that completely. That’s not a comfortable thing to sit with, but it’s what he says. Now, I’m thankful that God has done some really cool things through America, and being an American has some great advantages. I’d sacrifice my life for the freedom that we have here, but that is not where my citizenship actually is. My passport may say America, but my name is in a more important registry, and that should change everything about who I am in every moment.
The big questions in life are actually easier to wrestle with for me. Where should I live? What should I do for work? Those feel weighty, and they are. But Paul isn’t primarily talking about the big decisions. He’s talking about the minute by minute stuff. The way I think. The way I talk. The way I treat the person in front of me right now. That’s where identity actually shows up, not only in the grand gestures but in the thousand small moments that make up a normal day, on whatever continent I happen to be on, in whatever job I happen to be working.
So this week I want to be faithful in the little things. Not just the big calling questions, but the everyday moments where my identity in Christ either shows up or it doesn’t. It’s easy to bolt something on and call it good. What God is after is a new identity that changes everything. Well, everything except the truck. I’m keeping that.