Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders…
Summary: How we act towards people says a lot about us, and it says even more about who or what we serve.
Unsurprisingly, this passage follows the one before rather closely. To proclaim the Gospel clearly, we need to be “wise” in how we interact with others.
Notice that Paul doesn’t say, “Be wise in the way you talk to others.”
There is a reason for this.
While it is important to be able to articulate the Gospel (1 Peter 3:15), it is also important to live the Gospel (Matthew 5:16).
How we act matters!
Let’s look at how Jesus acted as an example.
When Jesus was about twelve, he visited Jerusalem with his parents for Passover. Instead of returning home with them, he stayed at the Temple, his “Father’s house” (Luke 2:49). When Mary and Joseph found him, he went home with them and “was obedient” to them (Luke 2:51).
Later, when his Father wanted to test him before he started his ministry, he was told to go into the wilderness without his lunch box (Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus waited … and waited. He waited for forty days without food.
I don’t know about you, but I would have mostly starved to death by dinnertime the first day. After three days I would be delirious, not to mention bored.
Jesus waited.
During that time, maybe the whole forty days or maybe at the end, Satan tempted Jesus with food, power, and prestige. Jesus said “No” to it all. His only interest was serving God the Father.
Later in his ministry, when asked about the “greatest commandment in the law,” Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22: 37).
He went on to say something about loving your neighbors, too, but that was not the first commandment. The first one is to love God. God knows that if we love him with everything in us, there is no room left for hate…
… except in people who think that loving God means judging others.
Sometimes, people get a snoot full of righteous indignation and decide that God wants them to set other people straight.
This is where being like Jesus gets to be a bit tricky.
You see, Jesus is more than a carpenter who lived in a backwater Galilean town called Nazareth. He also happens to be the Son of God (Matthew 16:16-17) and King of Kings (Revelation 19:16). When he flipped the tables in the temple courtyard (Matthew 21:12-13), he wasn’t just mad, he was cleaning his Father’s house. No one else has the standing and authority Jesus had to do that.
The only authority we have is to love as Jesus loved. With his help, that is enough.
Application: Love like Jesus loves.
Food for Thought: Is there a difference in how we act toward outsiders and those who are part of the church?
Is there a difference in how we act toward outsiders and those who are part of the church?
Yes.
I should explain more than a yes.
Matthew 18:17
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And, if he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as an unbeliever or a tax collector
Believers are called to love one another, seeking unity and avoiding division.
Galatians 6:10 states, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”.
Romans 12:10
Paul writes that we are to love one another like members of our own family.
Tim,
Good work! I’m glad you shared more than “Yes.” 🙂
Is there a difference in how we act toward outsiders and those who are part of the church?
Colossians 1:10, Philippians 2:3-4, speak to our overall conduct.
Colossians 3:16 speaks to our conduct toward one another in the church
Colossians 4:5-6 address’ proper conduct toward unbelievers.
So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; Colossians 1:10
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. / Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer. Colossians 4:5-6
Thanks Ron!
Great verses!!
I think the reality for many is that we do act differently towards outsiders and those who are part of the church. When we submit to Christ, there is a bond of faith between believers. We are free and open to pray, praise, and express ourselves in faith with each other. In that sense, we let down our guard. Also, too, if one has been battling internally with a part of their life and is not ready or is unwilling to submit it to Christ, one can feel isolated and perpetuate that isolation around other believers. In that sense, we put up a wall. It is a different dynamic than with someone a believer “perceives” as an outsider. We may find it difficult to let down our guard for love, or fall into not defending areas of our redeemed past that should be guarded against, and strive to hold onto our relationship with Christ. I say “perceive” because in Christ the only people who are truly outsiders are those that have not accepted His gift of salvation and redemption. I think this is part of why Paul admonishes us to be wise in the way we act. As I just articulated, we can make it more complicated than it needs to be. Christ makes it very simple for us, regardless of who we are acting towards, we should act in love. That we don’t allow our perceptions to influence the true reality of Christ. In Christ, we are to act in submission to Him and in love. That is regardless of whether we perceive someone to be an outsider or a fellow believer.
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Well said, Chris.
“I say “perceive” because in Christ the only people who are truly outsiders are those that have not accepted His gift of salvation and redemption.”
We have a deep responsibility to love as God loves us —
Forgive as we have been forgiven.