And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:3-6)
What exactly does it mean to “be wise in the way you act toward outsiders?” I suspect there are a lot of answers that any pastor, theologian, or spiritual leader could come up with and they would probably all be accurate in their assumptions of what that means. This is one of those circumstances where there most likely isn’t just one right answer, but many.
“Being wise toward outsiders” and “making the most of every opportunity” are further clarified in verse six, addressing specifically the kind of words you use when conversing with people who do not know Christ. So we can essentially conclude that the kind of language we use is extremely important when we are talking about our faith…or just talking in general.
This seems to be an obvious principle that a lot of overzealous Christians adopt in their methods of “converting the masses to Christ”—talking. The problem arises, of course, when all Christians do is talk.
In my early years as a young follower of Jesus Christ, talking seemed to be the only thing I knew how to do when it came to trying to persuade others to believe. I truly believe my heart was in the proper place at the time. However, when all I did was talk, no room was left in my agenda for listening or loving/godly action.
Unfortunately, I made the common mistake a lot of Christians make when reading the words “make the most of every opportunity.” To me, this meant talking at people instead of talking with them. Talking with them involves listening well and asking good questions. In my attempts to make the most of every opportunity, I neglected to remember the fact that people are not tasks to be accomplished and checked off of a “To-Convert List,” but people are people and they deserve to be treated as such in a respectful manner.
This is where the “act” part of “be wise in the way you act” comes in. My thoughts here come to a point of clarity with the simple phrase uttered by the beloved children’s show icon, Mr. Rogers, when he said, “Be a good neighbor.”
Being a good neighbor means loving people in your actions…being kind to people, listening to people, loving toward people, caring about people. When something bad happens in their life and tragedy strikes, your name should be one of the first names that pops into their minds when they want to seek counsel or comfort. Why? Because they know you love them. And you love them because Jesus loves them.
Far too often, followers of Jesus Christ open their mouths and not their homes, wallets, calendars, or arms. We need to love people with not only our words, but also our actions. And when we do, we pave roads that clear the way for the gospel to come bursting into people’s lives with an overwhelming sense of awe that God’s hand is in the whole process.
John Piper puts it this way:
The fact that God is the ultimate and decisive cause in conversion does not mean we are not causal agents in conversion. We are. And as God’s agents in conversion, we aim at it—we choose what we do and say in the hope that it will be used by God to bring about conversion.
Did you catch that? What we do and say are of equal importance here. God is ultimately the constructor of the birth of a new relationship with Him, but we are extremely involved in how He wants to make that happen. This is why it is of vital importance that we love outsiders with our actions and with our words by sharing the gospel with them.
Take a minute to stop and consider any possible agendas you might have when you think about the people who don’t know Christ in your life. Of course, you want them to come to know Christ, but when they think about you, do they think you are constantly treating them as a project and not a person?
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