Plenary Session 5 - Dave Doran
January 6, 2010 – 10:19 amDavid Doran, conference host and pastor of Inter-City Baptist Church in Allen Park, Michigan, preached on the nature and goal of gospel ministry from Colossians 1:24-29.
In Colossians 1, in order to explain his credentials for confronting the Colossian church, Paul unveils the nature and purpose of his ministry: it was a sacred stewardship of sacrificial service aimed at the perfection of the church.
A Sacred Stewardship
Clearly, Paul’s ministry was “from God” (1:25). As God’s steward, Paul saw himself as commissioned by God and accountable to God. Although Paul’s stewardship was unique, everyone of us is given a stewardship from God for which we will be accountable to God as His servants (4:17).
Notice that this is a stewardship of a mystery (1:26). This is one of the two major interpretive issues in the passage. When the NT uses the word mystery, it’s not like we use mystery (e.g., a mystery novel). It means something that has been hidden but has now been revealed (1:26). In Romans 11 Paul reveals the essensce of this mystery: a partial hardening of the Jews in order that the Gentiles might be saved. The OT clearly predicted that the Gentiles would find salvation in Israel’s God, but if you read through most of the OT, it seems to always reveal the Messiahreigning in Israel and the Gentiles coming to Him there. Then we come to NT’s unveiling of Jesus Christ, and it seems to be opposite: He is commissioning His apostles to go out to the Gentiles. That’s not what we expected. Why is it like this? Paul says, “Because a partial hardening has happened.” We who are in this room this morning should rejoice. It’s because of that mystery that we are saved.
Paul, in particular, was the steward of that mystery. Yet we have an extension of that sacred stewardship. Ultimately we are an extension of Paul’s words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2. Our stewardship is to proclaim the message of God’s love in Christ and Christ’s coming kingdom.
Of Sacrificial Service
The apostle constantly engaged in toilsome labor to fulfill his calling (1:29). Paul had both a sense of urgency and intensity about the work of Jesus Christ. He lived his life as if he was in the last part of the fourth quarter. He realized that he lived in a world that was passing away.
He also joyfully endured sufferings and afflictions to fulfill his ministry. Most immediately Paul is probably referring his current imprisonment. What does Paul mean when he says that he is “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (1:24)? This is the second major interpretive challenge in the passage. First, we can eliminate any thought that Paul may be thinking that he is contributing to the redemptive sufferings of Christ. Other NT texts are absolutely clear that Christ’s suffering was sufficient and final (e.g. Hebrews 1:3, 10, 12, 14, etc.). After ruling that out, there are two other interpretive options, both of which involve the union of Christ with His church. (When Saul was persecuting the church, Jesus asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” The church’s afflictions are Jesus’ afflictions.)
One possibility is that Paul views the afflictions of Christ and His people as a preordained amount that needs to be “filled up” (like Revelation 6:9-11). In this case Paul is saying something to the effect, “There is a determined amount of suffering that Christ’s church must endure, and I am doing my part in filling up that amount.” This is a viable option, but not the one I think is correct (Christians use this interpretation either to view suffering as the responsibility of other Christians, or to indulge in suffering as if it’s going to hasten the Lord’s coming). I think he’s saying something simpler than that.
Turn to Philippians 2:29-30 (compare also with 1 Corinthians 16:17). Both Philippians 2 and Colossians 1 refer to some kind of deficiency. Despite the fact that we often think of deficiency negatively, in Philippians 2 Paul was viewing the deficiency as the absence of the Philippian congregation, the fact that they couldn’t be with him in person. It was this “deficiency” that Epaphroditus was filling. Similarly, in Colossians 1 Paul seems to be saying, “Jesus is not bodily present, but I am suffering for His sake.
The suffering that Paul is enduring is, in a sense, should be expected by every believer (2 Timothy 3:12). Any approach to Christianity that seeks comfort and avoids suffering is not, in fact, Christianity. It’s walking down “the broad way” thinking that it’s “the narrow way.” Whether we stay or go, whether we’re a missionary or pastor, whether we’re in vocational ministry or not, everyone who follows Christ chooses a life of suffering. The suffering of many Christians (e.g., Paul) is costly, and Christians, like Paul, should rejoice in that privilege.
If we are padding our life to prevent ourselves from experiencing the sufferings of being a Christ-follower, then we are seriously skewed. We must realize that God calls every Christian to suffer, and we should be willing to joyfully embrace these sufferings for the glory of Christ.
For the Church’s Perfection
Paul’s goal was “to presenting everyone perfect in Christ” (1:28). This is an eschatological goal (1:22), probably fitting in with Paul’s concept of presenting the church to Christ as a bride ready for her groom (Ephesians 5:25-27; 2 Corinthians 11:2). So Paul’s driving consideration is for the future of the church. In other words, his picture is bigger than just “let’s get something done today.”
Paul’s concept of perfection is complete conformity to Jesus Christ. This is God’s eternal purpose for those whom He has saved (Romans 1:29). Paul desires this perfection for the church because God Himself desires this perfection for them. That perfection comes about as we faithfully articulate and apply the person and work of Christ. This is the message for the church, and this is the message that we take to the world.
