“Bear with each other and forgive whatever
grievances you may have against one another.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” – Colossians 3:13 NIV
St. Paul’s words to the first Christians in Colosse are the sort of thing you’d expect a group of New Testament believers to be doing; after all, that’s the way Christians live, isn’t it?
But consider this: one of the messengers carrying Paul’s letter was a man named Onesimus. He delivered this letter along with another to a member of the congregation. The second letter is also included in the New Testament. It is Paul’s Letter to Philemon.
Onesimus was a slave who had run away from his owner. Runaway slaves could be killed by their owners without any questions asked. Now Paul, by way of the personal letter, was asking Philemon to welcome Onesimus back, forgive him, and perhaps set him free to serve in the mission work of the early church. It was a hard lesson for Philemon, as well as that church, to learn!
Can you imagine the tensions in that congregation, people siding with Philemon or with Paul or having their own opinion about how this rebellious slave should be handled? Any factions, jealousies, or divisions in our congregation – or any congregation today – are small by comparison! And yet they are big enough to disrupt Christ’s mission and our witness to the love of God in Christ.
Even today, we need to be reminded of the source of power we have to be able to bear with each other and forgive, just as God in Christ has forgiven us!
How tempted we are to let small things divide us! How blessed we are to have that greater Thing that unites us!
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